Buckwheat flowers attract visitors to Ha Giang

National Tourism Year 2017 with the theme “Color of Northwest” included a festival of typical community tourism villages, a cultural, sports, and tourism exchange festival between Vietnamese and Lao border provinces, and northwestern cuisine festival. Lao Cai province hosted a spring, summer, autumn and winter festivals, a horse race, and an international mountain marathon. Other festivals like the Buckwheat Flower Festival, Khau Pha Paragliding Festival, and the Moc Chau Tea Festival have promoted local tourism potential.

Head of the Northwestern Steering Committee Nguyen Van Binh said these activities have made Vietnam’s northwestern region more attractive: “Activities held throughout National Tourism Year 2017 were aimed at developing tourism as a spearhead economic sector. They have involved the local administration, enterprises, and people and promoting local and national tourism development.”

This year, northwestern provinces attracted 24 million visitors, 33% more than last year, and earned nearly 800 million USD. Nguyen Dinh Dung is Deputy Director of the Lao Cai Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism: "In response to National Tourism Year 2017, Lao Cai and other northwestern provinces developed more tourist products and further promoted local tourism. Cooperation between northwestern provinces has been expanded and their awareness about tourism development has improved.”