New market trends
Information from the Lao Cai Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, from the beginning of the year to now, the whole province has welcomed more than 6.1 million tourist arrivals, of which international visitors are estimated at over 841,000 arrivals. Total accumulated revenue from tourists is estimated at 22,773 billion VND.
Behind the impressive figures is not only the recovery of the tourism industry but also evidence of the increasing attraction of Lao Cai with the role of "golden gateway" connecting cross-border tourism.
It is no coincidence that during recent holidays, the Lao Cai International Border Gate area is always bustling with tourists. In just 3 days of the Hung Kings Commemoration holiday at the end of April, the entire border gate route recorded more than 51,500 inbound and outbound people.
This figure shows that the demand for cross-border tourism is increasing sharply and gradually becoming a new trend in the market.
With the advantage of bordering Yunnan province (China), a convenient transportation system and increasingly smooth entry and exit procedures, Lao Cai is becoming an ideal starting point for international road tours.
From here, tourists can easily access many famous destinations in China at reasonable costs and short travel time.
What makes the difference is that Lao Cai not only plays a good transshipment role. The border gate area is gradually being invested in the direction of a complete service space, from traffic diversion, tourist support, security assurance to improving the quality of the tourism environment.
Mr. Duy Dung (Hanoi) shared that he chose a tour priced at 3.5 million VND for a 3-day journey to explore the Red River Pearl (Yunnan, China).
Previously, he and a group of friends went on a Ha Khau - Dali - Kunming tour priced at nearly 7 million VND for 4 days and 4 nights.
The tour price is cheap, almost the same as a one-way domestic plane ticket, so office workers with low incomes like me all want to experience it," Mr. Dung shared.
It is known that the price of road tours from Lao Cai to China is about 3.5 million VND to 13 million VND.
The cheapest is the Binh Bien route and the most expensive is the Kunming - Dali - Lijiang - Shangrila route.
From geographical advantages to long-term strategy
Lao Cai's biggest advantage lies in its rare strategic location: it is both a tourist center in the Northwest highlands and a gateway connecting Vietnam with the Chinese and regional tourism markets.
On that basis, the locality is gradually forming a diverse tourism ecosystem, connecting border gate tourism, resort tourism, community tourism, cultural tourism and ecotourism.
Along with product development is the direction of building green, smart and sustainable tourism.
As infrastructure is increasingly complete, entry and exit procedures are more convenient, and tourism products are constantly being renewed, Lao Cai is gradually affirming its position not only as a "gateway" but also as a "destination" for cross-border tourism.
Leaders of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lao Cai province assessed that border gate tourism is becoming one of the new growth drivers of the local tourism industry.
As entry and exit procedures become more convenient and service infrastructure is upgraded, the attractiveness of cross-border tourism will continue to increase in the coming time.
