Sa Pa welcomes 1.5 million tourists

The attraction of a series of festival events, especially during the April 30 holiday and the peak summer tourist season, has helped increase the number of domestic and international tourists to Lao Cai by 90% in the first 6 months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, reaching nearly 3.8 million visitors, of which Sa Pa town alone welcomed more than 1.5 million visitors.

Rich festival activities

The series of activities to celebrate the 120th anniversary of Sa Pa Tourism is always a highlight attracting tourists here. Not only in the first 6 months of the year but also in July, visitors to Sa Pa will feel the festive atmosphere right on the central streets of the town. It is hard to ignore the performances of parades filled with fresh roses along with traditional dances and songs of local ethnic groups such as H'Mong, Dao, Giay, Tay, Xa Pho... The Rose Festival is a new tourism product invested by Sun World Fansipan Legend to create a unique attraction for Sa Pa town.

In 2023, Sa Pa has many festival events to stimulate tourism.

According to Mr. Nguyen Anh Vu, Deputy Director of Sun World Fansipan Legend, Sun World’s tourism programs with many preferential products this year have contributed to the strong recovery of local tourism. In the past 6 months, the number of tourists coming here increased by 45% compared to the same period last year and almost equal to the same period in 2019 - the time before the Covid-19 outbreak.

The garden is thousands of square meters wide with hundreds of rose bushes of Fansipan Legend. Photo: Q. Lien

This is a positive signal for Sa Pa in its efforts to strongly restore the smokeless industry. In the program to celebrate 120 years of Sa Pa Tourism, many cultural festival events will take place throughout the year, notably the Rose Festival (from April to the end of July), the Cycling Race "Conquering Mong Sen - the overpass with the highest pillar in Vietnam" (July), Sa Pa Cultural Tourism Week (September 2023), International Food Festival (September-October 2023), Vietnam - China Border Trade Fair at Kim Thanh Commercial Area, City. Lao Cai (fourth quarter of 2023), Summer Festival "Sa Pa - Land of Love" (April-July 2023), Autumn Festival "Sa Pa - Golden Season Festival" (August-October 2023), Purple Flower Festival Fansipan (June-August 2023) and Golden Flower Festival (canola flowers) at Fansipan Legend Cable Car Tourist Area...

A variety of rose varieties at Fansipan Legend. Visitors will need several hours to visit the entire garden. Photo: Q. Lien

Unique International Food Festival

This coming September will be the highlight of the 120th Anniversary of Sa Pa Tourism with the International Food Festival. Mr. Nguyen Duy Thanh, Vice Chairman of the Lao Cai Tourism Association, said that this is one of the carefully prepared activities with the participation of about 100 domestic and foreign enterprises. Here, visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy many dishes with strong regional identities such as thang co, sour vegetables, five-color sticky rice, buffalo hotpot with fermented rice or dishes made from salmon, sturgeon, local pigs... which are products raised by local people right in Sa Pa.

When it comes to Sa Pa cuisine, it is impossible to ignore dishes made from salmon and sturgeon. The cool climate all year round is a favorable condition for raising salmon and sturgeon. Sa Pa has many salmon and sturgeon farms, which are not only enough to supply restaurants in Sa Pa but are also brought to many other provinces and cities. Dishes such as salmon salad, salmon hotpot, salmon sausage, braised salmon in clay pot... are dishes that tourists should explore when coming here.

Sapa braised salmon. Photo: QL ien

Salmon fry in Sa Pa. Photo. Q. Lien

When it comes to Sa Pa cuisine, it is impossible not to mention dishes such as thang co, con sui, buffalo hotpot with fermented rice, which are dishes imbued with national culture. The unique Con Sui Pho of the ethnic people in Sa Pa is very attractive to young people. "Con Sui" is a local word, understood as pho noodles served with sauce. The pho noodles are soft like pho noodles in Hanoi but are not served with broth, but are only drizzled with a thick sauce with its own flavor.

The dish Con Sui in Sa Pa is very popular among young people. Photo: Q. Lien

About 4-5 hours by car from Hanoi, or 10 hours by train, Sa Pa is an ideal destination not only in the summer to help visitors avoid the sweltering heat, but also in the fall with terraced fields in the golden ripening season. September will be the time when the terraced fields are most beautiful, when the weather turns to autumn, cold but with few clouds, golden sunshine covering the rice fields.

Terraced fields are most beautiful when the rice is ripe and golden. Photo: Q. Lien

Sa Pa is entering the peak tourist season, always welcoming domestic and international tourists. In addition to tourism promotion programs, tourism products will be the springboard to promote Sa Pa tourism to continuously develop./.

Article: Q. Lien