Sa Pa focuses on developing night economy

Sa Pa aims to become an international national tourist area by 2030, attracting 9 million visitors each year, of which more than 30% are international visitors. Sa Pa possesses many advantages in terms of natural landscape, climate and cultural identity to develop the night-time economy . This national tourist area has cool air all year round; majestic mountains with the highlight being Fansipan peak - the "roof" of Indochina; 4 seasons of brilliant flowers and abundant temperate agricultural products; villages with traditional cultural identities of the Mong, Dao, Tay, Giay, Xa Pho ethnic groups; silver carving and brocade weaving villages; Asian-European style streets... These are the potentials for Sa Pa to be able to build many attractive night tourism products to attract tourists... Besides, the increasing number of tourists - more than 4.6 million visitors in 2024 is a potential consumer market for culinary, shopping, and entertainment services at night.

In addition, developing the night-time economy also helps solve the problem of employment, increase income for people, promote the development of the service industry, and at the same time extend the length of stay and increase spending of tourists. These potentials, if exploited in the right direction, systematically and creatively, will contribute significantly to elevating Sa Pa to become a vibrant and attractive tourist destination 24 hours a day.

However, at present, night activities are mostly spontaneous, lacking planning, products are simple, and do not effectively exploit the cultural identity and unique landscape of the locality. This makes the length of stay of tourists short, and tourism revenue is not commensurate.

One of the reasons why the night economy in Sa Pa has not really flourished is because current activities mainly revolve around food and beverage services and markets, while nighttime entertainment such as performing arts, cultural spaces or modern entertainment areas are still lacking. In addition, the infrastructure serving the night economy has not been invested synchronously, posing many challenges in terms of security, order, noise, environmental pollution and pressure on urban traffic...

According to Associate Professor - Dr. Le Quang Canh, Director of the Institute of Sustainable Development (National Economics University), to develop a sustainable night-time economy, Sa Pa needs to build a long-term strategy with three priority actions: Building a clear management mechanism to ensure security, environment and sustainability; encouraging investment in new tourism services with high added value; applying technology and developing smart tourism to optimize night-time economic activities and enhance tourist experience.

Realizing the importance of the night economy, the Sa Pa town government is gradually implementing a systematic development plan. In the immediate future, the locality will focus on completing the planning and building support policies to create a favorable environment for businesses and people to participate. Diversifying night tourism products and services is considered one of the key solutions, with special attention paid to exploiting indigenous cultural identity combined with modern trends. Activities such as night markets, folk art performance spaces, walking streets combined with typical highland culinary services are being proposed and implemented.

In addition, Sa Pa is also focusing on investing in infrastructure to serve the night economy, ensuring security and order, managing issues related to noise, light, fire prevention and fighting, and environmental protection. In the coming time, the local government will strengthen the connection between the government, businesses and the community to promote sustainable development of the night economy, harmonizing the interests of all parties. The town will also coordinate with experts, scientists and businesses to build and implement night-time economic models in line with the development orientation of Sa Pa National Tourist Area.

In recent years, Sa Pa tourism has developed strongly, with the number of visitors constantly increasing. In 2024, the town welcomed 4.6 million visitors, with revenue of 15,500 billion VND. The target for 2025 is that Sa Pa will welcome 5.8 million visitors, with total revenue estimated at 27,700 billion VND. To achieve this goal, developing a methodical night-time economy with a clear strategy is an important condition. If invested properly and implemented effectively, the night-time economy will not only help increase tourism revenue but also create many jobs, increase income for people, making Sa Pa an attractive destination both day and night.

With synchronous investment, reasonable development strategy and the cooperation of the government, businesses and the community, Sa Pa can completely "awaken" the night economy, contributing to enhancing the value of the tourism industry, while consolidating Sa Pa's position on the Vietnamese and international tourism map.

Performed by: Khanh Ly

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/sa-pa-quan-tam-phat-trien-kinh-te-dem-post400365.html