The provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism reports that in 2013, Lao Cai greeted over 1.2 million tourists, up 32.9 percent and 10 percent from 2012 and its set target, respectively.

The tourist number includes nearly 553,000 foreigners and over 700,000 domestic visitors, representing respective increases of 47.1 percent and 23.5 percent from a year earlier.

Lao Cai earned nearly 2.5 trillion VND (121.4 million USD) from this sector this year, a year-on-year rise of 38.1 percent.

Such an outcome is attributable to the province’s efforts to step up tourism promotion, improved service quality, and created a wide range of specific products for cultural, ecological and sports tourism.

Lao Cai is situated in t he Northwestern part of Vietnam , which is said to be one of the most interesting and beautiful areas of South East Asia . Located about 300 kilometres from the capital city, the province is blessed with abundant scenic spots.

Home to about 27 ethnic minority groups, Lao Cai is also a treasure chest of biodiversity, with many special cultural and historical sites.

The locality’s main attractions include the 110-year-old popular resort town of Sa Pa, which is listed by Australia ’s travel magazine Lonely Planet as one of the 10 best walking sites in the world for tourists.

US-based Travel and Leisure Magazine has named Sa Pa ’s terraced rice fields as one of the seven most magnificent examples in the world

Meanwhile, while Sri Lanka ’s Serendib has described Bac Ha minority cultural market as one of the 10 most attractive markets in Southeast Asia.