Lam Dong: Rising potential and promoting strengths
With the implementation of numerous important projects, 2022 is considered to be Lam Dong’s breakthrough year in promoting investment attraction, as well as in bringing the South-Central Highlands’ potential and strengths into play, which soon turns the province into an above-average province.
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Lam Dong is located in the South-Central Highlands, whose altitude ranges from 300 to 1,500m above sea level, with the average temperature of 18-25oC and an area of 9.781,20 km2.
The province’s South and Southeast borders Binh Thuan province, while its East bounds on Khanh Hoa - Ninh Thuan region. Its North borders Dak Lak - Dak Nong, and its Southwest abuts on Dong Nai - Binh Phuoc.
Lam Dong has 12 administrative units including 2 cities and 10 districts, in which Da Lat city is the administrative and economic center. The province’s population is over 1.3 million people with 43 ethnic groups.
Located in the southern key economic region - a dynamic region with high economic growth and a market with great potentials, Lam Dong poses various opportunities and strengths for socio-economic development.
Transport infrastructure’s development breakthrough
As a province located entirely inland and on the highest area of the Central Highlands, Lam Dong owns an inconvenient traffic system. There is neither waterway and railway transport system, nor river port and seaport in the locality.
Lien Khuong airport is the province’s only airport, which connects to a number of domestic airports, but mainly serves passengers’ travel needs. The people travel and the transportation of goods are mainly carried out via roads. However, traveling on some of these roads is relatively dangerous, due to traffic overload resulting from an increase in the number of vehicles and complicated passes and slopes, which regularly cause landslides in rainy seasons.
The insufficient transportation system has led to the fact that many domestic and foreign businesses are afraid to invest in Lam Dong. The transportation of goods, especially local staples such as vegetables, flowers, coffee, bauxite, etc., has been facing many difficulties. These factors, together with the increasing logistics costs, has greatly affected the province’s investment attraction and economic development.
With the determination to break the isolation and strengthen regional connectivity, while also exploiting and promoting the available potentials and strengths, the Resolution of Lam Dong’s Party Congress for the 2020-2025 term defines: “The province should effectively mobilize, manage, and apply all investment resources, as well as develop the synchronous and modern socio-economic infrastructure, with a focus on prioritizing the development of urban and transportation ones. It also needs to implement investment in 5 key transportation projects, including the Dau Giay-Lien Khuong Expressway construction and the upgrade of National Highways no.27, 27C, 28, 55...”.
According to Lam Dong’s Department of Transportation, following the Resolution of the Provincial Party Congress for the 2020-2025 term, the province has prioritized central and local resources for key constructions and projects, as well as implemented a series of important traffic projects since the beginning of 2021 until now.
These projects include the construction of National Highway no.27 bypassing Lien Khuong airport and provincial roads ĐT.724, ĐT.727, which have been completed and brought into use; the plan on completing the renovation, expansion and installation of traffic lights at important intersections in Da Lat’s urban area; the repair and upgrade of some sections of National Highway no.27, 27C, 55 and the Mimosa Pass.
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| Lam Dong province is actively promoting the digital transformation process in the tourism industry, in order to create a sustainable-valued tourism chain with various options for visitors. |
At the end of 2021, Lam Dong starts to construct the 7.5-kilometer-long Da Lat’s beltway, at a total cost of about VND 800 billion. It has also planned to start the construction of Dau Giay - Lien Khuong Expressway project (including Dau Giay - Tan Phu, Tan Phu - Bao Loc, and Bao Loc - Lien Khuong sections); the upgrade and expand of National Highway no.28B linking with Binh Thuan province, as well as of Mimosa and Prenn passes to improve traffic in and out of Da Lat city’s gateway; the building of provincial road DT.722 connecting Lac Duong Dist. to Dam Rong Dist. in 2022. Beside that, the province is preparing to invest in the construction of urban-linked beltway projects, such as Cam Ly - Phuoc Thanh route, route connecting Prenn Pass to Xuan Tho, Lien Nghia - Thanh My route...
Mr. Tran Van Hiep, Chairman of Lam Dong Provincial People’s Committee affirmed: “Once being completed and brought into use in 2025, this expressway will strengthen the connection between Lam Dong, as well as the Central Highlands, and the Southern key economic zone, creating a strong impetus for Lam Dong to attract investment, develop socio-economics, ensure the national defense and security, and fulfill the goal of turning the province into a fairly-comprehensive developed province that can balance its own budget revenues and expenditures, following the Resolution of the 11 th Provincial Party Congress.
The locality hopes that the Prime Minister will soon consider and approve the investment policy for this extremely important project”.
Promoting safe and sustainable tourism
The geographic advantages and effective support have brought Lam Dong great potential to develop its own wide range of tourism, from resort tourism, community-based cultural tourism, festival and event tourism, eco-tourism, agricultural tourism, MICE tourism (tourism combined with conferences, seminars, exhibitions) to adventure and sport tourism...
In 2021, due to the intense outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic’s 4th wave, the tourism industry of the whole country and Lam Dong province was severely affected with piled-up difficulties. The whole pandemic situation is now gradually being controlled; hence Lam Dong tourism industry is slowly restoring operations.
In parallel with supporting the training and fostering of human resources, as well as helping the area’s tourism business units improve operations in this new situation, Lam Dong’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism also focuses on guiding businesses to adjust their activities and investigate market demands, in order to create quality tourism products that are suitable for the “new normal” state.
It also concentrates on promoting the image of Da Lat - Lam Dong as a “safe, attractive and distinctive destination” on the media and social networks, improving the quality of tourism services associated with the “night” economy’s development, building a stimulus program of domestic tourism called “Vietnamese travel in Viet Nam”, and encouraging businesses to strengthen cooperation for a more stable and sustainable post-pandemic development.
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| It also concentrates on promoting the image of Da Lat - Lam Dong as a “safe, attractive and distinctive destination” on the media and social networks. |
The Department advises on planning and expanding tourism space, as well as orienting the development of specific tourism products according to each tourist cluster, such as Da Lat cluster and its surrounding areas (including Da Lat city, Lac Duong district, Duc Trong, Dam Rong, Don Duong and Lam Ha); Bao Loc and its surrounding areas (involving Bao Loc City, Di Linh and Bao Lam districts); southern districts (Da Huoai, Da Teh and Cat Tien).
Moreover, it has set the planning of local tourist routes from Da Lat to Bao Loc city and many districts, the route linking the Central Highlands - South Central Coast - Ho Chi Minh City - Mekong Delta - Northern provinces, and the National - International tourist route. Proposing the Provincial People’s Committee to accelerate the quality-based restructuring of the tourism industry is also one of the Department’s priorities.
On the other hand, Lam Dong province is stimulating the construction progress of high-quality tourist sites and attractions, while prioritizing the investment and acceleration of Tan Phu - Bao Loc Expressway project, Dankia - Golden Stream tourist area, Prenn Lake tourist area, Sa Pung Mountain, and Dai Ninh urban, commercial, tourism and eco-resort area, in order to create a driving force in promoting tourism development. Its ambition is also to proactively develop unique, highly-competitive and distinctive tourism products that portrays the tourism brand of Da Lat - Lam Dong.
Lam Dong Provincial People’s Committee has offered many policies to support and encourage local people to develop agricultural tourism models, contributing to the characteristics of Da Lat - Lam Dong tourism brand. Up to now, the whole province has had 33 recognized agricultural tourism models that are being applied to serve visitors.
In addition, the province also built the brand “Da Lat - Magical crystallization from rich soil” to promote key local agricultural products and agricultural tourism to domestic and foreign tourists. There are currently 10 agricultural tourism units in the whole province granted the certification mark of “Da Lat - Magical crystallization from rich soil”, thereby contributing to gradually spreading Lam Dong tourism brand to the international market.
Moreover, Lam Dong province is actively promoting the digital transformation process in the tourism industry, in order to create a sustainable-valued tourism chain with various options for visitors. The application of digital transformation helps to provide information and locate destinations, which creates a linking network between the province’s tourist attractions.
Therefore, tourists coming to Lam Dong can easily learn about these destinations and make appropriate choices for their visit.
