Administrative Map of Lam Dong Province

The whole province can be divided into 3 regions with 5 strengths: Development of long-term industrial crops, forestry, minerals, tourism - services and livestock farming.

Lam Dong is located in an area affected by a tropical monsoon climate that varies with altitude. There are two distinct seasons in the year: the rainy season from May to November and the dry season from December to April of the following year.

Temperatures vary significantly between regions, with temperatures decreasing as the altitude increases. The province's average annual temperature ranges from 18 to 25 degrees Celsius, with mild and cool weather all year round, with few major fluctuations during the year.

Average rainfall is 1,750 - 3,150 mm/year, average relative humidity is 85 - 87%, average sunshine hours are 1,890 - 2,500 hours per year, favorable for developing resort tourism and developing temperate crops and livestock. In particular, Lam Dong has a temperate climate right in the typical tropical climate zone and is located not far from major urban centers and densely populated plains.

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The outstanding feature of Lam Dong province's terrain is the clear gradation from north to south.

- The north of the province is a mountainous area, the LangBiang plateau with peaks ranging from 1,300m to over 2,000m such as Bi Dup (2,287m), Lang Biang (2,167m).

- The east and west have low mountainous terrain (elevation 500 - 1,000m).

- The south is the transition zone between the Di Linh - Bao Loc plateau and the Southeast peneplain.

Lam Dong is a land of convergence of many ethnic groups in the country with over 40 different ethnic groups residing and living, of which the Kinh people are the most populous, accounting for about 77%, followed by the K'Ho people at 12%, the Ma at 2.5%, the Nung at nearly 2%, the Tay at 2%, the Hoa at 1.5%, the Chu-ru at 1.5%..., the remaining ethnic groups have a ratio of less than 1% and live sparsely in remote areas of the province.

Wine and brocade weaving festivals are typical features of ethnic minority culture in Lam Dong.

Lam Dong is a new land that attracts people from all over the country to settle down. The population here is not stable and constantly changing, the phenomenon of migration

The number of people free in recent years from different provinces across the country converging on Lam Dong has decreased but is still large, with an annual average of about 2001-2005.

5,000 people migrated freely to Lam Dong.

With advantages in climate, natural landscape and forest resources, tourism has long been a resource and strength of Lam Dong. Lam Dong's forests are areas that preserve rare animal and plant genetic resources, with the function of protecting the water resources of the headwaters of many large river and stream systems. The biodiversity of this ecosystem plays an important role in the tourist landscape, especially the pine forests of Da Lat. Together with rivers, streams, lakes, dams, waterfalls, ... Lam Dong forests have created a complex that attracts domestic and foreign tourists such as the landscape forest surrounding Da Lat, Tuyen Lam Lake tourist area, Suoi Vang Lake tourist area.

– Dankia, Love Valley tourist area, Datanla waterfall tourist area, Prenn waterfall, Pongour waterfall, Dam B'ri waterfall, Lang Biang mountain…

The Northern tourist center includes Da Lat city and surrounding areas. Da Lat is located on Lam Vien plateau at an altitude of 1,500 m, with a cool climate all year round; not far from major cities in the region and the area, with convenient transportation. Da Lat has many famous natural landscapes of lakes, waterfalls and pine forests, along with architectural works of high cultural and artistic value, which are attractive to tourists. Da Lat currently has an 18-hole golf course of international standards. The system of motels and hotels can accommodate over 30,000 guests/day, including 85 hotels with standards from 1 to 5 stars. Da Lat is considered the tourist center of Vietnam and the region.

The Southern tourist center includes Bao Loc town and surrounding areas: Bao Loc is located on the Bao Loc - Di Linh plateau with an altitude of 1,000 m, temperate climate, beautiful natural landscape. This is the residential area of ethnic minorities, each ethnic group has its own unique cultural identity, very suitable for developing cultural tourism. There are also relic sites with high scientific value, suitable for visiting and researching such as Phu My - Cat Tien relic site...

2.1.1.2. Tourism industry performance

Tourism is identified as the driving force of the province's economy. In the master plan for Vietnam's tourism development to 2020 approved by the Prime Minister, Da Lat is identified as one of the country's major eco-tourism and resort centers; one pole of the vibrant tourism triangle: Ho Chi Minh City - Da Lat - Nha Trang; Nha Trang - Ninh Chu - Da Lat. In the project on directions and solutions to accelerate tourism development in the Central Highlands, Da Lat is identified as being in the Central Highlands sub-region group, and is the center of the sub-region (including 05 Central Highlands provinces from Kon Tum to Lam Dong). Da Lat has 1 of 4 national comprehensive tourist areas (Dankia - Suoi Vang tourist area) and 1 of 21 specialized tourist areas (Tuyen Lam Lake tourist area) in the country. Da Lat is identified as one of the 10 tourist cities in the country, one of the rare mountain resort tourist cities in Vietnam.

Figure 2.1: Administrative map of Lam Dong province

According to the summary report of Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee, the current performance of Lam Dong tourism industry has achieved the following results:

2.1.1.2.1. Implementation status of specific targets

Regarding tourist attraction: the average annual growth rate of tourists reached more than 17%, the number of visitors to Da Lat - Lam Dong in 2000 reached 710,000 visitors, by 2009 it reached about 2,500,000 visitors. The number of visitors in 2000 did not increase much compared to 2009. Such results were achieved because in 2009, many local tourism businesses began to pay attention to expanding the market, launching promotional programs, investing in upgrading to create new and attractive tourism products and services such as: Datanla waterfall tourist area has introduced a slide system to serve visitors at night, ethnic cultural village at Mong Mo hill tourist area, Golden valley tourist area... many high-class resorts and hotels were established and gradually put into stable operation such as: Hoang Anh - Da Lat resort, Ana Mandara Villas Da Lat resort, Ngoc Lan Hotel, Blue Moon, Sammy Da Lat, Saigon Da Lat, Palace, Novotel...

Although the number of visitors to Da Lat - Lam Dong has increased over the years, compared to other major tourist centers such as Ho Chi Minh City, Khanh Hoa, Da Nang, etc., the number of visitors to the province is still modest.

Attracting labor : the development of the tourism industry has contributed to attracting and solving jobs for more than 8,000 direct workers and more than 14,000 indirect workers, social workers participating in tourism services. Training to improve professional qualifications and skills for managers and laborers in the tourism industry has initially been focused on, gradually improving the qualifications of a part of the staff, civil servants and laborers in the industry. According to statistics, up to now, more than 40% of the labor force in the whole industry has been trained to improve professional skills.

Currently in Da Lat there are 02 Universities and 03 vocational schools on tourism: Da Lat University, Yersin Da Lat University, Da Lat Vocational College.

Lat, Dalat Tourism College and Lam Dong College of Economics and Technology.

2.1.1.2.2. Task implementation status

* Diversify to improve product quality

The quality of tourism products and services has changed in both quantity and quality. There have been many new and unique tourism products such as eco-tourism, resorts, conferences and seminars, gradually meeting the needs of tourists.

Resort tourism products are increasingly abundant. In addition to key projects such as Dankia - Suoi Vang, Tuyen Lam Lake tourist area which are being promoted for implementation, many projects in other areas have been built and put into use such as: Hoang Anh Resort - Da Lat, Ana Mandara Villas Dalat, Ngoc Lan Hotel, Blue Moon Hotel, Sammy Da Lat Hotel, Saigon Hotel

– Dalat, Cadasa resort…

For event tourism (MICE) is tending to form and develop strongly in Da Lat city.

Tourism business activities have also made many advances, with infrastructure, means of transport, workforce and passenger transport services increasingly enhanced. The number of businesses participating in tourism and transportation is increasing (the whole province currently has more than 22 tourism businesses, including 07 international tourism businesses and 15 domestic tourism businesses).

Transportation activities: Transportation activities in Da Lat - Lam Dong are very developed, the number of bus companies in Da Lat is relatively large compared to the area of the city, including high-quality bus companies such as: Phuong Trang (Serving taxis, buses, transporting passengers on routes Da Lat - Saigon, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Hue), Thanh Buoi (with 70 Aero Space cars, 6 Aero Queen sleeper buses, over 20 shuttle buses), Mai Linh (Serving taxis, electric cars transporting passengers to visit the city, transporting passengers on routes Da Lat - Saigon) ... and small bus companies with a system of 16-seat cars such as: My

Hien, Son Tung, Duc Loc, Bay Cao… meet the needs of tourists traveling from Da Lat to Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces.

The system of tours, routes, and attractions has been expanded, diversified, and richer than before. Initially, connections with the tour systems, routes, and attractions of the provinces in the region have been exploited to develop and exploit the tourism needs of tourists. Initially, planning has been put into place to exploit the potential of ecotourism, indigenous culture, research, and adventure sports in some potential areas (Bidoup National Park - Ba Mountain, Cat Tien, Elephant Mountain, Tuyen Lam Lake, LangBiang - Lat Commune, etc.), especially the type of tourism based on local communities has also been focused on and encouraged to develop.

To implement the strategy of diversifying tourism products and services, the industrial and agricultural sectors have implemented many industrial and agricultural promotion programs to promote products to serve the shopping needs of tourists. Initially, the strengths of traditional industries and occupations, handicraft and agricultural products have been exploited, contributing to the implementation of the on-site export policy through tourism, thereby forming a number of prestigious domestic and foreign brands such as: Da Lat flowers, Da Lat embroidery (XQ embroidery has been present throughout the country and some countries in the world, opening many branches in provinces and cities nationwide), Da Lat wine and other culinary products such as artichokes, tea, coffee, jams, etc.

The cultural sector has edited and published many publications on Da Lat - Lam Dong culture to serve the promotion work such as: folk tales of Lam Dong's indigenous peoples (K'ho folk tales); legends of Lam Dong's scenic spots; many VCDs about Da Lat - Tay Nguyen have also been published. In particular, many local authors and poets have unique works introducing Da Lat - Tay Nguyen to domestic and foreign tourists such as: Da Lat - Lam Dong - springs and aspirations, Da Lat - Lam Dong travel guide...

* Building infrastructure, protecting ecological landscape and environment for tourism

Transportation system: increasingly invested in upgrading to serve socio-economic development in general, including tourism: upgrading Lien Khuong airport to an international airport, Lien Khuong - Da Lat expressway (shortening the distance from Lien Khuong airport to Da Lat from 30km to only 20km, with 4 lanes), National Highway 27 to Buon Ma Thuot city - Dak Lak, National Highway 28 to Phan Rang - Thap Cham, Dai Ninh - Phan Thiet hydroelectric road, Ham Thuan - Da Mi hydroelectric road from Bao Loc to Phan Thiet... have contributed to promoting exchanges and exploiting tourist sources between localities. The transportation infrastructure system in rural areas is increasingly being improved, contributing to creating conditions for tourists to travel, visit and learn about the culture of ethnic minorities in remote areas.

Traffic leading to tourist areas and spots in the whole province has been invested in, both creating conditions for tourists to travel and visiting, and contributing to promoting investment attraction, typically some projects: Tuyen Lam lake circle, Dinh III road - Tuyen Lam lake, Lat commune - Dankia Suoi Vang, Tung Lam - Lat commune, Lat commune to LangBiang peak, Bao Loc - Dambri waterfall, road to Robin peak (cable car station), road to 7-storey waterfalls Bao Loc, Pongour, Hang Cop; upgrading Hoang Van Thu road

- Cam Ly,... with a total cost of nearly 100 billion VND.

Infrastructure and technology: Investment and construction of infrastructure, entertainment and parks in Da Lat city such as: central parking lot, Yersin park, Anh Sang park, Ba Huyen Thanh Quan entertainment park (with an investment capital of 1,410 billion VND), Da Lat square, dredging and construction of a settling lake for Xuan Huong lake, restoration of the landscape around Xuan Huong lake... have been implemented and put into use. The urban appearance in some towns and townships of the province has improved a lot, changing in a positive direction to contribute to improving the quality of life of local people and attracting visitors.

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