The results of the vote from Times Out Travel Magazine for the most attractive destinations in 2024 have been announced, and the town of Sapa (Lao Cai province, Vietnam) is one of the 16 most beautiful small towns in the world. This place has been a famous resort since the 1920s, with a record number of tourists that is 50 times the population.
Prior to this, in 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha also signed a Decision approving the general construction plan for Sa Pa Tourism Area – Sa Pa town, Lao Cai province until 2040, with the aim of developing Sa Pa into a national and international tourism destination.
Since the new plan for Sa Pa town has just been approved, there is no detailed design available. Below is an AI ChatGPT generated vision of Sa Pa’s future urban development.
On March 20, 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha signed Decision No. 266/QD-TTg approving the general construction plan for Sa Pa Tourism Area – Sa Pa town, Lao Cai province until 2040. The general plan includes the following construction areas: The center of Sa Pa National Tourist Area with an area of about 6,090 hectares, including the existing core tourism urban area of Sa Pa (with an area of 5,525 hectares) and the expanded research area (with an area of about 565 hectares); 4 connecting areas with the center of Sa Pa National Tourist Area including Ngu Chi Son (with an area of about 285 hectares); Ta Phin (with an area of about 185 hectares); Ta Van (with an area of about 306 hectares); and Thanh Binh (with an area of 330 hectares).
According to the forecast, by 2030, the population of Sa Pa National Tourist Area – Sa Pa town will be about 155,000 people, receiving about 8 million tourists; by 2040, it will reach about 210,000 people, receiving about 12 million tourists. According to the general plan, by 2040, Sa Pa National Tourist Area will be developed into a national tourist area, a cultural exchange center for the Northwest region, and an internationally renowned destination with outstanding tourism products in terms of resorts, culture, and experiences.
The general plan demonstrates the development direction of the central area of Sa Pa National Tourist Area – Sa Pa Town towards the reconstruction of the central area of Sa Pa, developing mixed urban functions for tourism services. Renovating existing residential areas, supplementing synchronized technical infrastructure systems, social infrastructure. Developing high-quality urban areas, tourism services associated with Sa Pa culture along Muong Hoa Valley, Ho Stream.
On January 1, 2020, Sa Pa town was established on the basis of the entire area of 681 km2 and a population of 66,600 people in Sa Pa district (Lao Cai). Located on the Hoang Lien Son Mountain range with an average elevation of 1500 – 1800 m above sea level, this is the highest town in Vietnam. In recent years, Sa Pa’s economy has shown remarkable growth. In particular, Sa Pa’s tourism sector has boomed, continuously breaking records and becoming the “golden tourist destination” of Lao Cai. Accommodation facilities are consistently fully booked with an occupancy rate of up to 97%.
To attract more international visitors to Sapa, the project to upgrade Sapa Airport into an international airport has been approved.
The construction project of Sapa Airport in Lao Cai has a total investment of over 6.948 trillion VND. This airport will have the ability to operate aircraft such as Airbus A320, A321, and equivalent with 9 aircraft parking positions.
The project is expected to be operational by 2026.
In order to make Sa Pa an internationally renowned tourism destination, the government will strengthen infrastructure investment for Sa Pa. This resource will be allocated to the development of connecting infrastructure, including urgently accelerating the progress of investment and construction of the Nội Bài – Lào Cai expressway, connecting routes from the airport, and the expressway connecting Nội Bài – Lào Cai to Sa Pa.
In the future, there may be a high-speed train system that allows visitors from all over the country to quickly reach the most beautiful town in the world, Sa Pa. This is an important part of turning Sa Pa into a bright spot on the map of economic and tourism development in the region.
The outstanding tourist destination in the future in Sa Pa will still be the Sun World Fansipan Legend tourist area. The number of tourists visiting Sa Pa has increased by 144% in recent years after the cable car to the “roof of Indochina” was built, and it is expected to increase even more.
The cable car line was officially inaugurated on February 2, 2016, after 800 days and nights of construction in harsh weather conditions and difficult terrain. It has held two world records, as the cable car with the largest difference in height between the departure and arrival stations: 1,410m, and the world’s longest three-rope cable car: 6,292.5 m.
The Muong Hoa Mountain Railway is still one of the longest and most advanced mountain railways in Vietnam. Both train cars are products of Garaventa – a famous Swiss company involved in the entire process from design to production, with each car measuring 20 meters in length, 3 meters in width, and having a maximum speed of 5m/second. The total weight of the two train cars is up to 25 tons, with a maximum capacity of 200 people.
In the future, Sa Pa will build supporting satellite tourist centers, sharing functions with the Sa Pa National Tourist Center in the communes of Ngu Chi Son, Ta Phin, Ta Van, and Thanh Binh.
These areas will exploit the advantages of landscape, culture, and nature of each development area associated with high-quality ecotourism, resort, health care, adventure sports, high-quality sports and physical exercise with Sapa cultural themes along the Muong Hoa Valley and Ho Stream.
At the same time, the development direction of the rural area with the 10 communes of Sa Pa town will focus on preserving and exploiting the distinctive advantages of landscape and culture to develop resort tourism.
