Efforts of Lam Dong to draw tourists to Dalat

currently full of potholes to attract tourists to the resort city of Dalat during a festival scheduled for late December, said a provincial official.
Doan Van Viet, vice chairman of Lam Dong Province, told a press briefing to introduce the festival that the deteriorating highway linking Dau Giay Intersection with Dalat has hindered tourist arrivals in the city. Previously, it took visitors from HCMC around six hours to reach Dalat, but now the 300-km distance takes them up to ten hours due to bad road conditions.
“Therefore, the provincial government has required contractors to finish upgrading the road and give it a smooth facelift to ensure road safety for visitors, and all works must be completed prior to December 26,” Viet told reporters. It is expected that the traveling time by then will be reduced to seven hours, Viet said.

The Dalat Culture-Tourism Week 2013 will take place from December 27 to 31, featuring a flower festival, celebration of 120 years of Dalat development, and introduction of the National Tourism Year for Central Highlands-Dalat.

Vo Ngoc Hiep, chairman of Dalat City, said that the fifth Dalat Flower Festival is expected to help the city attract 3.6 million tourists this year compared to 3 million in the January-September period. There are some 15,000 hotel rooms in the city able to accommodate 40,000 visitors at one time, he said.

Doan Van Viet furthered that Lam Dong Province government is asking Vietnam Airlines to launch more flights connecting Dalat with other localities like Hanoi, HCMC, Hai Phong and Danang during the week-long festival. The private air carrier VietJetAir has recently launched flights connecting Dalat with HCMC and Vinh City.

In his further comments on National Highway 20, Viet said the road upgrade progress was slowing due to two major projects being executed simultaneously. These are the project to develop the Dau Giay-Bao Loc expressway section and the Bao Loc-Dalat expressway that are expected for completion in late 2014 and late 2015 respectively.

Source: SGT