New attraction for the 5th Dalat Flower Festival from the floral extravaganza

The chill in the Central Highland city of Da Lat will be warmed by flowers and festivities this New Year holiday, during the Da Lat Culture Tourism Week 2013.
“Unlike the annual Flower Festival, this year the week includes three big remarkable events, namely the 120th anniversary of Da Lat City, the 5th national flower festival and the announcement of the national tourism year 2014 with the key destinations of Central Highlands and Da Lat,” Vo Ngoc Hiep, chairman of Da Lat’s People’s Committee, told Viet Nam News.

“That’s why all the activities throughout the city will aim to show off the tourism potential of Da Lat City and Central Highlands region as well as the local flower industry,” he said.

The opening ceremony of the tourism week will be held tomorrow night at Lam Vien Square.

According to the organisers, the Flower Festival will be a key topic during the week. Flowers and bonsai will decorate main tourism sites like Xuan Huong Lake, Prenn Waterfall and downtown streets.

Hiep noted that annual flower festivals had a positive effect on local socio-economics. “In 2005, the first flower festival brought 1.6 million visitors to the city, while this year [the 5th festival], the number of tourists may reach 3.4 million people,” Hiep said.

Hiep said local tourism authorities had organised training courses to improve service quality at local restaurants and hotels, who are then encouraged to offer best services at reasonable prices.

Da Lat has 11,000 rooms that can host up to 25,000 guests per night, he said.

He further added that the city, which is also known as the “kingdom of flowers”, now hosts 60 flower-growing enterprises, which plant flowers on a total area of 3,500ha.

The average income that locals get from 1ha of flowers is around VND1 billion (US$450,000) while the income from 1ha of strawberries is VND100 million.