Ba Be National Park prioritized in Bac Kan's tourism development

                                                           Photos: Duc Anh

Northern mountainous province to focus on national park and picturesque Ba Be Lake in developing its tourism sector to 2020 and beyond.

Ba Be National Park will be the top priority in efforts of northern mountainous Bac Kan province to develop its tourism sector under its development plan for the 2016-2021 period and vision to 2030.

Ba Be Lake, within the national park, has been recognized by UNESCO as a Ramsar site, an important wetland of the world. The lake is estimated to span 500 ha, is located 178 meters above sea level, and has a depth of 17 to 29 meters. Its widest point is 8 km.

Ba means three in Vietnamese and Be means lake. The name of the lake comes from the convergence of three rivers: Pe Lam, Pe Lu and Pe Leng. The bed of the lake is covered with clay at a thickness of 200 meters, and for this reason it retains water.

It is the only natural lake in Vietnam surrounded by mountains and a special use forest system. It also has a diverse ecosystem, with over 417 types of plants, 299 kinds of vertebrates, and 49 species of freshwater aquatic life. Ba Be Lake is the only place in Vietnam and regional countries to have the Francois langur, a type of leaf monkey.

Most local people are ethnic minorities, such as Tay, Mong, and Dao, and are very hospitable. Visitors are welcomed with corn wine, pork and folk music. Other local destinations include Puong Cave, Dau Dang Waterfall, Tien Pool, Room Waterfall, Phya Khao Waterfall and Nam Cuong Market.

The lake is some 220 km from Hanoi. Hotels cost from VND200,000 ($9) to VND300,000 ($14) per room for two, while homestays in a house of a Tay ethnic minority family cost just VND50,000 ($2.2) per person. 

The province targets to earn tourism revenue of VND1.96 trillion ($87.76 million) in 2020 and VND4.2 trillion ($188 million) in 2030.

It is building a route from Thai Nguyen to Cho Moi (in Bac Kan) to quicken the trip from Hanoi. The new route will cut between one hour and one a half hours from the travel time needed to reach Bac Kan from Hanoi, making it a one and a half hour or two hour trip.

Bac Kan aims to have 26 communes as new-style rural areas in 2020 and 60 in 2030. Moreover, poor households will decline from 2 to 2.5 per cent per year in the 2016-2020 period. Gross regional domestic product (GRDP) per capita in 2020 will be from VND46 million ($2,060) to VND48 million ($2,159) each year, equal to 55 per cent of average GRDP in Vietnam.

In the 2016-2020 period it aims to rise five places every year in the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) and be among provinces with good governance.

by Luong Nhi / VET