More than a mere tourism project, Sun World Fansipan Legend of Sun Group has contributed not only to spectacular changes but also the rise of the international ranking of Sa Pa tourism on the international map with many prestigious awards.
Sa Pa is no longer a quiet land
Before the inauguration of Hanoi – Lao Cai Expressway, Sa Pa was a truly quiet land, where tourists only came to rest and explore the villages for a 2-day trip. Trekking Mount Fansipan – the roof of Indochina – is only for those with good health as the journey is really difficult and not everyone can spend two days in the forests. Despite the fact that Sa Pa was built by the French as a famous resort paradise, after the historic upheavals until the early 1990s, Sa Pa was like a sleeping princess. Finding a breakthrough solution was always a burning issue for the tourism sector. There were 720,000 tourist arrivals in Sa Pa in 2013 which inched up slightly in 2014 to 826,000 arrivals.
In 2015, the plan for tourism development of Lao Cai Province to 2020, with a vision to 2030, targeted to develop tourism in Sa Pa and Lao Cai with five product lines: sightseeing – relaxation, cultural tourism to understand the culture of ethnic groups, eco-tourism, sports tourism, border tourism and spiritual tourism. A milestone marking a new period of Sa Pa tourism began in 2016, when Sun World Fansipan Legend by Sun Group came into operation. Tourists to Sa Pa reached 1.2 million arrivals for the first time after many years.
A modern 3-wire cable car system was the first work to be built, connecting Sa Pa town with Fansipan peak – the most majestic landscape in Indochina – and enabling everyone including old people and children to realise the dream of conquering Fansipan. The two day and night climbing journey with many difficulties was shortened to only 15 minutes, with impressive experiences such as flying over Muong Hoa valley, in the middle of a sea of clouds and the spectacular Hoang Lien Son Mountain Range, etc. The cable car system to the Roof of Indochina facilitates an amazing journey to conquer the summit of Fansipan Mountain at 3,143m.
Sun World Fansipan Legend cable car system was followed by a series of new products and constructions, from the magnificent spiritual complex atop Mount Fansipan that provides visitors who love spiritual tourism with a place of retreat and meditation, to the flagpole at the highest peak of Indochina – a source of national pride when standing in the middle of the Northwest peak. The cable car station with seasonal flower valleys such as roses, Verbena ofcinalis, buckwheat and Prunus cerasoides (wild Himalayan cherry) and Japanese cherry in the near future will certainly continue to exert strong attractions among visitors to Sa Pa. Moreover, with the top-notch art shows such as “Dance on the Clouds”, “Horse Hooves on the Cloud” race or frequently held Northwest traditional festivals, Sun World Fansipan Legend has made significant contributions to awaken Sa Pa with new colours, totally different from Sa Pa 10 years ago – when the whole town was known as a quiet land in the mist.
Reaching out to the world
In recent years, Sa Pa achieved a growth rate of tourists of 23.4% per year. In 2020, despite the huge impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry, the arrivals of tourists to Sa Pa still reached 1.2 million. It is clear that Sun World Fansipan Legend with many new and fascinating natural and cultural experiences has partly contributed to the attraction of Sa Pa to visitors.
Not only contributing to the rise of Sa Pa tourism ranking on Viet Nam’s tourist map with the increasing number of annual tourists, Sun World Fansipan Legend was also honoured internationally with prestigious awards and a strong impression on the global tourist map. The land in the mist has been honoured with international prestigious and impressive awards. Sun World Fansipan Legend won the World’s Leading Cultural Tourist Attraction award for two consecutive years (2019, 2020) at World Travel Awards (WTA) – “the Oscars of the world tourism industry”. In 2020, Sun World Fansipan Legend takes one step further with the “World’s Leading Natural Landscape Tourist Attraction” award.
“Making the experience of conquering the highest peak of Indochina with overwhelming beauty easy for everyone, it is convincing that Sun World Fansipan Legend won this title at the World Travel Awards,” said Mr. Graham Cooke, Founder & President, World Travel Awards, when explaining WTA’s selection of winners.
Actually, Sun World Fansipan Legend was known around the world before it won this award. Accordingly, it has been named as an ideal destination with impressive art shows and the presence of famous brands. This is conclusively proved as Muong Hoa mountain train station was included in the Louis Vuitton Art of Travel 2019 Campaign by Louis Vuitton. In its campaign, Louis Vuitton aimed to write a creative travel book with beautiful scenes. It is clear that the choice of the big luxury fashion brand has shown the conformity of the products at Sun World Fansipan Legend to the luxury criteria and reaching international standards.
“Sun Group has promoted the development of Vietnamese tourism beyond national boundaries to reach out to the world,” Mr. Graham Cooke said about the leading group in Viet Nam that is attaching its name to world-class tourism, entertainment and resort projects. For Sa Pa tourism in particular, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Chien, Director of Sun World Fansipan Legend, said that: “We are always consistent with our core values: class, quality and difference to create large-scale and impressive works, diversifying local resort tourism products as well as enhancing the position of Sa Pa tourism.”
Source: Vietnamnews.vn