PM approves the master plan to develop Dong Van stone plateau in Ha Giang

Accordingly, Ha Giang expects to build a special tourist area by 2025 which represent Ha Giang with synchronous and modern facilities.

It is expected that by 2020, the Dong Van stone plateau will welcome 800,000 visitors, of which 130,000 people will be international visitors, with a total of VND1,300 billion (roughly US$57.33 million) in revenue.

By 2025, it will receive 950,000 visitors, with estimated revenue of VND2,800 billion (roughly US$123.48 million) which is expected to reach VND5,000 billion (roughly US$220.51 million) by 2030.

By 2020, the plan is set to construct a number of 2,600 rooms which is expected to reach 9,000 rooms by 2030.

Some recommended special tourist products include one day of Pao, Khau Vai love market, one day of doing farm work with Mong people in Meo Vac, walking street and old town in Dong Van.

In terms of development orientation, the Dong Van stone plateau will be focused on exploiting the visitor market from Hanoi, the urban areas in the Red River Delta; provinces in the midland and mountainous areas in the north of Vietnam and step by step expand to the major markets in the central and south of Vietnam.

There is also the focus on international markets having high-spending capacity such as Western Europe, North America, Japan and South Korea, and the market expansion to ASEAN countries, China and Eastern Europe.

The main tourist products are geological tourism, community tourism, nature tourism, auxiliary tourism products and some special tourist products.

Some tourist routes including the caravan tour to tourist destinations in Laos, northern Thailand and China, inter-provincial tourism, self-experience travel and intra-provincial tourism routes will be developed.

In order to effectively exploit the tourism potential in the Dong Van stone plateau, infrastructure and technical facilities including accommodation areas, entertaining, commercial and service systems and information center will be improved and developed. The plan must ensure the sustainable development which is associated with the preservation and promotion of cultural identities of ethnic groups.

The key tourism projects in Ha Giang will be given the tax exemption and reduction; specific mechanisms based on local realities with the principle of optimal support will be developed and issued; local human resources are encouraged to be trained and used. At the same time, the land clearance of high-grade tourist sites and entertainment areas will be supported.

Located at an average elevation of 1,000-1,600m above sea level and on an area of 232,606 ha in four districts of Quan Ba, Yen Minh, Meo Vac and Dong Van, Ha Giang Province, Dong Van stone plateau is one of the special karst regions of Vietnam.

Dong Van attracts visitors with the lush green of craggy, scurvy limestone mountains and countless fossil specimens aged 400 to 600 million years. In addition, there is also a diversity of cultural identity due to this is the habitat of 17 ethnic minorities.

With outstanding values, the Dong Van Stone Plateau has been recognized by the Global Geopark Network (GGN) as global geopark since 2010.