Living with Tourism in Mountainous Sapa Town

A career for many people is the result of predestined affinity. Le Thanh Hai, Director of Khanh Hai Private Enterprise, is such a person.

 

He said in 1987 when he was assigned to work Agribank - Sapa Branch, he thought his life would be attached to numbers or money affairs. But in 1991, he suddenly moved to a construction company in the district to work in different places as he loved travelling but unfortunately that company was dissolved two years later. Then, he decided to work in the tourism industry

 

He saw that Sapa was very attractive to foreign visitors who were very keen on local handicraft products, especially in brocade; thus, he decided to form a sewing workshop to produce brocade. From only local sales, his workshop won an export contract with a US importer. In fact, this was not as simple as he thought but it required continuous efforts of his family. Fortunately, the high ratio of returns and a growing income convinced all related persons.

 

He found that the number of tourists going to Sapa was continuously growing. In 2000, he decided to invest in hospitality accommodation with a nine-room hotel first. But in 2002, he found it was very difficult for a small business to improve service professionalism and attract foreign tourists. Thus, he decided to sell it to invest in a larger hotel. The investment capital was initially estimated at nearly VND6 billion but it required nearly VND10 billion upon completion. Sapa Gold Sea Hotel has 34 rooms meeting 2-star standards. The inauguration fell on the 100^th founding anniversary of Sapa in October 2003. With its favourable location and systematic investment, the hotel attracts a large number of customers, maintaining a high rate of room occupancy. Thus, annual revenue was stable at over VND2 billion.

 

He added that to invest more in tourism to unlock the local potentiality, Khanh Hai is implementing a project to develop a 130-ha ecotourism zone at a cost of VND50 billion in Sau Chun village, Sapa town. To create an attractive ecotourism destination, Khanh Hai will plant nice-looking trees such as pecan and fruit trees and keep black chickens and pigs, etc. After obtaining the licence from local authorities, the company is clearing the site for the ecological tourism zone Construction will start in 2010 and the zone will be put into service in 2013.