Recommendation to further develop tourism in the destination
Hanoi Open University Faculty of Tourism Members: Ha Thi Thu Trang Ho Thu Ngan Pham Hong Minh Luong Thi Huyen Trang Hanoi, May 2009 Tourism Components - Dalat I. INTRODUCTION. In each course English, members in our faculty have to do an assignment or a project to improve our knowledge and our skills as well. And in this HD1 course, we have to do a project about tourism components in group of four members. This group project aims at researching information and analyzing the tourism components of a destination in Vietnam. After being told about this project, we got together and choose Dalat to do this project. Next, we shared the work together equally. Then each member had to find information for her part and write down the paragraph. At last, we gathered all the small parts into a full-done assignment. We hope that reader will feel interesting with our project and have the necessary information. II. BODY. 1. Overview of Dalat. a. Location and meaning of the name “Dalat”. Dalat is the capital of Lam Dong province in Vietnam. Dalat known as “Le Petit Paris” in Vietnam where is located 1500m (4920 ft) above sea level on the Langbiang Plateau in the southern parts of the Central Highlands (in Vietnamese – Tay Nguyen). According to a myth from the French colonial era, the name derives from the acronym of the Latin phrase “Dat Aliis Laetitiam Aliis Temperiem”. It means “giving pleasure to some, freshness to others”. The French colonial government used in their official emblem of Dalat. In reality, the name derives from the language of the local ethnic group Lat and its original meaning is “stream of the Lat” and the acronym above is in fact a back acronym. b. Geography. 2 Tourism Components - Dalat Dalat located in the south of Tay Nguyen Highlands. Its surface area is 9.772,19 km 2 occupying about 2.9% of that of the entire country. The province borders: • Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan provinces in the east. • Đong Nai province in the southwest. • Binh Thuan province in the south – southeast. • Daklak province in the north. c. Economy. Dalat’s economy is quite diversified with many kinds of fields such as: commerce, trade, handicraft and vegetable industry. Commerce and trade The items occupying a high proportion in the export figures are coffee bean (26.2%), textiles, knitwear and apparel (34.3%), silk (8.36%), tea (11.9%) and tin (6.9%). For the export market before 1992, the chief market was USSR and East- European countries. 3 Tourism Components - Dalat In the 1990s, the market for Lam Đong products shifted to the ASEAN, the Middle-East and to some extent, Europe. Lâm Đồng has 4 central markets: Dalat Market, Bao Loc Market, Di Linh Market, Lien Nghia (Đuc Trong) Market. d. Handicraft. Although Lam Đong is a mountainous province, its geographical position and natural conditions have created a fairly close relationship with the neighboring areas, especially with the provinces in the east of the southern region. In addition, Lam Đong has in its territory the famous Dalat city which is both a resort and a tourist center for the country. For these reasons, there has been an increased demand for specialties of the province from among visitors. In Lam Đong in general and in Dalat in particular, there has been increased development of local crafts producing fine wines, confectionery and syrups from fruits, processed tea and coffee, unique jig-saw and hydrographic work, embroidery and knitwear, plus the traditional crafts of local minority communities producing textiles, mulled wine, matting, etc. e. Climate. Lam Đong province is situated in the Tay Nguyen Highlands climatic zone 4, a tropical climate with monsoon. On the whole territory, due to a complex topography, there is a difference in elevation and degree of vegetation covering. However, the weather of Lam Đong is temperate and mild all the year round, notable changes are rare in the annual cycle. 4 Tourism Components - Dalat With temperate climate, Da Lat has the average yearly temperature at 18°C, and even in the hottest day of the year, the highest temperature is only about 31°C, while the yearly lowest is about 5°C. Sunny season is from December to March of the following year, and rainy season from April to November. Each day in Da Lat includes all the four seasons, splendid spring in the morning, bright summer at noon, cloudy autumn in the afternoon, and chilly winter at night. It is also windy here; cool breezes make the atmosphere airier and fresher. f.Population - variety of ethnic group. According to the population and housing census (31/12/2005), Lam Đong has 1.169.851 inhabitants. The density is 118 inhabitants / km 2. Lam Đong is a multiethnic province. The majority is the Kinh (77%). Besides the Kinh, Lam Đong is inhabited by: • The aboriginal people: the Koho (12%), the Mạ (2, 5%), the M’Nông, the Churu (1, 5%), the Raglai and the Stiêng. • The people coming from the North: the Tay (2%), the Nung (2%), the Thai, the Muong and the Tho. • The Chinese (1, 5%) g. Transportation. The transportation on land occupies the highest proportion and predominates over other means of transportation. Up until 31.12.1999, in the provincial area, the number of vehicles for transportation of all kinds was fairly great. The transportation on land employs 2,311 vehicles of all kinds for transporting goods with freight– carrying capacity of 8,564 tons and 3,059 vehicles for passengers with a total of 21,868 seats. The transportation on river employs 31 boats, of which 18 are for transporting goods and 13 for passengers. 5 Tourism Components - Dalat Road network: At present, the road network of Lam Đong is relatively dense and is distributed evenly throughout the province. This allows accessibility to most of the villages by different methods of transport and meets the need for convenient traveling. Up to now, with only the section of national roads going through the province, the provincial roads and local roads of all the districts taken into account, in total, the province network of roads extends to 1,744km, of which: • National roads (20, 27 and 28) are 412.15km. • Provincial roads are 346.25km. • Local roads of all the districts are 985.69km. Airway: Liên Khương Airport has a land area of 160ha and has a capacity for receiving ATR-72 – 26 tons airplanes and their equivalents. Due to an increasing demand for traveling, there is a daily flight from Dalat to Ho Chi Minh City and vice versa. Waterway system: The navigation on the Đong Nai River is possible only along 60km in the dry season, chiefly in the Cat Tien area. Railway: The railway line from Tourcham to Dalat is 84km long. Its exploitation began in 1932. In 1976, the Ministry of Communication and Transportation dismantled 21km of rails for use in the restoration of the Thong Nhat line. Since then, the Tourcham – Dalat line has been unused and gradually demolished. At present, the railway service has been restored to an 8km long section from Dalat station to Trại Mát for tourist purposes. h. Tourism. The unique geographical situation of Lam Đong province is the product of a combination of topographical, climatic and hydrographical factors. Together 6 Tourism Components - Dalat with its forests and regional flora and fauna, Lam Đong offers distinctive scenery with many picturesque lakes, falls, hills and pine forests. Some of the natural scenic spots include Xuan Huong Lake, Đan Kia – Suoi Vang Lake, Tuyen Lam Lake, Lake of Sighs, Valley of Love, Đa Nhim Lake, Camly Falls, Datanla Falls, Prenn Falls, Pongour Falls, Dambri Falls, Bobla Falls, Liliang Falls, Voi (Elephant) Falls, Pong Giang Falls, Golf Hills, Lang Bian Mountain,etc. Places of historical and cultural intersest include Palace I, Palace II, Palace III, Palace Hotel, Linh Sơn Pagoda, Linh Phong Pagoda, Truc Lam Zen Monastery, Dalat Cathedral, Camly Church, Cemetery of Heros who died for the country, Cat Tien archaeological site. Local minority communities also hold a variety of festivals including the buffalo sacrifice festival and the gong performance festival. All visitors are invited and welcomed to share in these festivals. 2. Tourism potential. Da Lat city is probably one of Vietnam's most well known vacation destination. Since the turn of the century, Da Lat has been the vacation spot for well-to-do Vietnamese and foreigners. It is the unofficial honeymoon Mecca of Vietnam. Located on Langbian Highlands, part of the greater Central high lands of Vietnam, the city is 1500 m above sea level and is 305 km from Saigon. Therefore, it has cool weather all around year. Traveling around Dalat, visitors will have a chance to see wonderful places such as: Xuan Huong Lake, Valley of Love, Lake of Sorrow, Cambri Waterfall, Tuyen Lam Lake… In addition, visiting to the beautiful landscapes and an excellent climate, tourist can enjoy the unique cultural traditions of many ethnic minorities, including customs and habits, stilt house, traditional costumes and folk songs. Therefore, Dalat attracts a great of number investors from domestic sources as well foreigner sources to develop tourism more and more. 7 Tourism Components - Dalat Base on the available strengths, Dalat tourism needs to orient clearly to develop those strengths, potential to outline plans step by step in the process of industrialization, modernization the tourism industry. Besides the investment, upgrade the system of hotels, restaurants of high quality, the training for staff within the industry is of great necessity. This is one of the most important factors that determine the quality of services in any enterprise, in order to meet the more demanding requirements of tourists. Moreover, the authority should investigate, sort out and evaluate the quality of services on a regular basis. a. Nature. Beautiful landscapes which have been awarded by nature are one of the most strength of Dalat. It’s no easy at all for visitors to choose the initial visiting place in Dalat for its widespread covering beauty. DaLat looks like a cross between Vietnam and the French Alps. The town spreads across a series of pine- covered hills, with a small lake in the center, while surrounded by high peaks, creating lovely scenery quite different from the rest of Vietnam. Today, Dalat is undoubtedly a beautiful tourist town. The vast majority of visitors are both domestic and foreign tourists on short package tours, drawn by the scenery, vivid blue skies, fresh air, flower-filled parks, and local edible treatment. Traveling to Dalat, tourists will have a chance to appreciate beautiful landscapes such as: Ho Xuan Huong Lake, valley of love, Prenn waterfall, lake of sorrow… b. Culture. Traveling to Dalat, tourists will have many chances to discover the culture of this land. Although the development of Dalat tourism isn’t as long as other lands in terms of time, Dalat still has special features of culture such as: ethnic minority’s customs, growing-flowers culture, XQ Dalat silk hand embroidery… In order to help tourists understanding deeply about Dalat culture, Dalat city has organized cultural festivals every two years. Cultural festivals are 8 Tourism Components - Dalat considered one of key products of Da Lat tourism. In fact, cultural festivals present the characteristics of people, land and culture of Dalat. c. Typical tourism products. There is a great deal of typical tourism products in Dalat such as: culture festival, flower festival, adventure tour, ecological tour, XQ historical village… all of them are important component of Dalat tourism which attracted a lot of tourist from everywhere to visit. Cultural festivals: Cultural festivals present Dalat’s unique characteristics, including flower festival, tea culture festival, wine festival and most recently the Vespa festival. A large number of tourists have been attracted by these festivals. For example, the Flower Festival in 2005 attracted approximately 200,000 visitors. The recent Vespa festival with small scale lured more than 500 Vespa riders and over 60,000 tourists. Among of them, flower festival is the most attractive and famous one. In this festival, flowers can be found everywhere and tourists can enjoy many kinds of flower, especially the unique kinds of flowers only in Dalat. The festival concludes an international flower exhibition, a street flower festival and street flower shows, which are very interesting. During the festival, tourists can see and enjoy beauty contests of Vietnam ethnic minorities; therefore they can understand the culture and custom of each ethic minorities. XQ historical village: XQ historical village is a place where the collection of the most valuable embroidery artworks is kept and exhibited. That is the pride and heritage of traditional embroidery art. By the language of things, installation and performance art, visitors shall hear the breath of life by the harmony of embroidery artwork. Here is a special place where visitors can enjoy valuable embroidery art is a feature of Dalat culture. XQ village arranged a space coordinated between installation and performance art. In that place, especially by traditional 9 Tourism Components - Dalat handicraft tourists could find out the character of national culture. XQ village is meaning place for tourists to visit. 3. History of tourism development. The first person to explore this region was Mr. Nguyen Thong. Approximately 25 years later, in 1893, Dr. Yersin, a French immunologist discovered Dankia high lands while on an expedition to the Langbian high lands. The city was established in 1912 and quickly became fashionable with Europeans. At one point during the French colonial period, some 20% of Dalat’s population was foreign, as evidenced by the 2500-odd chateau-style villas scattered around the city. During the American War, Dalat was spared by the tacit agreement of all parties concerned. Indeed, it seems that while South Vietnamese soldiers were being trained at the city’s military academy and affluent officials of the Saigon regime were relaxing in their villas, Viet Cong cadres were doing the same thing not far away in their villas. Dalat fell to North Vietnamese forces without a fight on 3 April 1975. There is no problem with leftover mines and ordnance in the area. Before national liberation day, April 30 th 1975, tourism developed quite rapidly in Dalat which considered a relaxing destination of French colonialism and American Empire. On the contrary, it is still an unknown destination with almost Vietnamese because of war period. After national liberation, however, government has had many new policies which helped improving Vietnam’s economic quickly as well as Dalat tourism. Living standard of Vietnamese gradually improve and Dalat’s tourism also known more than the past. Until now thanks to its characteristic climate and landscapes, Dalat is considered a European City in the midst of a tropical country. Dalat becomes the place for those in need of relaxation, peaceful rest after a period of tired working. Tourists will have good appetite here and their health be quickly improved. The calm and peaceful space will also make tourists free from all the strain and stress of the hurried industrial life. 10