The northern mountainous province of Lao Cai received 58,000 holiday-makers, including 26,000 foreigners, in the past two months, a year-on-year increase of 33 percent.

Of the total, 10,500 came from China’s southwestern region through the Lao Cai border gate.

The figures showed a good sign for the provincial tourism industry amidst forecasts that 2009 would be a difficult year for tourism services due to the impact of the global economic crisis.

However, the number of domestic tourists to Lao Cai and Sa Pa tourist resort plunged by 49.2 percent year on year as it is not the tourism season in Vietnam and many Vietnamese have tightened their belt as a result of the economic difficulties.

In addition, many restaurants and hotels in Sa Pa haven’t yet lowered the prices of their services to stimulate tourism demands in response to the industry’s promotion campaign.

VietNamNet/VOV