(VNF)- A team of French experts are working on a plan to help tourism authorities in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai develop sustainable tourism in Bac Ha town, the second most popular destination in the locality.

Under a plan devised by a group of experts from the Aquitaine region in France, the town will be zoned into three principal areas. Its center is expected to maintain traditional markets as well as alluring cultural, sports and recreation activities and resort services.

Areas surrounding the centre are ideal for tourists to learn more about time-honored traditions handicraft, communal activities and local cuisine.

Eco-tourism and home-stay models, as well as river and cave exploration tours will be developed in the outer vicinity.

Regarding the Bac Ha town zoning project, the French experts also proposed congruous architectural models, grid systems and roads leading to and from local villages.

Doan Van Huong, Chair of the Lao Cai People’s Committee, pinned his hopes that the plan would be completed by the end of this year.

Improvements to the central bus station, waste water treatment and underground grid systems should also be part of the final plan, Huong urged.

In the first half of 2015, tourist arrivals in Bac Ha saw a 30 percent year-on-year rise. The town admnistration has carried out projects to improve its central market and build roads to villages, but the projects lack in cohesion and sustainability.

Lao Cai Province, with its gem being Sa Pa resort town, has drawn influxes of holidaymakers, including foreigners, in the past several years for its chilly weather, magnificent landscape, unique terrace fields, and friendly ethnic minority people./.

by VNF