THE breathtaking landscape created by imposing karst mountains and impressive terraced rice fields, together with the unique ethnic culture of the local Hmong people, has turned Vietnam’s Ha Giang province into a magnet for tourists and travellers.

The country’s northernmost province is home to the Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark – the first Global Unesco Geopark in Vietnam.

A view of impressive terraced rice fields in Vietnam’s northernmost province of Ha Giang. vietnam-travel.org/vns

In 2016, the province released a resolution on policies to promote tourism development. These policies support individuals and enterprises who invest into hotels, resorts, restaurants, community tourism and cave tourism.

At present, there are 20 tourist companies with representative offices in the province. In addition, more than 200 restaurants, 618 hotels with nearly 6,000 rooms, and 37 cultural villages offering community tourism have contributed significantly to provincial tourism development.

A Hmong boy plays a traditional instrument along a scenic mountain road. nationalgeographic.com/vns

Last year, among the 1,150,000 tourists to visit Ha Giang, 250,000 were foreigners. Total revenue from tourism reached more than $43 million.

This has helped Ha Giang stamp itself on the country’s tourism map. It is one of 24 national key tourism spots and has been selected by the international press as one of the most interesting destinations in Vietnam.

However, receiving an increasing number of tourists each year, there are many remaining matters that could harm further tourism development.

While a limited traffic network at some places are inaccessible, poor tourism infrastructure is sometimes unable to satisfy tourists’ demands. Viet Nam News/Asia News Network