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highlights five of Vietnam’s most significant investment projects that
will drastically change the tourism landscape.
A 7km long cable car system with
total investment of VND4.4 trillion
(nearly $210 million) is under con-
struction on Indochina’s highest peak,
mount Fansipan in the northwest prov-
ince of Lao Cai. The cable car is part
of a larger complex of entertainment
options and a hotel being built by the
Fansipan-Sapa Cable Tourism Service
Co., Ltd., a member of Sun Group – the
corporation behind the Ba Na cable
car project. The cable car system will
connect Sapa to the Muong Hoa Val-
ley and the Fansipan peak, dubbed
the Roof of Indochina. It is expected
that the work will be completed by the
end of 2014 and it will be put into use
in 2015. The journey to the peak will
then take only 15 minutes. Maximum
capacity will be 2,000 passengers per
hour. This is the first three-wire cable
car system in Asia and the longest,
highest and most complex three-wire
system in the world.
So far this year, Sapa has wel-
comed 610,000 tourists, including
international visitors from 70 coun-
tries. It is expected that once the
cable car project is completed, Sapa
will welcome about 2 million visitors
a year in 2017 and 3 million passen-
gers in 2020.
The project is not without its de-
tractors, however, with some raising
concerns about the impact on the envi-
ronment which is home to about 2,024
floral varieties and 327 faunal species.
The first terminal of the $771 mil-
lion Phu Quoc International Airport of-
ficially opened in 2013 to replace the
runway in Duong Dong Town. The
900-ha airport is capable of receiving
Boeing 777s and similar aircraft, and
some 2.6 million passengers a year.
Many domestic services are al-
ready in operation and flights from
international destinations are in the
pipeline. Airlines from Russia, the EU,
South Korea, and Southeast Asia are
conducting market research.
From March 10, travellers arriving
from international destinations will
benefit from a visa waiver allowing
stays of 30 days.
This is the first international visa
waiver in Vietnam and will raise in-
dustry hopes for more relaxed entry
requirements to the nation as a whole.
Providing a further significant
boost to the island, a new power cable
will complete early this year. This will
provide significantly cheaper power
than that generated by the island’s
current diesel generators.
RAISING THE BAR
FOR VIETNAM’S TOURISM
CONTROVERSIAL FANSIPAN CABLE CAR PROJECT
PHU QUOC’S TOURISM REVOLUTION