Question: Analyze tourism infrastructure in the Northwest of Viet Nam Answer: 1.

Roadway Northwest area plays an important role in the society, economy and security of Vietnam. Therefore, the Ministry of Transport has invested in planning, building up and improving roads system of the area. Lots of transport constructions have been upgraded such as highway 2, 6, 3, 70, 32, belt roads 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d,, 279, 37, which has been estimated at about 3700 4300 kilometers altogether. There are many high quality transport routes being used like Noi Bai Lao Cai, Hanoi Thai Nguyen, Hoa Lac Hoa Binh, Lang Son Bac Ninh... The Northwestern average density of road is 0.59km/km2 and 2.56km/1,000 people. It is quite lower than that of the whole country 0.63km/km2 and 4.95km/1,000 people. That can be explained by not only the quality of infrastructure here but also its topography. Some roads are still in investment period whereas others are being improved but not really systematically. That totally reduces the efficiency of investment. Besides, it is its natural topography that becomes obstacles to develop infrastructure here. Most of towns belong to the mountainous area and their road quality is low. Some roads can be only used in the dry season. Especially, the characteristics of mountainous area are tortuous, full of slopes and hard to see; so that might be dangerous for transportation and have risks of traffic accidents. 2. Railway With the total 700km in length, the Northwest railway includes 4 main routes: Hanoi-Dong Dang (Lang Son) (163km); Hanoi- Lao Cai (296km); Hanoi-Thai Nguyen (79km); Luu Xa-Kep-Ha Long (162km). However, the area railway capability is still limited and an extreme degradation can be seen in most of the routes which is bad quality service, low level of safety and hygiene. Hanoi-Lao Cai route is considered as the most effective route in this area with 4 high speed routes (SP1-3-5-7) going through Yen Bai, Bao Ha, Lao Cai stations and 3 slow routes (LC1-3-5) with 13 to 27 local stations. Despite poor service, the number of passengers going by train to this area is at a high level thanks to the attractiveness of Sapa- the famous destination appealing to both domestic and foreign tourists. The low quality routes are now maintained and invested by the private-owned

companies with the improvement in service quality, higher sanitation and safety. Especially, the wood-equipped train- the high quality train- to Sapa has the price range of 300,000 to 600,000VND per couch (w or w/o air-conditioner) that each passenger will be given 1 drink and wet wipe (only for soft seat and above); besides, the railway is cleaned up every day. In the peak time such as Tet, special occasions or even weekend, the Hanoi Railway Station supplements 5 routes from LC3 to LC8 to meet residents and tourists demand. Luu Xa-Kep-Ha Long route is no longer running the way; Hanoi-Dong Dang passes 10 stops. The international route (Hanoi-Dong Dang-Beijing) gets bad reputation for smuggling and stealing; Hanoi-Thai Nguyen route is still running regularly but without improvement in the quality of service, the 3 left routes are becoming worse and suffering from loss. 3. Waterway In provinces in the North West, there are many large rivers flowing through. However, due to complex terrain, high mountains, river system have not yet developed. There is only a river port (Ta Hoc Port) of Hoa Binh lake and a port in Muong la, Son La province is being built. Some waterways ports such as Bich Ha Port, Ba Cap Port, Binh Thanh Port and Thung Nai Port run through thanks to Da River. Red River system is the largest river system in Vietnam. With 70.700km2 basin river area, Red River system has many tributaries including Da River and Lo River. These two main tributaries cooperate with other estuaries to create the quadrant flow net and center on Viet Tri city. The network form causes major dangerous flooding in the northern plains. Nevertheless, after constructing Hoa Binh hydro-electric plant, flood has fallen several times and help the farmers in preventing annual flooding.
4. Airway

The regions only have two airports: Na San and Dien Bien Airport but the capacity is limited. Because of degradation, Na San Airport had to stop all activities. Dien Bien Phu Airport was upgraded in 2004, currently operates flights from Ha Noi to Dien Bien with an average of 2 frequent flights ATR72/day. In the near future, the government expects to upgrade this airport to become an international sub-regional one for the North West.

5. Electricty The hydroelectric projects like Son La hydropower with a capacity of 2400MW (investment capital of 36,933 billion VND (2005-2012)); Tuyen Quang Hydropower (Son La); Nam Chien Hydropower (Son La), Na Duong Thermal Power (Lang Son), etc, provide electricity to the national electricity system, and contribute with other hydroelectric plants on the Da River to prevent flood during the rainy season, to supply water on the dry season for the northern plains and to promote the development for socio-economic of the whole Northwest. In fact, the national electricity grid has extensively covered the whole region, the average rate of about 93% of communes have electricity. Some provinces like Lao Cai, Phu Tho, Lang Son or Ha Giang reach at 100% of communes had national grid. However, this region still faces many difficulties and low levels of development in all aspects compared with the national average. However, the electricity in the Northwest has not met all the needs of peoples use. In many places, especially at the home locations of many ethnic minorities, theres serious lack of power due to the topographical characteristics of the region. 6. Recommendations The Northwest region has been one of the most attractive parts of Vietnam to the tourists, especially for those who would like to experience the ruggedness and discover the unknown. However, the infrastructure of the region is still quite primitive despite attracting quite much investment. Since most of the areas are mountainous - which creates lots of difficulties for transportation the local roads should be checked and upgraded frequently to enhance their quality for safer travelling. In terms of safety, some people prefer traveling by train to motorbikes or automobiles in the region. However, the railway system of the region has been degraded with so limited capacity that it cannot meet the traveling demand. The government should take it into account increasing the frequency of the main routes to facilitate more travelers and avoid the overcrowding situation. In addition, the inside facilities also need improving considerably due to their serious degradation. Since the northwestern topography is quite complicated with mainly high mountains, the electricity hasnt been available to some of the ethnic minorities, which has made their lives even worse. The government should continue their effort to supply electricity to those areas as soon as possible to bring a better life to all the residents.

_____________ Group 3 Tut 2 TR09 Nguyen Thu Ha Tran Thi Huong Giang Nguyen Thi Thu Trang Dinh Thi Mai Linh Pham My Kim