In the early months of 2025, Lao Cai has hosted a wide range of cultural, artistic, and sporting events, along with vibrant and distinctive spring festivals such as the Den Thuong Festival (in Lao Cai City), the Field-Going Festival, the Gau Tao Festival in upland areas, the Bac Ha White Plateau Festival, and the Sa Pa Summer Festival, etc. These events have attracted a large number of tourists, contributing to increased revenue in the accommodation, food and beverage, and transportation service sectors.

The total number of visitors to Lao Cai in the first 4 months of the year reached 4,044,833 arrivals (of which: 357,994 international visitors, 3,686,838 domestic visitors), equal to 40% of the 2025 plan (10,000,000 arrivals), an increase of 46% compared to the same period in 2024 (2,767,834 arrivals).

Lao Cai welcomed more than 4 million domestic and international visitors in the first 4 months of 2025.

Key destinations that continue to attract a large number of tourists are Lao Cai city , Sa Pa, Bao Yen, Bac Ha, Bat Xat, so on. The total revenue from tourists reached about 13,672 billion VND, equal to 30.55% of the annual plan (44,750 billion VND), increasing 52% compared to the same period in 2024 (8,958 billion VND).

This growth shows the strong attraction of Lao Cai tourism, especially in community cultural, spiritual and resort destinations.

The above figures also show that Lao Cai tourism is on the path of strong recovery, with impressive growth in both domestic and international markets. The diversity of tourism products, from cultural tourism, green tourism to high-end resort tourism, has met the increasingly diverse needs of tourists.

In 2025, Lao Cai aims to welcome 10 million visitors, with total revenue from tourists reaching 44,750 billion VND in 2025. With the current growth momentum, this goal is completely feasible, especially when the locality continues to promote activities and improve the quality of tourism services in the province.

In the coming time, Lao Cai will focus on implementing new products to stimulate tourism through a series of attractive events, contributing to continuing to promote the potential and strengths of each locality to tourists.

As part of the “Bac Ha Spring – Summer White Plateau Festival Event Series”, the traditional horse racing tournament of Bac Ha district is scheduled to be held in early June with the theme “Captivating Highland Horse Racing”. This is an attractive tourism product in the tour programs of travel agencies.

The qualifying round of the Bac Ha District Traditional Horse Racing Tournament officially started on May 3, 2025.

Notably, tourism promotion activities continue to be a major focus for the province. The 2025 Lao Cai International Tourism Fair, themed “Lao Cai Tourism - Connecting Green Aspirations,” is set to take place over four days, from June 5 to 8, 2025, at Dinh Le Square in Lao Cai City. The fair will feature 130 standard booths, with participation from a wide range of tourism-related businesses and organizations (including travel agencies, accommodation providers, food and beverage services, transportation companies, tourist sites, entertainment venues, and souvenir and gift shops) from within the province, across Vietnam, and internationally. As part of the program, the fair will host a variety of tourism promotion and networking activities, inviting both domestic and international partners, organizations, and businesses. It will also feature cultural exchange and tourism promotion events with representatives from countries with diplomatic missions in Hanoi, such as China, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, India, France, Malaysia, and Australia, as well as enterprises operating in key cities and provinces like Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, and Ho Chi Minh City, etc.

For the first time, the International Tourism Fair was held in Lao Cai.

In addition, from now until the end of 2025, Lao Cai will continue to present cultural tourism products (live-action performances) that have proven successful in pilot stages, including “Dance Under the Moon” and “Leaning into Each Other.” The province will also maintain signature tourism products and events that have become well-established local brands, such as “Sapa Brocade and Flowers 2025,” the “Rose and Love Festival” in Bac Ha, the Sapa Snow Festival 2025, the Northwest Quintessence Festival 2025, the 3rd Bac Ha Multi-Sport Tourism Race (Bac H’Adventure), and the Bat Xat Autumn Festival 2025.

Lao Cai is also advancing several international tourism cooperation initiatives with Chinese border provinces. These include the model tour product “Two Countries, Six Destinations” linking Kunming and Honghe Prefecture (China) with Sapa (Lao Cai), Hanoi, Hai Phong, and Quang Ninh (Vietnam); the international cycling race “One Track – Two Nations”; and the development of a transnational terraced fields tourism route connecting Mu Cang Chai (Yen Bai) – Sapa (Lao Cai) – Yuanyang (China), etc.