A professional running tournament filled with musical acts, the first of its kind in Vietnam, will take place in Da Lat, a tourist city in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, in conjunction with a provincial ‘tourism golden week,’ in late April.

The provincial administration held a press conference in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday to announce Lam Dong Tourism Golden Week 2022, slated for April 23 to April 30, and Da Lat Music Run 2022, scheduled for April 22 to 24, as a unique sport-music event.

The two events will mark the resumption of the province’s tourism after Vietnam fully reopened to international visitors on March 15 following two years of closure due to COVID-19, said Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, deputy director of the Lam Dong Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

These events will be held in compliance with all COVID-19 prevention and control requirements, Ngoc said.

With the theme of ‘Da Lat - Resort Paradise,' the Lam Dong Tourism Golden Week 2022 will help revitalize cultural and tourism activities and boost demand for travel between Ho Chi Minh City and Lam Dong, according to the department.

The Da Lat Music Run 2022 will be jointly organized by the provincial tourism sector, Vietravel, and Nexus Sport Events.

The music-sport combination event, with optional run distances of 5, 10 or 21 kilometers, will take place in the areas of Xuan Huong Lake, Yersin Park, and Lam Vien Square in Da Lat.

Visitors who participate in the running contest will have the chance to contemplate beautiful landscapes, enjoy the fresh, cool air of the mountainous town, and relish special music performances.

This event is expected to attract some 3,000 participants including professional athletes, locals, and tourists.

It has been designed to provide visitors with fresh and interesting experiences of a sport-music festival and make Da Lat a favorite destination among sport lovers, the department said.

Winners of the tournament will get cash prizes ranging from VND1 million (US$44) to VND5 million ($221) and different air tickets, depending on the running distance, according to web.thethao.vn.      

Da Lat now can offer 40,000 rooms to travelers each night, and provincial authorities may mobilize more accommodations for visitors.    

Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang, deputy general director of tourist firm Vietravel, said that within the framework of the running tournament, the company will also provide preferential package tours to athletes.

Lam Dong welcomed about 1.17 million visitors in the first two months of 2022, up 42.7 percent from a year earlier, despite the pandemic’s impacts, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

The province expects to receive some 5.5 million visits this year, including 5.35 million domestic and 150,000 foreign travelers.

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