VI
EN
Statistics from 2024 in Sa Pa ward show that during holidays and festivals, there are approximately 100 cases of children and 50-60 cases of adults involved in soliciting, pestering, selling goods, and begging. On Fridays and Saturdays, this number fluctuates between 60-70 children and 40-50 adults, mainly ethnic minorities living in the area.
The problem of touting, harassment, and street vending in Sa Pa town has been a complex issue for many years now.
Notably, this situation has persisted for many years, causing frustration not only for tourists visiting and vacationing in Sa Pa but also for the local people. This negatively impacts the image of Sa Pa as a key tourism hub of the nation.
In response to this situation, Sa Pa town has been aggressively implementing various solutions to gradually reduce and eventually eliminate this problem.
Mr. Do Van Tan, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Sa Pa town, said that he has directed relevant units to develop regulations on begging, street vending, and performing arts in the town center. Along with that, they are intensifying efforts to educate residents and tourists not to give money to children or buy goods from street vendors through all media channels and social media platforms.
The town of Sa Pa has been aggressively implementing various solutions to gradually reduce and eventually eliminate this situation.
According to Mr. Do Van Tan, in the coming time, Sa Pa will develop well-organized, diverse, and attractive weekend cultural and artistic programs and activities to attract tourists. In addition, the town is reviewing streets to arrange sales points for people who genuinely produce handicrafts. Communes and wards will promote vocational training, job chuyển đổi, and employment in businesses, restaurants, and hotels to earn income.
The town will also strengthen its public awareness campaigns and strictly handle violations; continue to build more tourist information stations to provide timely information to tourists; and increase the number of directional signs and tourist information on the streets…
Mr. Tan affirmed that if any cases of exploiting or gathering children for begging or performing are discovered, Sa Pa town will consolidate the information and identification files to hand over to the police for consideration and handling according to the law.
