Viet Nam’s poorer regions have started to benefit from a boom in tourism.

A report from the South China Morning Post said the country is expecting the number of tourists to increase by 30% to 17 million in 2018. The tourism business is flourishing not only in the usual tourist destinations like Nha Trang and Da Nang but also in the northern part of the country where there are high rates of poverty and ethnic minority populations.

One example is Lao Cai province, which received more than three million tourists last year. The provincial government expects that in 2 years’ time the highland town of Sapa alone, one of its popular destinations, will get the same number of tourists.

The report said Viet Nam wants to develop tourism as a key economic sector by 2020.  Currently, it accounts for only 7% of the country’s gross domestic product.

Read the full article at the South China Morning Post.