A number of tourism experts and representatives from travel agencies from both home and abroad recently gathered in Da Nang to attend a workshop on marine and luxury holiday tourism, and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) tourism. 

The event was part of the 2016 Beach-Leisure & MICE Travel Mart (BMTM Da Nang 2016) which was held from 24 - 26 June at the Furama Resort Danang.

Discussions focused on the growing trend of MICE, marine and luxury holiday tourism in the world, the potentials for promoting these types of tourism in Da Nang and the central region as a whole, and ways to develop human resources for MICE tourism.

City leaders at the workshop

Many experts remarked that Da Nang is emerging as an attractive destination for beach and holiday tourism, and the city has valuable experience in organising international-level events.  Important events which will be held in the city soon are:  the Da Nang International Marathon (DNIM 2016) on August, the 5^th Asian Beach Games (ABG 5) from 24 September to 3 October, the Da Nang International Fireworks Competition next April, and the 25^th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in October 2017.  The city now has 535 hotels and resorts offering a total of over 20,000 rooms for visitors to the city.

An expert from the EU-funded capacity development programme for environmentally and socially responsible tourism in Viet Nam (EU-ESRT) proposed effective measures to promote the city’s MICE tourism development over the next decade, with a focus on advertising the city’s image, establishing a conference promotion agency in the central coastal region, and organising more large-scale events. 

The central coastal region boasts great potential for bolstering the development of MICE tourism because this region has been attractive to MICE visitors from Europe, and it has a wide range of tourism products, traffic improvements and other favourable advantages.

Municipal Tourism Department Deputy Director Nguyen Xuan Binh said that Da Nang posseses great opportunities for tourism development and global integration.  He, therefore, proposed that Da Nang should be developed into a hub of conferences, events and holiday tourism in the central coastal region, and in Viet Nam as a whole, in order to raise its position and reputation in the international arena.  Mr Binh emphasised that the Da Nang authorities should issue more preferential policies to attract MICE experts and employees to work in the city. 

Dr Phan Van Luu, former Deputy Director of the Training Department of the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, suggested that focus should be on developing Da Nang’s high-quality human resources for MICE tourism, with intensive knowledge and skills for this kind of tourism, as well as establishing a professional organisation specialising in organising MICE tours.  The intention is to help the city fully tap its potentials and strengths for tourism, and bring it on par with the holiday tourism industry in such countries as Thailand and Singapore.

Mr Do Nguyen Khoi, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Airlines, highlighted the importance of Masters of Ceremonies (MCs) who are responsible for making MICE programmes ebullient and bustling.

Municipal Department of Tourism Director Ngo Quang Vinh remarked “Thanks to possessing great potential for developing beach holiday and MICE tourism, Da Nang is becoming more attractive to domestic and foreign visitors.  In an attempt to further the development of these kinds of tourism, the city will cooperate with Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue provinces to jointly advertise the beautiful images of their local tourism to visitors.”