Da Nang People’s Committee Vice Chairman Dang Viet Dung met with representatives from the Department of Tourism to review the 2016 Beach Leisure & MICE Travel Mart (BMTM Da Nang 2016) which was held from 24 - 26 June at the  Tien Son Sports Arena.

The international fair, the first of its kind in the city, featured 173 stands from domestic and foreign businesses.  In particular, the event attracted 170 domestic and foreign buyers and 28 reporters from media agencies from both home and abroad who were gathering information about the fair.   

A stand at the BMTM Da Nang 2016 (Photo: Internet)

During the 3-day event, some tourism businesses in Hoi An and Da Nang entered into trade agreements with partners from their key international tourism markets, including South Korea, Japan and Thailand.  Currently, they are also exploring cooperation with other foreign markets including the USA and Europe. 

It was reported that, over the period, the average room occupancy rates in local 1 - 5 star hotels was 65%.  Thanks to the many international visitors to the fair, the city welcomed 136,810 foreign visitors over the first half of this year, up 52% against the same period last year.

As part of the fair, a number of tourism experts and representatives from travel agencies from both home and abroad also attended a workshop on marine and luxury holiday tourism, and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) tourism.

Vice Chairman Dung emphasised that this international-level event should be held every 2 years.  He also suggested that next time Da Nang should cooperate with the provinces of Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue to jointly organise the fair.  This is an idea to fully tap the great tourism advantages and potentials of the city, and those of the central region as a whole. 

He also proposed that the next event should have orderly arranged stands featuring tourism products on the basis of different kinds of tourism such as eco-tourism, MICE, marine and luxury holiday tourism, cultural and spiritual tourism.