A meeting recently took place in Da Nang to discuss an action programme to secure the city’s position as ‘Asia’s Leading Festival and Event Destination’ title with which it was honoured at the recent World Travel Awards (WTAs) Asia & Australasia Gala Ceremony 2016.

The spectacular winning display by Team Australia at DIFC 2015

This is the first time that a Vietnamese locality has won this notable award.  Da Nang successfully surpassed 8 other nominees, namely Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Seoul, Shanghai, and Singapore.

The Deputy General Director of the Da Nang-based Viet Nam Tourism Joint Stock Co (Vitours), Mr Le Tan Thanh Tung, remarked, “This notable award was mainly attributed to the local tourism sector’s great efforts.  The city, therefore, will have a better opportunity to host more international-level events in the years ahead”.  Mr Tung proposed that locals and visitors from both home and abroad should be allowed to visit some local tourist attractions without paying an entrance fee.  It was also suggested that greater efforts should be made to facilitate the opening of direct flights connecting Da Nang with some of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) member nations because these countries will be willing to assist the city in hosting large-scale international-level events and festivals in the future.

Municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Dang Viet Dung affirmed, “The WTA award demonstrates the city’s firm stance on developing tourism into a local spearhead economic sector.  The high level of consensus between the city authorities and local residents, plus the outstanding efforts made by local businesses and the local mass media, play a vital role in upholding the city’s position in the regional and global arena.  Da Nang met WTA’s strict criteria including the quality of natural resources and tourism products, the hosting of international-level festivals, and visitor satisfaction with the destination to win the award”.  He also noted that, based on these criteria, the focus should be on preserving and fully tapping the city’s natural resources to boost the development of the local tourism sector.  More effective ways will be found to create more specialised tourism products, promote MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events) tourism, and develop luxury tourism services. 

Next year, the city will host such large-scale international-level events as the 25^th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC 2017) in November, and the Da Nang International Fireworks Competition (DIFC 2017) between 29 April and 30 June.  Vice Chairman Dung, therefore, urged the local tourism sector to take advantage of these important events to boost its progress.

Also at the meeting, it was proposed that the city’s tourism sector should advertise the city’s notable award through tourism promotion programmes at home and abroad, as well as welcoming a number of famtrip and presstrip delegations from prestigious travel agencies and media agencies worldwide, plus invite world-renowned bloggers to visit Da Nang and write reports on the city.

Importance will be attached to displaying the city’s WTA award and its tourism logo on local tourism souvenirs and tourism publications, as well as releasing the city’s events calendars for next year.

In addition to the APEC 2017 and the DIFC 2017, the city will host other important cultural and sporting events next year, including an international cuisine festival in April, the 6^th annual Asia Golf Tourism Convention and the VNG IRONMAN 70.3 Viet Nam Triathlon, both in May, and the Da Nang International Marathon in August.