Da Nang was honoured to be named ‘Asia’s Leading Festival and Event Destination’ at the World Travel Awards (WTAs) Asia & Australasia Gala Ceremony 2016 which took place last weekend at the InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort.  Thanks to this, the city will have a better opportunity to further advertise its image to international friends.

Kayak racing at a local beach

Reporter Thu Ha from the DA NANG Newspaper interviewed some representatives from the local authorities and some tourism experts to collect their opinions about the city’s notable prize and hear their expectations about securing Da Nang’s position as a city of tourism and international events.

Municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Dang Viet Dung remarked that this notable award was mainly attributed to Da Nang’s great efforts in building itself into a city of tourism.  He noted that greater focus will be placed on improving the quality of local services, safeguarding the marine environment, regularly organising tourism promotion activities at home and abroad, and fostering the development of community-based tourism and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) tourism.   Greater efforts should also be made to deploy more projects to ensure social welfare and to build a more cultured and civilised urban lifestyle, with a focus on encouraging each local resident to become an enthusiastic and friendly tourism ambassador.

The Director of the municipal Tourism Department, Mr Ngo Quang Vinh, proposed that priority should be given to promoting urban refurbishment and creating more attractive tourism products.  In particular, the city will strive to create more opportunities to host large-scale international-level cultural, sporting, and tourism events in the years ahead.

The Deputy General Director of Vietravel, Mr Tran Doan The Duy, remarked, “Da Nang is emerging as one of Viet Nam’s most attractive new destinations for domestic visitors thanks to its dynamism and the tremendous changes to its face over recent years.  Its healthy environment, hospitable residents, good infrastructure system and beautiful landscapes inspire ever more domestic tourists to visit this seaside city”.

Chairman of the municipal Travel Association Cao Tri Dung, affirmed, “Da Nang’s recognition as ‘Asia’s Leading Festival and Event Destination’ marks an important milestone in determining strategies for building a city of events, in addition to maintaining its position as a beach tourism hub, a gateway to the UNESCO-recognised world heritage sites in the central region, and a safe and friendly destination in Viet Nam”.

Chairman Dung, however, suggested that special attention should be paid to advertising the city’s image to both domestic and foreign visitors in combination with developing local services dedicated to festivals, improving the operation of local service providers, and enhancing the State management of large-scale events. 

Mr Truong Nam Thang, an expert from the EU-funded Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme, stressed the need for the city’s authorities to ensure a clean, healthy and friendly tourism environment, promote public-private dialogue, and uphold the important role of the municipal Travel Association and other local tourism businesses’ associations in boosting the progress of local tourism.

Heed should be paid to identifying strategies for developing high-quality human resources for the local tourism sector, with a focus on offering more vocational training courses in the hospitality industry and improving management skills.