Despite the unfavourable weather conditions over the 3-day New Year holiday weekend, Da Nang welcomed a large number of visitors from both home and abroad.

Foreign visitors arriving at Da Nang International Airport

Many of the visitors gathered in Da Nang’s 29 March Square on 2 September street for the New Year’s Eve Countdown Party.  One couple, Mr Tran Anh Hoang and his wife from Ha Noi, said they were very impressed by the various performances by famous domestic singers.

According to representatives from some local travel agencies, the majority of domestic visitors to the city over the holiday were from Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City, and most of the foreigners came from the city’s traditional tourism markets of China, South Korea, Japan, the USA, and Australia.

Over the period, the city saw a significant increase in the number of visitors booking day tours, especially foreigners.  In addition, there was a sharp rise in the number of visitor groups involved in MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) tourism.

Most of the domestic and foreign visitors had booked their flight tickets and hotels via the Internet, but many had contacted local travel agencies to book tourism services, including vehicles for rent, tour guides, and day tours.

The CEO of the Nui Than Tai Hot Spring Park, Mr Tran Trung Quang, said that on 1 January his park received up to 700 visitors, mainly foreigners and domestic tourists from Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Mr Nguyen Duc Vu, Deputy Head of the Management Board of the Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang Tourism Beaches, said that the peninsula welcomed a total of around 12,500 domestic and foreign visitors during the 3-day holiday break.  They paid visits to the Linh Ung Pagoda, the Vong Canh Hills, the Ban Co (Chess Board) Peek, and the thousand-year-old banyan tree.

On 31 December and 1 January, the Marble Mountains Tourist Area received a total of around 5,000 visitors from both home and abroad, a significant increase against normal days during the rainy season.

It was reported that the room occupancy rates in local 5-star hotels were between 68% and 72%, in 4-star hotels between 62% and 67%, and 3-star hotels between 45% and 50%.  Most notably, over 80% of the total of visitors who stayed at the local seaside 4 and 5-star hotels were foreigners, mainly from South Korea, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, the USA, and countries in Europe. 

The Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism, Mr Nguyen Xuan Binh, underlined the need for the city to expand its advertising activities in order to ensure the best possible preparations for the numerous large-scale international events to be held in the city this year.

Mr Binh remarked, “The new terminal at the city’s international airport is expected to be put into operation on 29 March, which will allow the airport to handle the increasing number of passengers and to operate more flight routes.  In addition, the ‘Smile of Da Nang’ campaign will be launched soon in the hope of enhancing the friendly attitude of local residents towards domestic and foreign visitors.”