Da Nang is mulling over effective measures to diversify its tourism products in order to attract more visitors from both home and aboard in low season, and inspire them to extend their stay periods here, return later, and recommend this attractive destination to others.

The Marble Mountains Tourist Area is attracting growing number of visitors.

The city is emerging as a wonderful destination for travellers seeking spiritual tourism.

The locality boasts numerous spiritual tourism areas. Most noticeable amongst them is the Marble Mountains Tourist Area that is home to 13 pagodas, 14 mysterious caverns, 3 caves, 1 tower, 1 temple, 2 pavilions, and 1 tunnel.

Between January and April, the site welcomed a total of 665,497 visitors, of whom 420,911 were foreigners, up 49% against the same period last year.

In particular, the annual Quan The Am (Avalokitesvara) Festival, which ran from 2 and 4 April at the namesake pagoda in this site, attracted thousands of Buddhists and non-Buddhists from Da Nang and other localities nationwide.

During the freshly-concluded 4-day holiday period between 28 April and 1 May for the National Reunification Day (30 April) and International Labour Day (1 May), this venue hosted 25,742 visitors, of whom 12,025 were foreigners, up 47% against the same period last year.

The significant increase in tourist arrival numbers was mainly attributed to the management board’s strenuous efforts in continuously refurbishing the site in an attempt to make it more inviting to visitors.

The Ngu Hanh Son District authorities are focusing on complete necessary documents for the recognition of the Marble Mountains as a special national-level relic site.

Hopefully, the cultural and historical values of this spiritual tourism venue will be further promoted in the coming time, thereby helping to attract more influxes of visitors from both home and aboard.

Unlike the Marble Mountains Tourist Area which attracts visitors all year round, the operation of other local attractions partly depend on weather conditions. September through to December is the period considered to be the city’s off-peak season for tourism because these months coincide with the rainy and stormy season.

In an attempt to draw visitors during the upcoming off-peak season, the city has already attached importance to promoting the city’s MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) tourism which can bring in much higher revenue for the city than the other types of tourism because it attracts a large number of high-end visitors.

The majority of MICE tour bookers are businesses who want to combine organising conferences or seminars with travelling.

There have been attractive MICE packages for the autumn and winter which consist of holding conferences, playing golf, and participating in team-building activities.

In the past, unfavourable weather was to blame for a sharp drop in the number of visitors to local beaches. But now, relevant local agencies are taking effective ways to ensure best possible beach services for visitors during the winter.

In the coming time, the municipal Department of Tourism and the Management Board of the Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang Tourism Beaches will join forces to offer interesting beach sports serving foreign tourists who like travelling, with their good physical strength, no matter whether it rains or shines.

In reality, such exciting water sports as coracle rowing, wind surfing and kayaking are very attractive to foreigners, even in the winter.

In an attempt to fully tap the great potential of the city’s coastline stretching over a distance of 9km along Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, the municipal government has already approved to grant over 46 billion VND (2 million US$) from the city budget to develop tourism services there over the 2018 – 2020 period.

Thanks to this project, beaches along the Nguyen Tat Thanh Route will be given a ‘new coat’, thereby making them more inviting to visitors as those stretching from the East Sea Park to the T20 beach area.

Last, but not least, in a bid meet the diversified entertainment demands of visitors, relevant local agencies are focusing on completing plans aimed at developing nigh markets in the districts of Hai Chau, Ngu Hanh Son, Son Tra and Thanh Khe in a bid to create new landmarks catering for both locals and visitors.