In the first half of this year, Da Nang welcomed a total of about 4.32 million visitors, up 15.1% compared with the same period last year. Of this figure, the number of foreigners went up by 26.1% to hit around 1.82 million, whilst that of domestic visitors rose by 8.3% to about 2.50 million.

Tourists are seen visiting the popular Sun World Ba Na Hills

The average spending by the foreign and domestic visitors in the city was only 3.46 per person over the average 2.7-day stay period.

The total number of cruise ship passengers to the city in the first half of the year reached about 64,632, up 2% against the figure seen in the same period last year.

Despite the hike in the tourist arrivals to the city during the review period, the city’s key international tourist markets, namely South Korea and China, showed signs of a downward spiral.

According to the latest statistics released by the municipal Department of Tourism, between January and June, 878,719 South Korean visitors arrived in the city, accounting for 49.9% of the total foreign arrivals. Meanwhile, the total number of Chinese visitors stood at 337,601, making up for 19.2%. It was reported that the proportions of visitors from the 2 traditional foreign markets declined by nearly 5% and 2.3% versus the year-ago period, respectively.

Nguyen Minh Sang, the Director of the city-based Hai Van Cat International Travel company, said one of the real causes of such decrease in the number of Chinese visitors is that the city has yet to renew its tourism products to satisfy their demands.

Mr Nguyen Xuan Binh, the Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism pointed out to the fact that Da Nang is now facing a tough competition against such other attractive destinations nationwide as Quy Nhon, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc.

Still worse, the city’s tourism businesses that specialise in exploit Chinese and South Korean visitors face a high pricing pressure imposed by foreign partners in attracting visitors.

The Da Nang tourism industry now take into account the fall to quickly map out preventive measures, since the number of Chinese and South Korean tourists previously had rocketed for a long period.

In the face of these markets’ instability, importance is now attached to promoting the diversification of the city’s international tourist markets in a professional and sustainable manner, with heed paid to attracting even more holidaymakers from around the world. 

In order to avoid the overwhelming reliance on the Chinese and South Korean markets that can lead to certain risks, Mr Cao Tri Dung, the Chairman of the municipal Travel Association, underlined the significance of promptly seeking new source markets, developing attractive new tourism products targeted at independent, high-end holidaymakers and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) guests.

The tourism industry is planning to expand its international tourist market network in 2019 - 2020 period, with emphasis on promoting the opening of flights to such big markets holding great potential as Australia, Russia, and India.

In particular, attention will be paid to fully tapping the non-stop Da Nang-Doha service which helps the city connect with 150 destinations in the Middle East, Western Europe, and North America to attract even more visitors from these highly potential regions.

Last, but not least, coordination amongst relevant local agencies will be enhanced so as to tighten the State management of tourism businesses, especially so-called zero-dong tours, mostly applied to the Chinese and South Korean tourists.