There was a slight in crease in the number of tourist arrivals to Da Nang during the freshly concluded 3-day break for the National Day (2 September) due to only a few days off for rest and unfavourable weather facing the city. Encouragingly, popular attractions were crowded with holiday-makers from both home and abroad.

This year’s holiday break for the National Day saw the opening of 5 new international routes connecting Da Nang with other destinations worldwide.

When the rain took a pause, many locals and tourists flocked to such tourist sites as the Bridge of Love Locks, the Sun Ba Na Hills, the Marble Mountains Tourist Area, the Linh Ung Pagoda, the Museum of Cham Sculpture, and the Museum of Da Nang so as to admire their scenic beauty, enjoy relaxing moments, and take souvenir photos.

Tran Thuy Vy, a resident in Nai Hien Dong Ward, Son Tra District, said that, taking advantage of the holiday break, she took her two daughters to the Museum of Da Nang where they had a chance to gain a deeper insight into the city’s history through artifacts on display here.

It was reported that the majority of visitors to the Marble Mountains Tourist Area were foreigners. Despite scattered showers pouring down onto this scenic spot in the afternoon, it still welcomed more visitors than normal days.

According to preliminary figures released by the municipal Department of Tourism, during the 3-day holiday break, tourist arrivals to local attractions hit about 157,326, up only 5.89 % versus the year-ago period. Of this figure, the number of foreign visitors climbed by 15.34% to hit 51,013, whilst domestic ones rose by 6.77% to stand at 111,413.

In particular, the total number of visitors to local attractions was about 124,643, an increase of 4.06% against the same period last year.

It was worth praising that holiday resorts and tourist sites took many effective measures to ensure security and food safety, and deployed many highly attractive activities to serve tourists during this public holiday.

Popular attractions were crowded with holiday-makers from both home and abroad during the break. Visitors are pictured to visiting the Marble Mountains Tourist Area.

According to Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Truong Thi Hong Hanh, during this holiday break, the international routes connecting Da Nang and other destinations worldwide operated effectively.

Noticeably, the city saw the opening of 5 new direct international routes, namely the Busan - Da Nang route operated by Jetstar, Cheongju - Da Nang by Vietjet, Kaohsiung - Da Nang by Jetstar, Bangkok - Da Nang and Chiangmai - Da Nang, both operated by Bangkok Airways, Air Asia and Vietjet.

These newly-opened non-stop services have considerably helped to bring more international travellers to Da Nang, and facilitating residents in the city, and the Central Viet Nam at large, to visit other countries.

During the holiday break, 190 flights together brought a combined total of about 30,140 visitors to Da Nang, up 18.1% versus the year-ago period. In particular, there were 5 routes connecting Da Nang with South Korea with a total of 80 flights, whist China with 57 flights in total operated on 26 routes, Thailand with about 30 flights on 2 routes, Japan with 6 flights on 2 routes, Southeast Asian countries with 16 flights on routes.

According to the city-based travel agencies, those coming from China, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia made up the highest proportion of the total tourist arrivals to Da Nang via regular direct and charter flights.

The number of tourists booking tours through the city-based travel agencies was estimated at 8,226, a rise of 15.13% compared to the same period last year. Of this figure, international visitors climbed by 18% to reach 4,661, whilst domestic ones rose by  7.2% to hit 2,70. Meanwhile, the number of Vietnamese tourists traveling overseas was estimated at 864, up 28%.

Jubilant festive atmosphere at the street carnival

During the break, local and visitors were treated to a wide range of interesting cultural and entertainment activities across the city. The most notable was street carnival, which took place in the evening of 31 August along a section of Tran Hung Dao between the Rong (Dragon) Bridge and its intersection with Trieu Viet Vuong.

Held by the Da Nang Culture and Movie Center and the city’s Junior College of Culture and Arts, this event caught a great deal of attention from the public, especially visitors.

Other events included performances of wind instruments and drums to the tune of famous Vietnamese and international songs along a section of Bach Dang in the evening of 1 September and the International Lion, Dragon and Unicorn Dance Festival at Sun World Da Nang Wonders from 30 August to 2 September, with the participation of 30 foreign and domestic teams.