Over recent years, Da Nang has become one of the most popular tourist destinations for visitors from both home and abroad.

The Cau Vang (Golden Bridge) on the top of Da Nang’s Ba Na Hills has been very inviting to visitors from both home and abroad thanks to its special architecture.

The coastal city boasts modern infrastructure, and its convenient transportation systems via roads, railways, airways, and waterways.

Also, the locality is famous for its favourable position of being a gateway to the UNESCO-recognised world heritage sites in the central region, including Hoi An ancient town and My Son Sanctuary, both in Quang Nam Province, and Hue Citadel in Thua Thien Hue Province.

There are now a total of 40 scheduled and charter direct international air routes connecting Da Nang with many countries and territories worldwide.

In May 2017, the international passenger terminal T2 at Da Nang International Airport was officially put into use in order to meet the growth in the number of air passengers to the city.

However, in 2019 alone, the city’s airport welcomed over 15.5 million passengers, exceeding the target set for by 2020 by over 2.5 million.

Therefore, the city is planning to build new T3 terminal which will be able to handle between 10 and 15 million passengers per year.

According to the latest figures released by the municipal Department of Tourism, Da Nang is now home to 943 accommodation establishments providing 40,074 rooms in total. This shows a rise of 874 and 37,683 in the number of accommodation establishments and rooms respectively against 2003.

Specifically, many 5-star accommodation establishments have been built in the city, creating a strong foundation for the development of high-end tourism.

The majority of such hotels and resorts are under the management of international groups, including AccorHotels, InterContinental Hotels Group, Hyatt Hotel Group, Marriot Hotels, Serenity Holding, Japan's Route Inn Group, Spanish SBH Group, and Hilton Hotels and Resorts Group.

In addition, Da Nang houses many attractive tourist attractions such as the Sun World Ba Na Hills, the Nui Than Tai Hot Spring Park, the Helio Centre, the Marble Mountains and the Son Tra Peninsula.

Foreign dancers performing interesting dances from the Sunshine Carnival on the sidelines of the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival (DIFF) 2019

Thanks to this, the number of visitors to Da Nang has risen from over 1.7 million in 2010 to 8.7 million in 2019. The local tourism industry earned 1,239 billion VND and around 31,000 billion VND in revenues in 2010 and 2019 respectively.

Besides, the city has emerged as an attractive destination for international events and festivals. Included are the annual Da Nang International Marathon, the VNG IRONMAN 70.3 Viet Nam Triathlon, the 2015 - 2016 Clipper Round the World Race, and the APEC Economic Leaders' Week 2017.

Not surprisingly therefore, the city was ranked 15^th in the world’s famous 52 Places list for 2019 by The New York Times, and was also named as one of TripAdvisor's top 10 trending destinations for 2020.

Mrs Truong Thi Hong Hanh, Director of the municipal Department of Tourism, remarked Da Nang is making every effort to further the development of the tourism industry in the time ahead.

Special attention will be paid to developing numerous new and special tourism products in order to attract more visitors to the city.

In addition to maintain major traditional international tourist markets, focus will be on fully tapping potential foreign ones, especially targeting at medium and high-class tourists, luxury holiday and beach-leisure packages, shopping services and MICE (Meetings-Incentives-Conferences-Exhibitions) tourism.

Also, heed will be paid to promoting the development of high-class marine and holiday tourism, and developing the Tien Sa Port into a modern container port in the central region.

By THU HA - Translated by MAI DUNG