On the morning of January 1, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines –operated flight VN116, carrying 184 passengers from Ho Chi Minh City, landed at the Da Nang International Airport at 10:35 a.m. The New Year’s first tourists received the warm welcome, gifts and flowers from the city’s representatives.

Lucky tourists received gifts on the first day of the New Year. Photo: THU HA

Ms. Tran Thi My Tam, one of the aforementioned tourists, was welcomed at the airport’s arrivals hall with special gifts and best wishes of the New Year by the city’s Tourism Department. She and her family members came to Da Nang for travel and relaxations after a year of many changes.

"Da Nang has done very well in COVID-19 prevention and control, so my family is quite reassured. Hopefully, the current coronavirus wave will be completely contained, and Da Nang's tourism activities will soon return to its bustling vibe as before.”, said Ms. Tam.

According to Director of Da Nang Tourism Promotion Centre Nguyen Thi Hoai An, in 2022, the tourism industry will continue to come up with recovery plans. The highlight of 2022 will be digital transformation in all areas such as tourism promotion and publicity.

The journey to bring tourists to Da Nang ensures strict compliance with COVID-19 safety rules. Ms. Tran Thi My Tam (right) feels quite secure during her family's New Year's Day vacation. Photo: THU HA

The Routes Asia Development Forum 2022 will take place in mid-2022 in Da Nang. The event is expected to offer a platform for airlines, airports and tourism authorities to boost cooperative relationships, establish new routes and expand aviation networks, then driving international tourism and aviation activities while connecting Da Nang with regional and global air transport networks.

At the welcome ceremony, three lucky passengers received round-trip Vietnam Airlines tickets.

According to the airline's plan, from January 1, 2022, it will operate a total of more than 630 flights on eight domestic flight routes connecting Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi, Da Lat (Lam Dong), Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa), Phu Quoc (Kien Giang), Buon Me Thuot (Dak Lak), Hai Phong, Can Tho to Da Nang.

Vietnam Airlines Group, comprising Vietnam Airlines, Pacific Airlines, and VASCO, will also increase the flight frequency on many routes to an average of about 300 one-way flights per day in total.

Vietnam Airlines is also planning to resume regular international flights linking Viet Nam with 15 countries and territories in the first half of 2022. The resumption will be carried out in two phases and depend on relevant agencies’ approval.

The New Year’s first visitors are warmly welcomed to Da Nang. Photo: THU HA

2022 is oriented as ‘The year of safe and flexible adaptation, effective control of COVID-19 and socio-economic recovery’, Da Nang tourism industry is expected to welcome back tourists in two scenarios.

In the first scenario, Da Nang aims to welcome 3.5 million tourists, 3 times higher than the figure in 2021, with 180,000 international visitors, up 1.6 times, and more than 3.32 domestic ones, up 3 times.

In the remaining scenario, Da Nang eyes to tempt back 2.1 million tourists, an increase of 87.8% compared to 2021, with 100,000 international visitors and 2 million domestic ones, up 2 times.

Reporting by THU HA- Translating by A. THU