More than 290,000 domestic and foreign tourists arrived in Da Nang during the Tet holiday 2023. Most notably, the city welcomed a delegation of Indian guests for wedding event at the beginning of the lunar new year for the first time. These were positive signs for the local tourism sector to launch a new take-off in 2023.

Representatives of the Da Nang Department of Tourism present flowers and happy gifts to the bride Tuisha and the groom Gaurav at the international arrival terminal of the Da Nang International Airport on the morning of January 24. Photo: VAN HOANG

A large number of tourists arrive in Da Nang

As usual every year, on the morning of January 22 (the first day of the Lunar New Year of the Cat 2023), the Da Nang Department of Tourism in coordinate with the Central Airport Authority, the Da Nang International Airport and the Da Nang International Terminal Investment and Operation JSC organised a ceremony to welcome the first 100 international air passengers.

The first footers were on the Thai VietJet Airlines operated flight VZ964 from Bangkok, Thailand that landed at the Da Nang International Airport at 9:10 am.

Under the programme to welcome the first international visitors to Da Nang, these units presented gift vouchers for visits to such local popular tourist attractions as the Sun World Ba Na Hills, the Nui Than Tai Hot Spring Park and the Bep Trang frog noodle restaurant, along with and special gifts for visitors during their experience in the city.

On the morning of January 23 (the second day of the Lunar New Year of the Cat 2023), the municipal Department of Tourism in partnership with the Da Nang Port JSC held a ceremony to welcome the first international tourist cruise ship to the Da Nang-based Tien Sa Port.

Accordingly, the Silver Spirit cruise ship, operated by Italy-headquartered Silversea Company, brought more than 500 tourists to the central coastal hub of tourism.

Upon arrival at the port, the international cruise ship passengers were welcomed with lion dance performances, flowers and souvenirs. These foreigners visited some of the city’s popular tourist attractions, including the Marble Mountains, Linh Ung Pagoda, and the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture.

Especially, on the third day of Tet, for the first time, Da Nang welcomed an Indian delegation with more than 350 guests and 100 event staff and chefs from India to Da Nang for wedding event.

Deputy Director of the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Center Mai Thi Thanh Hai said that after many surveys and considerations, the bride Tuisha and the groom Gaurav decided to hold a wedding ceremony in Da Nang from January 25 - 29.

She added the city was very interested in introducing Da Nang’s image as an ideal destination for wedding events to the Indian tourist market through many other activities such as participating in the South Asia Travel and Tourism Fair (SATTE) and welcoming famtrips for representatives from Indian wedding event companies.

Recent data from the municipal Department of Tourism show that Da Nang welcomed a combined total of 293,873 visitors from January 20 - 26. Of this figure, 230,489 were domestic tourists, whilst the remaining 63,384 were foreigners.

The number of guests served by local accommodation facilities hit more than 100,000. Visitors to the city during the Tet holiday were mainly retail customers, accounting for 60-70% of the total. Meanwhile, international visitors were mainly from South Korea, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Between January 20 and 26, an estimate of 768 flights brought more than 98,000 air passengers to Da Nang. Of which, there were about 444 domestic flights carrying nearly 57,000 passengers, with an average frequency of 64 flights/day. Meanwhile, 324 international flights brought more than 42,000 passengers to the city with the average frequency of 46 flights/day, and the highest was on January 20 (the 29^th day of the 12^th lunar month) and January 22 (the first day of Tet). On January 22 alone, there were 48 flights to Da Nang with about 6,000 air passengers.

Cruise ship passengers were welcomed on Lunar New Year's Day at the Da Nang-based Tien Sa Port. Photo: NHAT HA

Tourism is expected to recover and grow strongly

In addition to welcoming international flights and ships, the city organized many exciting activities to serve people and tourists during this year’s Tet holiday.

In addition, some popular tourist attractions in the city such as the Sun World Ba Na Hills and the Nui Than Tai Hot Spring park welcomed a large number of visitors

According to people working in the city’s hospitality industry, the continuous welcome of delegations of tourists via air and sea routes in the first days of the lunar new year is a positive signal for the recovery and development of Da Nang’s tourism in 2023 and subsequent years.

Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Nguyen Xuan Binh said that, with good signals from welcoming many tourists to the city in recent days, the city expects to welcome many tourists from financial, economic, and tourism centers in Asia as well as in the world to Da Nang in the years ahead, hereby contributing to promoting the growth and development of the local tourism in particular and local socio-economic activities in general.

“From these signals, we can hope that, in 2023, the city's tourism will soon recover and possibly approach the growth rate of tourism before COVID-19. The municipal Department of Tourism will coordinate with other relevant agencies to promote the opening of new air routes and provide the best services for visitors to Da Nang" Mr. Nguyen Xuan Binh said.

Reporting by T.HA, H.HIEP, M.QUE, V.HOANG - Translating by M.DUNG