The strong recovery of the Viet Nam tourism industry through impressive growth numbers recently announced by the National Tourism Administration shows that tourism was really a bright spot in the country's socio-economic picture.

To attract tourists, the Da Nang tourism industry should build more appropriate tourism products.

In June, the country welcomed more than 1.2 million international visitors, bringing the total number of visitors in the first half of the year to more than 8.8 million, up by 58.4% from the same period in 2023 and up by 4.1% over the same period in 2019.

There were 14 million Vietnamese people travelling domestically in June, bringing the total number of domestic visitors to 66.5 million in the first half of the year, an increase of 2.5 million over the same period last year. Information stated at the regular national government meeting in June 2024, the tourism industry ranked 4^th in 11 outstanding aspects of the national economy in the first half of 2024.

The national tourism industry earned a profit of VND343,100 billion in the first half of 2023 and VND436,500 billion in the first half of 2024, much higher than the first 6 months of 2019, before the COVDI-19 with VND 338,200 billion. It can be said that the recovery of the tourism industry is achieved in both quantity and quality.

Contributing to the cited impressive number are 2 million international visitors and 3.1 million domestic visitors arriving in Da Nang. Accommodation, dining and travel revenue reached an estimated VND16,344 billion, an increase of 28.2% from the same period in 2023, reaching 53.06% of the 2024 plan of which revenue from travel services and other tourism support activities rose by 59.2% to VND 3,412 billion.

The average number of days of stay overnight by tourists in the first half of 2024 was 1.38 days/turn, with international tourist spending 1.45 days/turn and domestic one spending 1.31 days/turn.

The Da Nang International Fireworks Festival 2024, which lasting more than a month, was followed by the stimulus programme to ‘Enjoy Da Nang Festival’ with many attractive tourism products.

The programme introduced tourists to the city’s unique tourism products in tandem with increasing the travel experience for tourists by providing them more than 10,000 free vouchers and discounts.

New tourism products in 2024 have been launched be launched in stages to serve the needs of tourists such as the musical water fountain show,  the water puppet show (Cultural Show); water jetski and flyboard performances with sound effects, lights and fireworks (Da Nang River Show).

Many traditional and modern art programmes combined with enjoying street food and admiring the beautiful scenery of Da Nang in the evening, introducing a peaceful, civilised, modern tourist city, suitable to many different types of customers.

Furthermore, the culinary experience tour (Da Nang Food Tour) promotes typical culinary products, introducing tourists to must-try delicious dishes during their stay here, and especially, the list of 36 restaurants and eateries honoured the world’s most prestigious culinary organzation Michelin Guide will increase tourists’ attractive vacation choices.

Many years ago, although Da Nang met all traffic conditions such as airway, seaway, roadway and railway, after arriving in this city, tourists always go to neighbouring city of Hoi An, to the My Son Sanctuary, or to the ancient capital of Hue.

Now, My Khe, one of the most beautiful beaches on the planet, and Son Tra, the mountain in the heart of city, are destinations worth experiencing. Not to mention, cultural addresses such as museums, markets, churches and temples are also attractive to tourists.

During the day, Da Nang is so gentle and cute, and in the evening, the city is like a beautiful, radiant girl in the middle of a carnival, with night tourism services.

Now, just coming to Da Nang, visitors have many places to explore and experience. It is a city worth visiting and worth living in as the city determines to develop a comprehensive and sustainable tourism industry, helping to increase its attractiveness.

Each locality has different attraction policies, such as Da Nang piloting a number of incentives to welcome South Korean visitors back. In the first six months of this year, South Korea continued to be the top source of tourists, with 2.28 million arrivals, followed by China (1.89 million). These two markets contributed 47% of total international visitors.

In addition to the countries in Northeast Asia, it is worth noting that European markets also have a large number of tourists with high spending such as the U.K France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden.

These countries enjoy the unilateral visa policy to enter Viet Nam with a temporary stay period of up to 45 days, applicable from mid-August 2023.

Even in the low season, attractive tourism products and delicious dishes at affordable prices help keep customers staying longer and spending more, which is also a solution to attract customers.

Currently, domestic tourism is in the peak season. Last April, the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism launched a domestic tourism stimulus programme called ‘Vietnamese people travel to Viet Nam - I love Viet Nam’, which many localities responded to and launched attractive packages and products, organising exciting events and festivals to attract customers.

The smokeless industry - tourism is playing an important role in the economy. The national government has issued many policies to facilitate tourism development, with clear development orientations in Resolution No. 82/NQ-CP on main tasks and solutions to accelerate recovery and speed up tourism development in an effective and sustainable way with the motto ‘Excellent products - Professional services - Convenient and simple procedures, Competitive prices - Hygienic, bright, green, clean, beautiful and safe environment - Civilized, friendly, safe destination safe”, and Directive No. 08/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister on comprehensive, fast and sustainable tourism development with the motto ‘Close connection - Smooth coordination - Cooperation Extensive - Comprehensive coverage - Sustainable effectiveness’, the remaining task is that Vietnamese cities and provinces should strive more to create products to welcome visitors back.

Reporting by HOANG NHUNG - Translating by A.THU, P.TRA