MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) tourism is one of the outstanding products of Da Nang in the last months of the year. To attract more customers of this market, the city's tourism industry has many promotional activities and support policies to improve products for MICE guests.

Promoting in key tourism markets and expanding flight routes are effective ways to lure more visitors to Da Nang. IN PHOTO: International visitors at Da Nang International Airport. Photo: NHAT HA

Recently, arranged by the Danago Tourism JSC, a group of 550 MICE guests visited and stayed in Da Nang for 4 days and 3 nights.

On arrival at Da Nang International Airport, Mr. Dao Van Tam, Chairman of Detech Group (a MICE guest), was warmly welcomed by representatives of the local tourism industry and relevant units.

He shared that he was very surprised because nowhere else welcomed guests as warmly as Da Nang. He also expressed his satisfaction with modern infrastructure, and methodical and professional services, for MICE guests.

Since 2022, the city has issued a policy to attract domestic and international MICE guests, in which delegations are supported with consulting on the process and licensing procedures for organising international conferences and seminars in Da Nang, and welcome ceremony with flowers and souvenirs at Da Nang International Airport. These preferential policies have created favourable conditions for businesses to exploit MICE tourists as well as left an impression on visitors.

According to the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Centre, as of November 2024, the municipal Department of Tourism had consulted and welcomed 190 MICE delegations with about 65,393 visitors, including 80 domestic delegations (with 32,877 guests, reaching 86.5% of the plan), and 110 international delegations (with 32,516 tourists, reaching 325.16% of the plan) from such markets as India, Malaysia, Taiwan (China), South Korea, Thailand, etc.

In 2024, Da Nang is likely to have welcomed about 200 MICE delegations with a total of more than 70,000 visitors, including about 85 domestic groups with more than 35,000 tourists and 115 international delegations with over 35,000 guests, an increase of 29% compared to 2023.

Deputy Director of the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Centre Mai Thi Thanh Hai said that the local tourism industry is stepping up promotional activities in key markets to attract MICE visitors. In 2024, domestic visitors account for 59.22% of the total number of tourist arrivals to Da Nang, and the majority of them came from Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, northern localities, the Central Highlands provinces, and the Mekong Delta. Meanwhile, international visitors are mainly from the markets of South Korea (40.9%), Taiwan (China) (10.3%), China (6.77%), Thailand (6.44%), India (4.7%), the US (4.2%), Japan (4.0%), Malaysia (2.8%), and Australia (2.4%). This shows the shift trend of some traditional tourist markets to new destinations. Therefore, the city’s tourism industry will develop a promotion and advertising plan for each market in the coming year.

In particular, the domestic market focuses on attracting visitors in the Central Highlands provinces and localities with direct flights to Da Nang such as Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, Buon Ma Thuot and neighboring localities.

The local tourism industry targets to family groups, young customers, and customers with high spending ability, as well as lays an emphasis on promoting and introducing culinary tourism, eco-tourism, festival tourism and entertainment tourism.

Meanwhile, depending on the tastes of each international tourist market, the local tourism industry will have specific strategies. For instance, as for South Korean tourists, the city plans to exploit family customers, individual customers, returning customers in localities having direct flights with Da Nang (Seoul, Busan, Daegu), and boost tourism promotion activities in new localities (Cheongju, Jeonbuk);.

With regard to Taiwanese guests, the city will pay a heed to attracting MICE guests of organisations and companies in Taipei, and increasing promotion activities in the cities of Kaohsiung and Taichung. It will make a plan to welcome famtrip groups from China, and restore regular flights between Chinese localities and Da Nang.

According to Director of the Da Nang Department of Tourism Truong Thi Hong Hanh, in 2024, the city’s tourism industry intensifies tourism promotion in Japan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. At the same time, many tourism promotion programmes are organised in Chinese localities of Chengdu, Kunming, Chongqing and Yunnan. In the coming time, the city will concentrate on communication plan and a stimulus programme to attract tourists in 2025 with campaigns to attract international visitors to and return to Da Nang.

Furthermore, importance will be attached to strengthening digital transformation in promoting and advertising Da Nang tourism through major social platforms of international markets; accelerating the restoration and opening of new international routes; and attracting more cruise ship passengers.

The last but not least solutions will be to promote Da Nang tourism in Japan, South Korea, China, India, Australia and Southeast Asian and European countries, as well as to develop and renew tourism products suitable for each international tourist market, with a focus on some specific and key products such as sea tourism and high-end resort tourism.

Reporting by NHAT HA - Translating by M.DUNG