On the eve of the grand finale of the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival (DIFF) 2018, which is scheduled to take place this Saturday (30 June), the city, in recent days, has seen a high fever of tickets for the upcoming event, and hotel rooms as well.

Many visitors like admiring the wonderful fireworks from tourist boats operating on the Han River

As of 27 June, tickets of all the stands for the DIFF 2018 grand finale had been sold out at the official locations.

Included are the Ba Na Hills Resort office at 93 Nguyen Van Linh, the Asia Park at 1 Phan Dang Luu, the Da Nang Tourism Promotion Centre at 100 Nui Thanh, the Da Nang Tourist Support Centre at 108 Bach Dang, and the Trung Vuong Theatre at 35A Phan Chau Trinh.

Given this reason, those who are in need of tickets, even invitation ones, are rushing to seek their favourite ones from ‘black-market’ ticket sellers across the city, especially on social networks.

Ms Nguyen Thi Ngoc Mai from Hai Chau District, for instance, recently bought a pair of tickets in the B3 stand, worth 800,000 VND each, which is 200,000 VND higher than the price stipulated by the city.

“If I do not accept the price quoted today, it will be much higher in 29 and 30 June”, said Mai.
A ticket in the B1 and B2 stands is now offered on Facebook at over 2 million VND, nearly 2.5 times higher than the stipulated price.

The problem of the black market is being caused by local residents who have bought large numbers of tickets, and then waited for a chance to resell them to others in the hope of reaping the highest possible profits.

Another reason is that this year’s event has seen a positive rise in the purchasing power for tickets of locals and visitors.

Alongside with the hike in the demand for grand finale tickets, the majority of 3-5 star hotels in the city’s prime locations say that they are already fully booked.

The majority of hotels along a downtown and coastal street are already fully booked.

A total of 50 rooms at the Sun River Hotel on popular riverside Bach Dang have already been fully booked, with rates of resorts now standing at between 950,000 VND and 1,750,000 VN per room per day, which are higher than their normal prices.

In a similar vein, the Diamond Sea Hotel on coastal Vo Nguyen Giap states there are no rooms available.
Given the high demand for accommodations amongst visitors, there are no vacant rooms available at hotels on Tran Hung Dao and other downtown streets nearby the DIFF viewing stands.

In particular, there is a boom in support services in a bid to meet the increasing demand for admiring the upcoming spectacular fireworks display.

Developed by the Dong Vinh Thinh Company, a floating restaurant-shaped, 3-storey tourist boat named ‘Tau Rong Song Han’ (Han River Dragon Boat), is now offering tickets valued at 2 million VND, 1.5 million VND and 1.2 million VND per adult on the 3^rd, 2^nd and 1^st storeys respectively for the DIFF 2018 grand finale on Saturday.

Each trip gives the customers onboard the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the colourful bridges which cross the Han River, and admire the wonderful fireworks, and be treated to fascinating fine arts performances onboard.

The majority of high-rise hotels in the city’s prime locations are offering premiere vantage points for viewing the fireworks.

A spot to admire the fireworks on the 10^th storey of the Varna Hotel on Tran Hung Dao, for instance, is now offered at 700,000 VND per adult, including buffet meals.