Da Nang officially launched its open-top double-decker bus tour on Tuesday.

Open air travel: The top deck of buses operating at the CocoBay resort in Da Nang. Photo courtesy CocoBay

The city tour on the bus is being operated in co-operation with the Empire Group.

The tour aims to create a ‘more real experience’ for sightseers, according to the city’s tourism authority.

The first batch of 12 open-top buses will start service this month at CocoBay – Da Nang’s largest entertainment-cum-hospitality complex – and the coastline.

The open-top double-decker bus project was jointly developed by the Empire Group and local car maker Truong Hai. The buses will operate in both Da Nang and Hoi An.

Earlier this year, the group had also launched the Martial Arts-Entertainment Coco Championship – its first entertainment event – at the CocoBay.

Last year, the Cocofest, which was hosted at the CocoBay complex, attracted a total of 10,000 visitors to the 2-night event and its entertainment activities on the beach.

In 2016, the group inked a strategic cooperation deal for hospitality management in Viet Nam with the Dream Hotel Group of the US and Louvre Hotels Group of France.

New fleet: The first batch of 12 open-top double-decker buses that will offer sight-seeing tours in Da Nang. Photo courtesy CocoBay

The group aims to develop a series of entertainment and recreational centres, resorts, condotels, and a conference centre, in addition to a park and opera house, including the Coco Ocean Resort near the Montgomerie Links and Da Nang Golf Club.

Da Nang lies within easy reach of the country’s best heritage icons, including Phong Nha-Ke Bang in Quang Binh, the UNESCO-recognised world heritage Hue monument complex, Hoi An, My Son Sanctuary and world biosphere reserve Cham Islands in Quang Nam Province.

In 2012, the city introduced battery-powered cars to tourists travelling along coastal destinations as a promotion for environmentally friendly public vehicle use.

A total of over 3.3 million tourists, including 1.2 million foreigners, visited the city in the first 6 months this year, a 33.2% growth.

Last year, the city hosted a total of 5.6 million tourists.

(Source: VNS/ DA NANG Today)