Da Nang residents enjoyed the bustling and joyful atmosphere during the nine-day Lunar New Year break while ensuring good practice of recommendations for COVID-19 Prevention

First air passengers set foot in Da Nang on Lunar New Year’s Day. Photo: THU HA

Tourist arrivals increase by 16.71% during Tet

A combined total of 230 air passengers, including 26 foreigners, set foot in Da Nang on Lunar New Year's Day. The Da Nang Department of Tourism worked with Vietnamese budget airline Vietjet and Dragon Tien Sa Media Joint Stock Company held a warm welcoming ceremony for the first footers from Ho Chi Minh City.

Overall, Da Nang welcomed a total of 44,055 air passengers from 404 flights during Tet Festival. Till date, 8 domestic air routes have been reopened in the city with a frequency of 218 flights per week connecting Da Nang with Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi, Da Lat, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc, Buon Ma Thuot, Hai Phong and Can Tho.

The majority of tourist arrivals to Da Nang were solo travelers, and the period from the second to the fifth days of the Lunar New Year was the most crowded days in the city. Most of them stayed at 4 to 5 star seaside hotels. Various exciting events and services have been opened in Da Nang during Tet to entertain locals and tourists. Included were floral displays and lighting decorations for Tet, check-in models, exhibitions of painting along the two banks of the Han River, at the Son Tra Peninsula and along beaches. In addition, the municipal Department of Tourism also held a live stream to introduce Bach Dang Spring Flower Street, check-in locations in the city during Tet, cultural arts performances, and promotional programmes in the city.

Preliminary statistics show tourists arrivals in Da Nang during Tet grew by 16.71% year-on year to 35,939. They were mainly domestic visitors and stayed at seaside resorts. The most visited tourist attractions in Da Nang inluded the Marble Mountains, Mikazuki Water Park, and Son Tra Peninsula.

Array of exciting events for Tet

During Tet, the weather in Da Nang was pleasant and quite sunny with cool temperatures. Hence, Bach Dang Spring Flower Street, check-in locations, the expanded APEC Sculpture Garden, museums, tourist attractions and cinemas were crowded with locals and tourists. Between the 1^st to the 3^rd days of the Lunar New Year, the Marble Mountains tourist area welcomed nearly 6,000 visitors while local museums together attracted hundreds of visits.

The Da Nang Department of Culture and Sports organised a number of exciting events and activities to welcome in the Lunar New Year 2022 celebrating the year of Tiger. From the 29^th day of the 12^th lunar month to the 3^rd day of Lunar New Year, a park on the eastern bank of the Dragon Bridge was full of joyful ambiance with arts programes, including folk music and Bai Choi (singing while acting as playing cards) - resound chants of the Quang Region.

From February 1-10 (the 1^st to 10^th days of the first lunar month), visiting the Da Nang Fine Arts Museum allowed visitors to experience printing tiger paintings, writing and decorating Tet greeting cards, colouring tiger pictures, acting like painter. In the afternoon of the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th days of the first lunar month, the Nguyen Hien Dinh Tuong (Classical drama) Theatre staged such dramas as Ngao So Oc Hen, Reverse Wave, Tran Binh Trong. From the 6th day of the first lunar month will see artistes from the Theatre display their free-of-charge performances in citywide districts as a move to bring the time-honoured traditional arts of the Quang Nam-Da Nang coastal area to local residents for Tet Festival.

Mrs Ha Vy, the Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Culture and Sports said that cultural events to celebrate 2022 Lunar New Year took place in the city in an appropriate way to help locals and tourists enjoy a happy, safe and economical Lunar New Year.

Bach Dang Spring Flower Street was crowded with locals and tourists during Tet. Photo: THU HA

Ensuring stable food prices and environmental hygiene

Many supermarkets and traditional markets in Da Nang reopened in the morning of February 6 (the 6^th day of Lunar New Year). Although wet markets opened at about 50% capacity but there was no sudden rise in food prices.

Meanwhile, some supermarkets have reopened their doors since the 2^nd day of Lunar New Year to meet the shopping demand from local people during Tet. Goods, especially fresh food products, on supermarket shelves were abundant, and they were sold at relatively stable prices during Tet. The city has made great efforts to ensure the supply of essential items for local residents while ensuring effective control of the spread of COVID-19.

In its efforts to ensure environmental hygiene in the city during Tet, the Da Nang Urban Environment Joint Stock Company has used 137 vehicles of all kinds, including more 10 excavators and 50 dump trucks to collect garbage at 5 temporary collection points on the 29^th day of the 12^th lunar month. The company completed waste collection and environmental sanitation in the city at 0:30am on the 1^st day of Lunar New Year.

On the 2^nd and 3^rd days of the Lunar New Year, the company collected 226 tons of garbage from some major streets and public areas. At 5:00 am on February 4 (the 4^th day of Lunar New Year), more than 1,200 sanitation workers and 75 specialized vehicles were deployed to local streets to conduct cleanup operations and collect household waste. A total of 4,124 tons of garbage was collected on the last day of the Year of the Ox in 2021, 4 times higher than normal days.

Ensuring security and social order

During the nine-day Lunar New Year break, Da Nang police exerted every effort to ensure safety and security for local people to help them enjoy a happy Tet.

According to the Traffic Police Division of the Da Nang Police Department, from January 29 to February 6 (the 27^th day of the last lunar month to the 6^th day of the 1^st lunar month), only one serious road traffic accident was recorded in the city, claiming one life. The figure showed a decline of one in the number of traffic accidents, and injuries by three compared with the same period last year.

During that period, traffic police imposed administrative penalty on drivers of 71 cars and 127 motorcycles for their traffic violations.

Reporting by THU HA - QUYNH TRANG - HOANG HIEP- XUAN DUNG - LE HUNG – Translating by H.L