 |
| Touch down: The first foreigners are welcomed at Da Nang International Airport with a ceremony yesterday. The direct flight from Hong Kong carried 180 passengers to the city for travel in central Viet Nam.— VNS Photo Cong Thanh |
Viet Nam News
First tourists of the year welcomed in Da Nang, Hoi An
DA NANG — More than 2,600 foreign tourists have visited Da Nang on the first day of the New Year, arriving by air and sea, marking a promising start to another successful year for tourism in central Viet Nam.
On the morning of January 1, the first flight of the year carried 180 passengers from Hong Kong to Da Nang airport, beginning the first tours in Da Nang and Hoi An.
The Hong Kong airline is operating a daily direct Hong Kong-Da Nang air route with 14 flights per week.
John Rink, from San Francisco, the US, was welcomed at the airport’s arrivals hall with special gifts and best wishes of the New Year by the city’s tourism department.
John said he had transited via Hong Kong before arriving in Da Nang for his business trip in central Quang Ngai Province.
He said he was happy to receive the warm welcome, gifts and flowers from the city of Da Nang in the New Year.
The central city hosted 23 daily direct flights, of which eight were chartered flights, carrying 2.35 million tourists on 239 flights per week in 2018.
Travel agency Vietravel also brought 160 Vietnamese tourists from Da Nang to destinations in Japan on the chartered direct flight from Da Nang to Nagoya – the first out-bound tour of the year from the central city to Japan.
In the afternoon of the first day of the New Year, two cruises – Costa Atlantica and Seabourn Ovation – both carrying 2,500 tourists, docked at Tien Sa Port before traveling to Hoi An and Da Nang.
Vice director of the city’s tourism department, Nguyen Xuan Binh said more than 100 cruises with 145,000 tourists had visited the city in 2018, a 66 per cent increase in comparison to 2017.
 |
| Dropping anchor: The Costa Atlantica cruise docks at Tien Sa Port of Da Nang in the first day of 2019. About 2,000 visitors on the cruise paid a visit to the city and Hoi An town.— VNS Photo Cong Thanh |
 |
| Lucky man: John Rink from the US receives gifts and flowers as he was one of the first foreigners visiting Da Nang in the New Year.— VNS Photo Cong Thanh |
 |
| Start with a bang: A final countdown party is staged at Da Nang’s September 23 Square on New Year’s Eve.— VNS Photo Cong Thanh |
 |
| Symbolic site: The ancient city of Hoi An celebrates the first visitors of the year at the Japanese Bridge in Hoi An.— VNS Photo Cong Thanh |
Binh said the city’s tourism industry hosted 7.6 million tourists, including 2.87 million foreigners, in 2018, earning more than VND24 trillion (US$1.06 billion) in revenue.
Also yesterday, the city’s Tien Sa port welcomed the first cargo ship, the Wanhai with Singaporean nationality, docking at the biggest port in central Viet Nam on its sea trip to Cat Lai port-Da Nang port-Hong Kong.
The port authority said the city’s port system handled 8.6 million tonnes of cargo in 2018, a 7 per cent growth year-on-year.
Meanwhile, in Hoi An, 30km south of Da Nang, the first 15 tourist groups from different countries received the traditional welcome celebration from the city for the first visitors of the New Year.
Central Quang Nam province also hosted the 3.8th millionth foreign tourist visiting the province in 2018 on New Year’s Eve.
The province, with two UNESCO-recognised world heritages – Hoi An ancient town and My Son Sanctuary – and the world biosphere reserve Cham Island-Hoi An – hosted 6.5 million tourists in 2018. — VNS
OVietnam