KHÁNH HÒA – Tourism of the southcentral coastal province of Khánh Hòa has got a boost thanks to a bundle of international promotion programmes which have been put in place since the beginning of the summer.

 According to the provincial Department of Tourism, the locality hosted nearly 5.2 million visitors in the first half of this year, up 88 per cent year-on-year, most of them from the Republic of Korea, China, Kazakhstan, Thailand, and Malaysia. Its tourism earning surged 97 per cent against the same time last year to over VNĐ26 trillion  (US$1.02 billion).

Director of the department Nguyễn Thị Lê Thanh said the number of tourist arrivals to the locality in June rose 13 per cent year-on-year to 1.3 million, including over 370,000 foreigners, up 54 per cent from the same time last year.

Total tourism revenue in the month was estimated at over VNĐ6 trillion , expanding 12 per cent year-on-year, she said.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Đinh Văn Thiệu said the four-day Nha Trang Sea Tourism Festival in June lured some 400,000 visitors, helping popularise local tourist destinations, and create a motive for tourism growth in 2024 and 2025.

The Nha Trang International Light Bay Festival - the country’s first drone light show slated for July 13 and 20 - will feature competitions among four teams from China, France, the Republic of Korea, and the UAE.

Thieu added that Khánh Hòa is planning to develop the light festival into a standout tourism offering.

During this summer, Nha Trang also hosts many sports tournaments such as the National Club Sailing Championship, the National Libera Fun Fest 2024 running tournament, the National Table-tennis Championship, and the National Youth Golf Championship.

Together with the tourism promotion events, airlines have opened new international routes to and from Nha Trang, and increased flights between the locality and Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. – VNA/VNS