The central province of Thua Thien-Hue welcomed 2.11 million visitors in the first five months of 2019, including more than 1 million foreigners, up 14.46 percent year-on-year.
The Republic of Korea was the largest market of the provincial tourism sector in the period, accounting for 27-29 percent of the total visitors to the province, followed by France, Thailand, the UK, and Germany.
Total earnings of the sector in five months reached over 1.93 trillion VND (82.99 million USD).
According to the provincial Department of Tourism, the rise in the number of tourists to the locality in the period was due to a number of special cultural and tourism events, including a Hue Traditional Craft Village Festival; a Lang Co Bay festival; and a cultural, sports, and tourism festival of ethnic minority groups along the Vietnam-Laos border, in the central and Central Highlands regions in 2019.
The Hue Traditional Craft Village Festival alone welcomed 400,000 visitors, two to three times higher than the figure in the previous year, filling 97 percent of accommodation sites in the locality.
The People’s Committee of Thua Thien-Hue has signed strategic cooperation agreements with Vietravel and FLC Group to implement many tourism projects in the locality.
Vietravel has promoted tours to Hue, while funding the artistic lighting system in Ky Dai (flag tower) area and Huong River banks, and considering the construction of a culinary culture museum in Hue, as well as a high-end hotel in the province.
Meanwhile, the real estate developer FLC group has focused on high-tech agriculture, developing high-end resorts along beaches, and smart urban areas. The firm plans to open new air routes for its carrier Bamboo Airways to Thua Thien-Hue, while supporting a number of tourism development activities in the province.
From now to the end of 2019, Thua Thien-Hue will conduct a number of activities in the “Hue-Cuisine Capital” project, while implementing tasks in the smart eco-tourism project.
The locality will strengthen its connections with other provinces and cities across the countries as well as potential markets. Alongside, it will attract more investment in major tourism projects, turning tourism into a spearhead economic sector.
In 2019, the central province aims to attract about 4.7 million visitors, up 8 percent year-on-year, with earnings of about 4.9 trillion VND (210.7 million USD).
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