Quang Ninh (VNA) – The northern coastalprovince of Quang Ninh welcomed 9.2 million tourists during the first eightmonths of this year, up 25 percent year-on-year and completing 77 percent of itstarget for the whole year.

The provincial Department of Tourism reported that thenumber of international holidaymakers to the locality exceeded 3.2 million, arise of 18 percent against the same period last year, and fulfilling 65 percentof the yearly target.

During the period, the local tourism sector completed 73percent of the yearly target, earning more than 16 trillion VND (685 millionUSD), up 29 percent year-on-year.

To gain such achievements, Quang Ninh has stepped upcommunication works in order to promote local tourism, while also intensifyingits inspection of tourism services across the province.

Competent local authorities will scale up efforts to monitorthe tourism business environment, increase tourism promotion, and pay attentionto special and attractive tourism products for time to come.

In 2017, Quang Ninh received9.87 million tourists, including 4.28 million foreigners, up 18 percent and 23percent respectively. The tourism sector pocketed over 17.88 trillion VND(786.9 million USD), up 30 percent compared to the previous year, andcontributed 3.2 trillion VND (140.8 million USD) to the State budget,accounting for 11.9 percent of the local budget collection.

The province is hosting theNational Tourism Year 2018 themed “Ha Long-Heritage, Wonder, FriendlyDestination”.

In 2019, the annual ASEANTourism Forum (ATF 2019) is scheduled to take place in Quang Ninh from January14-19 under the theme “ASEAN: The Power of One”.

First launched in 1981 in KualaLumpur, Malaysia, ATF is the biggest annual and alternated event under theASEAN tourism cooperation umbrella with a view to promoting the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as one tourist destination.

It involves all the tourism industry sectors ofthe 10 ASEAN member states, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The hosting of ATF in 2019 creates a goldenopportunity for Vietnam in general and Quang Ninh in particular to promotetourism.

A wide range of activities will be held as partof the forum such as formal meetings between officials of ASEAN NationalTourism Organisation (NTO) and meetings between ASEAN tourism ministers andtheir counterparts from China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and India.

Other events includeassociation meetings involving ASEAN Tourism Association, Federation of ASEANTravel Association, ASEAN Airlines Association, and ASEAN Hotel &Restaurant Association, exhibition and business appointments seeking tofacilitate the trade of regional and individual tourism products of ASEANmember states, and a tourism conference.

Implementing the ComprehensivePlan for Tourism Development in Quang Ninh, the province has been striving tobecome an international tourism centre and a leading tourism destination inVietnam with modern infrastructure and diverse, high-quality and competitivetourism products. 

By 2020, Quang Ninh aims to welcome 15-16million tourists, including 7 million foreigners, and rake in 30 trillion VND -40 trillion VND (1.3 billion USD - 1.7 billion USD) in revenue. The tourismsector is expected to contribute 14-15 percent to the gross regional domesticproduct (GRDP). 

With a range of stunning landscapes, clearturquoise sea and spectacular limestone pillars together with numerous tourisminvestment projects, Quang Ninh boasts huge potential to develop tourism.

The province has a coastline of more than 250kilometres and over 2,000 islets, two-thirds of the total number in Vietnam.The spectacular stretch of coast connects the UNESCO-recognised World HeritageSite of Ha Long Bay with majestic natural scenery, Bai Tu Long Bay, Van Don andCo To islands and Tra Co beach with Cat Ba National Park in the northern portcity of Hai Phong.

Along with the renowned Ha Long Bay, Quan Lan,Minh Chau, Ngoc Vung, Dai beaches in Van Don island district and Tra Co andVinh Thuc in Mong Cai city have grown in stature among domestic andinternational tourists thanks to their breathtaking sea and coral reef.-VNA