Hanoi offers free bus tours during the recent holiday

During the 5-day holiday, localities nationwide saw strong earnings by tourist services and accommodations. Quang Binh province received 250,000 visitors including 7,500 foreigners, up 74% from last year, earning more than 12 million USD, up 78%.

Foreign visitors to Quang Binh came from various countries, but mostly from the UK, Australia, the US, Germany, France, the Netherlands, China, India and South Korea. Their favorite destinations were Phong Nha cave, Thien Duong cave, Nuoc Mooc stream, and Nhat Le beach.

Quang Ngai province served more than 160,000 visitors and earned a record of 6 million USD. Ly Son island alone received nearly 9,000 visitors.

Nguyen Tien Dung, Director of the Quang Ngai provincial Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, said: 'In addition to tourism stimulus activities, we also focused on improving the quality and the development of human resources for the tourism sector. We raised the quality of tour guides and created quality tourism products while promoting our specialties and combining ecotourism, agriculture and rural tourism.'

A record number of tourists was reported in Son La, Lai Chau and Dien Bien province. Thanks to thorough preparation of infrastructure, tourism activities took place in a safe manner nationwide.

Tran Quang Khang, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Lai Chau province, said: 'We welcomed an increasing number of tourists, most of whom were from our targeted markets. We will continue to support tourism businesses to improve their quality and promote Lai Chau’s tourism to both Vietnamese and foreigners.'

The Ha Long Carnival which took place from April 29 to May 3 continued to make Quang Ninh one of the world’s attractive destinations. Vicky, a 28-year-old man from India, has lived in Ha Long for 5 years. He said he has performed Zumba dancing during the Carnival for several years as a way to express his love for Quang Ninh. Vicky said the scale of performances during the Carnival has changed year after year but the dances, costumes, musical instruments and stage decorations always embrace the cultural identity and style of Quang Ninh and other localities in Vietnam.

With more than 3,000 scenic sites and historical relics listed as national heritages and 8 World Natural and Cultural Heritages recognized by UNESCO, Vietnamese tourism is quickly becoming a spearhead economic sector.