A special welcome ceremony for Mr, James Kopenec, a US citizen, and the other two lucky guests, was held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and the Quang Ninh provincial People’s Committee. Vu Thi Thu Thuy, Vice Chairwoman of Quang Ninh People’s Committee said: “Today is a momentous day of the tourism industry of Vietnam and Quang Ninh as we welcomed the 15^th millionth foreign visitor to Vietnam on a world class cruise ship at an international standard port. This also shows how Quang Ninh investment has paid off.”

Minister of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien stated the event lays the basis for the tourism sector’s bid to become a spearheaded economic sector.