Da Nang city

(VOVworld) - The central city of Da Nang welcomed the first international flight from Singapore to its international airport on Tuesday. The Silk Air flight had nearly 130 international visitors on board.  2012 was a successful year for Da Nang city’s tourism sector with air travelers to the city totaling nearly 160,000 doubling the total for 2011. Da Nang has now opened several international air routes including from Russia’s Far-East, China and South Korea. Annette Bantone from London, the first visitor to Da Nang this year said that she was impressed by the Vietnamese people’s hospitality.

On the first day of 2013, Ho Chi Minh City welcomed 450 tourists from Germany and Hongkong, China. Saigontourist is expected to receive more than 3,000 passengers aboard the SuperStar Aquarius cruise ship this week, part of a 1-year cooperation program between Saigontourist and the liner which will bring more than 130,000 passengers to Ha Long, Da Nang, Nha Trang and HCM City. Nguyen Thi Khanh, Vice President of HCM City’s Tourism Association says: "With its advantage of having rivers, HCM City’s Tourism Association and Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism have put in place programs to promote waterway tourism linking with tourist routes from neighboring provinces. These programs have already attracted a lot of tourists".

City Hall of Ho Chi Minh City

In the northern province of Ha Giang, the Management Committee of Dong Van Geopark- Karst Plateau and the Quan Ba district People’s Committee organized a ceremony to welcome foreign tourists from France, the US, and Europe.