Vietnam’s seas, islands – magnet for domestic tourists

Hanoi, July 15 (VNA) – Coastal areas and islands across Vietnam are becoming a magnet for domestic tourists as they not only offer ideal destinations in summer but also arouse their love for the country’s sea and island sovereignty. The Vietravel company’s Hanoi branch reported that as of the beginning of June, the number of domestic tourists booking domestic tours climbed 170 percent from a year earlier. Some of their favourite destinations are central coastal Da Nang, Nha Trang and Quy Nhon cities, and southern Phu Quoc and Con Dao islands. Apart from such traditional destinations as Ha Long Bay, Cat Ba, My Khe, Nha Trang, and Phu Quoc, visitors also flocked to northern Co To and Quan Lan islands, central Son Tra peninsular and Ninh Chu beach, among others. Other travel agencies also saw a surge in the sales of tours to the sea. Newstatour Director Luong Duy Ngan said since the beginning of this summer, his firm has served nearly 7,000 tourists, most them make their holidays in littoral areas and islands. This year, the company gives their priorities to tours to islands like Co To, Thanh Lam and Bach Long Vi, he added. Owning a coastline of over 3,000 km, Vietnam has a sea area of more than 1 million sq.km. with some 3,000 islands. Such a geographic feature offers a great potential in sea and island tourism, said Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ho Anh Tuan at a press conference launching the national tourism promotion campaign on July 9.-VNA