Measures to attract more tourists to the central province of Quang Nam was the focus of discussion at a forum held in the locality on July 9, which brought together a crowd of domestic and foreign experts, managers and representatives from travel agencies.

In recent times, along with efforts in fostering tourism promotion, local authorities have also paid attention to boosting investment in diversifying products and services, improving their quality and upgrading infrastructure system serving the development of the sector.

Quang Nam boasts must-see destinations such as Hoi An, the world cultural heritage site of My Son sanctuary and the World Biosphere Reserve of Cu Lao Cham.

In the first half of this year, the province greeted over 1.7 million holiday-makers, up 6.2 percent against the same period last year.

Last year, Hoi An ancient town won the title of the second best city for tourists in Asia by the world’s premier travel magazine Conde Nast Traveller, while the US online news site Huffington Post listed Hoi An as one of the seven must-visit places in Vietnam.

However, following the tension in the East Sea caused by China’s illegal placement of its oil rig in Vietnam’s waters, the country’s tourism sector in general and that of Quang Nam in particular are being affected remarkably. In May and June, the number of foreign tourists, mostly from China to the locality saw a considerable decrease.

Le Tien Dung, Chairman of the Quang Nam Tourism Association, local authorities should pay heed to developing MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions) tourism and building websites to promote its potential in the field.

He also urged them to speed up rural tourism models and forge links between Quang Nam and neighbouring provinces to thoroughly utilise regional cultural values and beauty, thus attracting more holiday-makers to the locality.

In additions, tourism promotion activities in potential foreign markets such Japan, the Republic of Korea and Russia should be focused on in the coming time, Dung added.

Participants also proposed local authorities to develop green tourism models in coastal areas to reduce negative impact from the sector on the environment.-VNA