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Quang Ninh suspends tours of bays, relic sites

COVID-19: Quang Ninh suspends tours of bays, relic sites

The northeastern province of Quang Ninh has decided to suspend overnight stay service on cruise liners and tours of its Ha Long Bay, Bai Tu Long Bay, islands in Co To and Van Don, and relic sites amid the complicated development of acute respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) outbreak.
COVID-19: Quang Ninh suspends tours of bays, relic sites ảnh 1Visitors in Quang Ninh province (Photo: VNA)
Quang Ninh (VNA) – The northeastern province ofQuang Ninh has decided to suspend overnight stay service on cruise liners andtours of its Ha Long Bay, Bai Tu Long Bay, islands in Co To and Van Don, andrelic sites amid the complicated development of acute respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2(COVID-19) outbreak.

The suspension will start from 0:00 am on March 12 to 0:00 amon March 27.

The provincial Health Department reported that not any newcase of SARS-CoV-2 infection had been recorded in Quang Ninh as of 12pm onMarch 11, apart from four infected foreigners who boarded Flight VN0054 withthe 17th patient.

Over 1,200 people in the locality are being quarantined inconcentrated areas.

Quang Ninh is checking the list of passengers on the flightand their travel history after discovering that the 31st and 33rd patients used to stay in the province.
On the afternoon of March 11, the Health Ministry confirmeda total of 38 infection cases in Vietnam.

Quang Ninh is endowed with natural advantages for sea and island tourism. It has a coastline of more than 250 kilometres and more than 2,000 islands and islets which account for two-thirds of the total number in Vietnam.

It is home to popular destinations such as Ha Long Bay, Bai Tu Long, Ha Long Bay National Park and some islands.

In particular, Ha Long Bay literally “descending dragon bay”, was twice recognised as a World Natural Heritage site by UNESCO in 1994 and 2000.

The bay spans 1,553 square kilometres and includes 1,969 islands of various sizes. It features thousands of limestone karsts and islets in various shapes and sizes. The limestone in the bay has gone through 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments. 

The geo-diversity of the environment has created biodiversity, including a tropical evergreen biosystem, oceanic and sea biosystem. 

In 2018, Ha Long Bay made it into the top 15 Instagrammed global cruise destinations based on a survey of 1.8 million posts tagged on various ships and ports by travel cruise site SeaHub.

Located 80 km from the mainland, Co To island is another attraction in Quang Ninh. The island district comprises Co To Lon (large Co To island), Co To Be (small Co To island) and 15 smaller islands. 

Besides enchanting beaches, the island has natural forests, lighthouses, parks, wharves, fishing villages, bays and a rock garden.

Located in Bai Tu Long Bay, Quan Lan Island in Van Don district has become an ideal destination in summer holidays thanks to its pristine beauty, clear blue seawater and fine white sand bank stretching along the green rows of casuarinas.

During the National Tourism Year 2018 under the theme “Ha Long-Heritage, Wonder, Friendly Destination”, Quang Ninh welcomed 12.3 million visitors, including 5.2 million foreigners, and earned 24 trillion VND (1.03 billion USD) in tourism revenue.

The operation of the Van Don International Airport in December 2018 is expected to help Quang Ninh achieve its target of welcoming 15-16 million tourists, including 7 million foreigners, by 2020 and 30 million arrivals, including 15 million foreigners, by 2030./.

VNA
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