Though blessed with white sandy beaches and many sightseeing places of interest, central Da Nang city’s authorities are making all-out efforts to turn each visitor into a tourist promoter for the city.

“Friendly smiles” training courses are part of the scheme with the municipal Culture and Sports Department playing host.

The courses are held on a regular basis to impart good communication skills to local traders, taxi and tri-cycle drivers and street vendors so as they can indirectly promote Da Nang's images far and wide through their small acts.

The courses also target customs and immigration officers, who play the key role in winning visitors’ smiles and pleasure when they set foot on the city.

Kiosks offering free tourism information to visitors have been erected at various corners of the city, at airport and resorts, in hotels and on beaches. A Support Center has become operational, assisting visitors in case they need during their stay in the city.

The local authorities are working on the launch of new air routes to touristy destinations like Thailand and Chinese Hong Kong, developing new tourism products and services, and promoting constant training for the non-smoking industry’s staff.

Apart from that, the city places key tasks on speeding up the construction of tourism – driven sites such as Ba Na-Suoi Mo ecotourism complex, Ngu Hanh Son cultural park, and continuing with the organisation of internationally-scaled events of the 2013 Fireworks Show, the 2013 Stone Sculpture Camp and the Marathon Championship.

With the efforts, the city targets to attract 3 million tourists in the year, up 12.8 percent compared to the last year’s figure.

The non-smoking industry will become a spearhead in the local economy, expecting to post a year-on-year increase of 8.3 percent in revenues to 6.5 trillion VND (about 309.5 million USD).

Positive signs have shown in the first months of the year, seeing a 13 percent increase in domestic and foreign arrivals to the city to over 150,000, according to the department.-VNA