First flight carries Chinese tourists to Khanh Hoa in New Year hinh anh 1At the welcome ceremony (Photo: VNA)

Khanh Hoa (VNA)Budget carrier Vietjet’s Flight VJ5317, departing from China’s Chengdu international airport, landed at Cam Ranh international airport, the south-central coastal province of Khanh Hoa, on January 23 morning, the second day of the Lunar New Year festival.

It was the first flight carrying Chinese tourists to Khanh Hoa after three years of hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Every passenger received flowers and a red packet of lucky money at the welcome ceremony.

From January 23 – March 23, Vietjet is due to operate about 35 flights carrying Chinese visitors from the provinces of Anhui, Hunan and Sichuan to Nha Trang with 4-5 weekly flights transporting 180-220 passengers each.

Before the pandemic outbreak, China was the biggest source of tourist arrivals in Khanh Hoa, with over 2.5 million in 2019.

Last year, the province welcomed more than 2.5 million holidaymakers, earning over 13.8 trillion VND (600 million USD), marking a 5.75-fold increase year-on-year. It is now home to 1,169 lodging facilities with over 55,530 rooms. Nearly half of them meet 3-5 star standard.

This year, the provincial tourism sector targeted serving about 4 million tourists, including about 2.5 million domestic and 1.5 million foreign visitors who are expected to spend 21 trillion VND while here./. 

VNA