Ha Long city welcomes 7.9 million visitors in nine months

Hanoi (VNA) – Ha Long city in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh welcomed 7.9 million visitors in nine months of this year, up 21 percent.

Tourism revenue surpassed 15.7 trillion VND (682.6 million USD), up 35 percent annually.

The World Heritage Site Ha Long Bay is now home to about 500 cruise vessels, 189 of them offer overnight accommodation.

Municipal authorities regularly inspect service quality at restaurants, lodging facilities, entertainment areas and shopping malls.

In the past nine months, they received 141 calls through hotlines and promptly dealt with visitors’ complaints, thus improving their satisfaction.

Goods sold at supermarkets and shopping malls ensure quality with clear origin.

Tourism infrastructure is also upgraded, including Road 18A, while a coastal road linking Ha Long city with Cam Pha city is expanded.

In August, British travel magazine Rough Guides included Ha Long Bay in its selection of the 100 most beautiful places to visit next year. 

In the Rough Guides to the 100 Best Places on Earth, the magazine describes “the scattering of limestone pinnacles jutting out of the smooth waters of Ha Long Bay”, around four hours northeast of Hanoi, as an “incredible sight”. The bay was the only Vietnamese destination in the list.

In September, Ha Long Bay was named as one of the most popular attractions in Asia, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) based in Hong Kong.

Around 5.2 million foreigners visited Ha Long Bay in 2018, up 22 percent from a year ago, accounting for 30 percent of the 15.6 million foreign tourist arrivals to Vietnam./.