A welcome programme held by Quang Ninh tourism authority to greet a group of 650 tourists from Malaysia. (Photo: quangninh.gov.vn) A delegation of 650 travellers from Sarawak State, Malaysia arrivedin Quang Ninh this week to have a four-day stay, marking the largest foreigngroup to visit the locality.
This is one of the encouraging results from the provincial authorities' effortsto promote itself in the international tourism market, especially after the17th East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum (EATOF) successfully held inOctober in the province's Ha Long city, according to Quang Ninh Portal (QNP).
Sarawak State is one of the 17 EATOF members. The Malaysian visitorsarrived in Quang Ninh on November 22, planned to stay at four- and five-star hotelsand experience various tourist services in the province.
During their four-day stay in the country, the tourists had a two-day tourto Ha Long Bay, the UNESCO-recognised world heritage site, exploredtraditional cuisine and experienced tourist activities.
Although it is a relatively new tourism market for foreign visitors fromMalaysia, Quang Ninh has impressed them with its safety, good pandemiccontrol, impressive natural landscape, friendly people, and goodquality services.
The safety factor is one of the major competitive advantages of Quang Ninhtourism in the international market, according the QNP.
At a bilateral meeting between Quang Ninh and Sarawak State within theframework of the last EATOF, leaders of the two localities pledgedto enhance cultural exchange activities, boost linkages betweentheir heritage sites, promote building tours todestinations and strengthen exploitation of the two-way tourist markets.
In the coming time, Quang Ninh expects to welcome more than 1,000 visitors fromMalaysia, said a report on the website of the provincial tourismauthority, dulich.quangninh.gov.vn.
Yap Oi Leng, director of Malaysia’s Energy Travel agency, said to vov.vn that the company chose QuangNinh for the tour because the locality boasts many beautiful and renownedsightseeing spots with modern infrastructure.
Earlier, Quang Ninh received 150 South Korean tourists from Jeju for athree-day tour following the EATOF gathering.
Nguyen Van Son, general director of Thang Loi International Travel Company,said the company has received plenty of bookings from the Malaysian,Indonesian, and Singaporean markets for 2023.
The most popular time looks set to be in January next year when around 1,000foreign visitors on five charter flights are due to arrive in Vietnam,with Quang Ninh selected as one of their destinations.
Pham Ngoc Thuy, Director of the provincial Department of Tourism, said to vov.vn that the province will havemany opportunities when the international tourism market opens wider next year.
"We’re planning to work with Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, Luang Prabang provincein Laos, and Japan this December. The Cambodian market is a good place toconnect with international visitors in Southeast Asia, so we will workwith them as soon as possible and generate momentum to attract tourists nextyear," Thuy said.
The tourism sector of Quang Ninh is diversifying its products based onlocal advantages with a focus on enhancing tourists’ experience towards thegoal of becoming a four-season destination.
Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Tuong Van said theprovince aims to attract 10 million tourists this year, including 1.5 millionforeign visitors.
To achieve this goal, it is implementing a host of solutions, one of whichis to continue investing in infrastructure, especiallyaccommodation and tourist sites, in order to create the best servicesfor visitors.
The province will continue to diversify tourism products in the direction ofdeveloping sea-island tourism, trade tourism, health care tourism and MICE(Meeting, Incentives, Conference and Exhibitions) tourism.
In October this year, Quang Ninh hosted the 17th General Assembly ofthe EATOF, which became an opportunity for the province to enhance its linkagewith EATOF member countries, contributing to the tourism recovery in the newnormal conditions./.
VNA
