Truong Quang Nghia, the party secretary of Danang City, held a review meeting with the Department of Tourism about the sector's operation in 2017 and new goals for 2018 on March 7.
Chairman of Danang Tourism Associations Huynh Tan Vinh said that the city had experienced extraordinary development since 2008 when the city received 1.2 million visitors. In 2017, it received 6.6 million visitors and earned nearly VND20trn (USD878.75m). Over 2.3 million international and 4.3 million domestic tourists visited Danang last year, an increase of 39% and 11.2% compared to 2016.
Chairman of Danang Tourism Associations Huynh Tan Vinh speaks at the meeting on March 7
However, Vinh also raised concerns about the changing cityscape. About 10 years ago, Han River could be seen by casual travellers on the nearby roads but many constructions have marred the scenery. Despite the increasing number of visitors, many of them didn't want to return the second time.
"Why do people want to visit Danang? I think it's for the beauty of Han River and Son Tra Peninsula. Big cities like New York and Paris have much more extravagant buildings," he said.
There are opinions that Danang lacks capable personnel and funding for tourism and it should take a different promotion path such as inviting Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal to play a match in Danang. Huynh Tan Vinh said that they needed to attract more tourists from different markets such as Australia and India instead of depending on South Korea and China.
However, Nghia said the surge of visitors from South Korea and China was an opportunity that Danang must take. "They're very easy going and willing to spend," he said. "Danang needs to attract tourists from different markets for stable business."
Nghia proposed limiting the use of motorbikes and wanted to encourage the citizens to walk more. He said that it was not too difficult to increase public transport but it was not easy to start an exercise movement.
