Artists perform at Princess Huyền Trân's festival held on January 29-30 in Huế City. VNA/VNS Photo

HUẾ - The ritual at Princess Huyền Trân Temple in Huế this year started on January 29 at the Ngũ Phong Mountain Complex, about 7km southeast of Huế.

It is one of the ancient citadel's Spring Festival activities, not only to welcome the new season but also the new year. It's also an activity to pay tribute to Vietnamese people’s ancestors, who expanded the country southward, with the historic marriage of Princess Huyền Trân to the then King of Champa.

Phan Thanh Hải, Director of Thừa Thiên Huế Department of Culture and Sport, said that Princess Huyền Trân, along with the then King Trần Nhân Tông were the essential driving force to the establishment of the long stretch of land of Thuận Hóa - Phú Xuân - Thừa Thiên Huế.

She was revered by people, having fulfilled both her duties to the country and being kind to the common people. 

Princess Huyền Trân put her country first, and her love second. She obeyed her father King Trần Nhân Tông, and his elder brother Trần Anh Tông to wed Champa King, so as to establish peaceful ties with the southern neighbour back in the 14th century. The King of Champa offered the then Đại Việt Ô and Lý counties as a wedding gift, a thousand-mile stretch of land that embraced today's Huế. She has been worshipped by many generations until today.

In other activities, hundreds of thousands of visitors flocked to central provinces during the first days of the Lunar New Year, marking a boom in tourism during the Tết Festival.

Many tourists enjoy quad bike rides when they visit Bình Thuận Province's Bàu Trắng sand dunes. VNA/VNS Photo

Almost 140,000 tourists landed in the south central coastal province of Bình Thuận in the first week of the lunar year, an increase of 64.7 per cent compared to the same period last year, contributing revenue of VNĐ310 billion (US$13.2 million).

According to the province, the number of customers increased day by day, with the highest number touring Phan Thiết City's Hàm Tiến-Mũi Né, Tiến Thành-Hàm Thuận Nam and La Gi areas on January 23. 

Many of them enjoyed different activities such as driving quad bikes on Bàu Trắng's sand dunes; sand surfing at Mũi Né and swimming at Hòn Rơm Beach. Others visited Pô Sah Inư Towers for Chăm ethnic minority people's culture and took photos at Ông Địa Reef while others enjoyed local delicacies at many seafood restaurants along the beautiful beaches.

During Tết, hotels and resorts also organised their own activities for tourists such as wrapping and cooking bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake), writing calligraphy, folk games and outdoor BBQ parties.

The provincial tourism department expected that in 2023 when Bình Thuận hosts the National Tourim Year, about 6.5 million visitors, up to 10 per cent of them foreigners, will come to their land.

At the same time, Bình Định also welcomed thousands of tourists to the province's best-known sites such as Kỳ Co Beach, Eo Gió Strait and Quang Trung Museum.

According to Trần Văn Thanh, director of Bình Định Tourism Department, visitors were mainly from Central Highlands provinces, Bình Dương, HCM City, Hà Nội and some northern provinces.

The number of visitors was around 150,000 on January 20-26, an increase of 12 per cent over the same period in 2022, bringing in revenue of VNĐ122 billion ($4.8 million).

During Tết, Bình Định hosted a number of festive events such as music and dance performances, spring fairs and fireworks and the 234th anniversary of the Ngọc Hồi-Đống Đa Victory to celebrate the new year holiday. VNS