First visitors to Đà Nẵng City by airway in the first day of Lunar New Year were welcomed. VNA/VNS Photo Trần Lê Lâm

ĐÀ NẴNG – The Đà Nẵng International Airport in the central city of the same name welcomed more than 125 domestic and international flights carrying over 17,000 passengers on February 10, the first day of the Year of the Dragon.

The airport served 53 international flights with some 7,500 passengers abroad on the day.

Up to 894 domestic and international flights are expected to arrive at the airport during the seven-day holiday, beginning February 8, up about 16 per cent year-on-year.

The municipal Department of Tourism, the airport, the Đà Nẵng International Terminal Investment and Operation JSC and air carriers jointly held a ceremony to welcome the first holidaymakers.

Tourists from first cruise ship to the Đà Nẵng City in the Lunar New Year were given gifts when arrived. VNA/VNS Photo Trần Lê Lâm

The same day, the central city welcomed the first international cruise ships in the lunar new year with more than 1,800 passengers.

Last year, the city served 22 cruise ships with more than 18,000 passengers.

The numbers are expected to reach over 45 and more than 50,000 this year, respectively.

Nearly 362,000 tourists are hoped to visit the city during the holiday, a rise of 23 per cent from the corresponding time last year, including 172,000 international and 190,000 domestic.

The northern province of Quảng Ninh, home to UNESCO-recognised Hạ Long Bay, also welcomed the first group of nearly 300 visitors from the Republic of Korea (RoK) to the heritage on the day.

Phạm Văn Hiệp, managing director of the Hạ Long International Cruise Port, said around 2,000 international tourists visited the bay on the day.  

Hạ Long Bay is expected to attract some 1.4 million vacationers this year, up 25-30 per cent from the previous year.

According to the provincial Department of Tourism, Quảng Ninh province aims to lure at least 17 million arrivals in 2014, including three million international visitors.

The northern province of Ninh Bình, known for its Tràng An Landscape Complex that was recognised by UNESCO as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site in 2014, has organised a range of activities to welcome the first tourists in the lunar new year, striving to fulfill the yearly target of serving 7.5 million visitors, of them 900 are international ones. VNS