Localities welcome first New Year visitors

Localities nationwide welcomed first New Year visitors on January 1.
Ho Chi Minh City's leaders welcome first visitors to the city. (Photo: NDO)
Ho Chi Minh City's leaders welcome first visitors to the city. (Photo: NDO)

At Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, the municipal Department of Tourism and national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines presented its domestic round-trip and business-class tickets to six lucky passengers chosen on Flight VN30 from Germany’s Frankfurt that landed in the city at 7:25am.

Budget Vietjet Air also gifted its round-trip tickets for international flights to five lucky passengers on Flight VJ841 from Taiwan (China) to the city at 8:50am the same day.

The TST Tourist Service & Trading Corporation also gave them vouchers of free entrance to Ao Dai Museum in the city.

At the welcome ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: NDO)
At the welcome ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: NDO)

Director of the municipal Tourism Department Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa said this year, the sector targets hosting 5 million foreigners, 35 million domestic visitors and earning 160 trillion VND from tourism.

In the northern province of Lao Cai, the provincial Department of Tourism and the provincial Tourism Association welcomed 400 passengers on the Hanoi – Lao Cai train SP3, including over 250 foreigners.

In Lao Cai railway station (Photo: VNA)
In Lao Cai railway station (Photo: VNA)

Director of the provincial Tourism Department Ha Van Thang said the activity aims to popularise the images of Lao Cai to international visitors, toward welcoming 6 million tourists and earning over 20 trillion VND in tourism revenue this year.

Vietnam Airlines’ first domestic flight with 165 passengers from Hanoi landed at Da Nang International Airport at 8:55am the same day. Meanwhile, Vietjet Air’s first international flight with 170 passengers on board departed from the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Incheon and arrived in Da Nang at 10am.

They were presented with flowers, gifts and enjoyed lion dances at the welcome ceremony.

Three passengers on the domestic flight received business-class tickets for domestic trips each while three others on the international flight also obtained international round-trip tickets.

Deputy Director of the municipal Tourism Department Nguyen Xuan Binh said in 2023, the city will develop MICE tourism and hold more international sport and cultural tourism activities to resume tourist arrivals in the city.

From December 30, 2022 till January 2, 2023, Da Nang plans to welcome around 395 flights with more than 58,000 passengers, including 236 domestic and 159 international flights.

At Cam Ranh International Airport, the Tourism Department of the south central coastal province of Khanh Hoa also greeted the first passengers on the Vietnam Airlines’ flight VN441 from the RoK with flowers, gifts, folk music and lion dance performances.

In the afternoon, the second flight DV5207, run by Scatt Airlines, brought 180 foreigners to the province at 1pm, mostly those from Kazakhstan, Russia and Uzbekistan.

Director of the provincial Tourism Department Nguyen Thi Le Thanh hoped that the event will help attract more tourists to Khanh Hoa which is known as a safe, friendly and attractive destination.

VNA