Director of the provincial Department of Tourism Pham Ngoc Thuy said the agency will cooperate closely with localities to make the National Tourism Year 2018, themed “Ha Long – Heritage, Wonder – Friendly Destination” a successful event.

It will strengthen management on tourism business environment, strengthened, particularly the operation of local travel agencies; while expanding tourist space and developing agricultural and community-based tourism products in a number of localities, including Binh Lieu districts, Uong Bi city, Dong Trieu town.

Besides, numerous infrastructural projects will be put into operation in 2018, such as Van Don international airport, Ha Long – Hai Phong and Ha Long – Van Don expressways, while the construction of large-scale ecotourism complexes will be launched in the province in the year, hoping to lure more tourists to Quang Ninh.

During the New Year holidays from December 30, 2017 to January 1, 2018, the World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay welcomed nearly 34,000 visitors, up 12 percent from the same period last year, including 28,310 foreigners, accounting for 83 percent of the total tourist arrivals.

In the first day of 2018, the special national relic sites of Yen Tu and Tran Dynasty served 1,500 and 800 visitors, respectively.

In 2017, the province accommodated 9.87 million arrivals, including 4.28 million foreigners, up 18 percent and 23 percent year on year, respectively.

The sector earned over 17.88 trillion VND (786.9 million USD), up 30 percent year on year, and contributed 3.2 trillion VND (140.8 million USD) to the State budget, accounting for 11.9 percent of the local budget collection.