The central province of Thua Thien-Hue has chosen December 22-30 as a promotion week for heritage tourism in an effort to raise the number of visitors to 3 million at the end of this year.
During the week, a free electric bus service will run from Dai Noi (Mandarin's House) to the Hue Royal Antique Museum and tour guides will be provided for each group of up to 15 visitors.
Holidaymakers will also enjoy a 50 percent reduction in ticket prices for performances of Nha nhac (Hue royal court music).
At the same time, the locality has focused on improving product quality, developing new products and stepping up promotion activities.
The province has also partnered with localities in the central key economic region to introduce several special tourism packages serving foreign arrivals along the East-West Economic Corridor.
Provincial statistics show that during the January-October period, the province welcomed 2.12 million arrivals, including 784,000 foreigners, earning over 2 trillion VND (94 million USD).
Foreign holiday-makers to Hue mainly came from Thailand, France, Australia, Germany, the Republic of Korea and Japan. Marine tourism has played a big role in luring visitors to the locality, especially Lang Co and Thuan An beaches. Since it was recognised as one of the most beautiful bays in the world in 2009, the number of tourists to Lang Co has increased by 25 percent each year. It now has six tourism complexes, 40 hotels and tens of restaurants. In an effort to boost the marine tourism, the province has also invested 300 million VND in upgrading infrastructure around Thuan An beach, about 12 km from Hue city.