More than 3,000 tourists, mostly foreigners, visited the UNESCO-recognised Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh province on February 14^th– the first day of the Lunar New Year.

On February 13^th, cruise ship Legend of the Seas also docked at the bay, bringing nearly 2,000 tourists to the hot spot. This was the second international cruise ship arriving in the bay in the last week.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year (February 16^th), the northern province of Hai Phong received the 6-star cruise ship Silveria, carrying 360 tourists from the US and Europe.

On the fourth day of Lunar New Year (February 17^th), together with thousands of tourists to Nha Trang under booked tours, a great flow of cars from Ho Chi Minh City to Dalat flocked to the coastal city. All hotels in excess of three stars announced full occupancy from the fourth day to the seventh day of Tet holiday while residents and small hotels also reported that they operated at 80% occupancy.

The number of HCM City’s residents traveling on the occasion of the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival recorded a rise of 30 percent over the previous Tet with more than 40,000 people choosing local tours lasting for 3-5 days.

Nearly 15,000 people traveled abroad, an increase of 10%. Most favored spots were Australia, the U.S., Europe, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, and Macao (China).

In February 2010, HCM City is expected to greet nearly 288,000 foreign tourists, an increase in visitors by 15 percent compared to the same period last year. Three to five-star hotels operated at 68% occupancy during this year’s Tet, an increase of 8.8% from last Tet.

The number of foreign tourists to Hanoi during this year’s Lunar New Year Festival increased sharply reaching 120,000, reported the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Tourists came from traditional markets such as Japan, Russia, France, the United States, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom.

More than 1,250 foreign tourists and crew on the cruise liner Costa Allegra visited Ho Chi Minh City on February 23^rd. The visitors, mostly from Italy, Spain, Germany, and the UK, will explore HCM City and several other destinations in the central region such as Da Nang, Hoi An, My Son and Hue.

(CPV)