This year the province’s tourism industry is aiming to welcome 2.3 million visitors, an increase of 3.5 per cent over 2008.
The central province is taking measures to help stimulate tourism and assist companies in the field in reaching their targeted growth rate.
This year, Quang Nam will organise cultural events and exploit traditional festivals, like the Spring Festival 2009, the Thu Bon Festival and My Son’s tenth anniversary as a world heritage site, to attract tourists.
Ca said that the province would also stimulate tourism consumption by pouring VND4 billion(US$230,00) into new tourism programmes and advertising.
Quang Nam will offer 30-50 per cent discounts on tours and will increase rush hour services.
The provincial People’s Committee was ready to help tourism companies solve any issues dealing with capital and taxes, Ca said.
The province would also improve infrastructure in the ancient streets and encourage hotels to open more tours to Quang Nam.
Despite the world recession, the number of visitors to Quang Nam still increased in 2008.According to a report by the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the province had nearly 2.23 million visitors, up 7.9 per cent over 2007.
The number of foreign visitors increased by 2.2 per cent to 469,000. The tourism industry added VND769 billion to the province’s coffer, increasing 28.4 per cent from 2007.
Tourists coming from distant locations like Europe and the US decreased, while regional tourists from Malaysia and Thailand increased by 21.6 per cent and 41.4 per cent respectively.
For Quang Nam, the beginning of 2009 will be a crucial time to attract tourists at a time when numbers are dwindling nationwide. Travel companies in HCM City and Ha Noi said that many tours to Viet Nam had been cancelled recently due to the world recession.

Source:VietNamNet/VNS