The province welcomed 6.93 million arrivals in 2017, a 12.9 per cent rise against last year. Of the total, 2.94 million were foreign tourists.To become the destination of visitors, Vu Thi Thu, Vice Chairwoman of the provincial People’s Committee, said that Quang Ninh has formed four tourist areas with typical products including Ha Long City associated with Ha Long Bay, Mong Cai – Tra Co associated with border tourism, Van Don – Co To associated with sea and island tourism and a high quality resort with casino, Uong Bi – Dong Trieu – Quang Yen area with a cultural and spiritual tourism and community and trade village tourism.
Changes in entrance and exit procedures have also contributed to increase the number of visitors to Quang Ninh. The reception of Chinese tourists using the passport to visit Mong Cai City has gained the effectiveness, connecting tours to destinations in the city’s centre and Tra Co and Sa Si tourist area.
Mong Cai City, in collaboration with China’s bordering town Dongxing, launched a tour through Ha Long and Mong Cai to Dongxiang and Guilin (China) as well as pilot the self-drive tours from Mong Cai to Dongxing. So far, after six months of pilot operations, there have been around 110 vehicles carrying out entry and exit procedures at the Mong Cai international border gate, of which 70 from China and 40 from Vietnam.
Determining tourism as a spearhead economic sector, in recent years, Quang Ninh authorities have invested significantly to transport and tourism infrastructure projects such as the upgrade of the Uong Bi - Ha Long section of the Highway 18, bringing electricity to Co To island and the island communes in Van Don district, and telecommunication infrastructure providing mobile and in-vehicle coverage to all tourism destinations.
A number of other strategic projects have been also accelerated including Ha Long – Hai Phong expressway which will shorten the travel time from Ha Long to Hanoi to 1.5 hours by car; and Van Don International Airport and the Ha Long - Van Don expressway which are expected to be completed in 2018, becoming an important premise to bring into full play the strengths of the Van Don Special Economic Zone.
Ha Long – Mong Cai expressway will continue to be built to connect Quang Ninh province with Guangxi province of China and ASEAN countries; while the Ha Long international sea port will create favorable conditions for visitors to visit Ha Long and Bai Tu Long bays by five-star cruise.
Besides strategic projects of high-profile investors such as BIM Group, Vingroup, Sun Group, MyWay, Tuan Chau and FLC, Quang Ninh has so far also attracted billions US dollars from famous international corporations from the US, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and United Arab Emirates.
“The gather of major brands will help Ha Long improve its position on the map of domestic and international tourism. Luxury travelers around the world will see that, in addition to visiting the Ha Long Bay, there are many other options of resorts and entertainment”, said Huong Tran Kieu Dung, General Director of FLC Group.
The province targets to welcome 15-16 million tourists, including 7 million international visitors, earning around VND30-40 trillion by 2020.
