Halong Tourism Festival

According to Quang Ninh Province department of Culture, Sport and Tourism, most hotel rooms in Halong City were fully booked last weekend during the festival. The total number of tourists will continue to increase over the next few days as a result of the holidays.

The department estimated that, excluding tourists who live in the province, around 15,000 tourists would come to Halong during the festival and subsequent holidays, bringing the total number of tourists in the province during April to 600,000.

The Halong Tourism Festival 2008 official opened in Halong City last Saturday afternoon. The main events included a Carnival and art and cultural performances by thousands of local artists, sports activities and a trade and tourism fair. Some foreign artists from Guangxi Province of China and Luang Prabang of Laos performed in the opening ceremony.

In the afternoon, around 56 decorated boats and barges paraded on Halong Bay to promote the beauty of the world heritage site. The fireworks display took place on Bai Chay Bridge and Cua Luc Bay. The final round of the Halong beauty contest will take place tonight in Tuan Chau resort.

During the festival, the area from the foot of Bai Chay Bridge to the beginning of Bach Dang Street, the central street of the city, were closed to traffic, according to VnExpress.

The carnival which opened the festival featured a fashion show showcasing models in swimsuits, a mini-helicopter demonstration in the sky, body painting, street circus and dancing and kung fu performances.

There was a special performance depicting the Halong Legend of the Jade Emperor who sent a troupe of dragons to Halong to help Vietnamese fight against intruders. Tourists at the carnival also enjoyed the typical images of the area with the brown sails and the boats in the waves, a parade of flower decorated boats in the sea and a firework performance lasting for two hours at both Bai Chay Bridge and on a barge on the sea.

The Quang Ninh Province department of Culture, Sport and Tourism reported that the province welcomed around 2.2mil local and international tourists during the first four months of this year, increasing the revenue from tourism by 36% over last year to VND1tril.

(Source: SGT/VNN)