Beach tourism wins big on 5-day holiday

At the beginning of summer, combined with hot weather, beaches across the country were chosen as destinations for the April 30 holiday, causing many places to see a sudden increase in the number of visitors.

At the end of the 5-day holiday on April 30 and May 1, the beaches of Sam Son – Thanh Hoa, Cua Lo – Nghe An, Thien Cam – Ha Tinh, Nha Trang – Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan, Ba Ria – Vung Tau All welcome a large number of visitors.

The occupancy rate at all beaches is over 90%, in some places it is 100%. Among them, some localities achieved a growth rate, including both staying and visiting visitors, of more than 60% compared to last year, many localities reached nearly 1 million visitors.

Thanh Hoa is the locality that welcomes the most visitors among sea tourism localities with over 1.5 million visits during the 5-day holiday, an increase of more than 27% over the same period. The largest number of tourists was in Sam Son city with 905,000 arrivals, Nghi Son town and Hai Tien beach welcomed nearly 90,000 arrivals.

Ecotourism areas and relics in the province such as Ho Dynasty Citadel and Lam Kinh Historical Relic Area also welcomed more than 10,000 visitors. Room occupancy in the province during the holidays reached about 82.5%. Thanh Hoa’s total tourism revenue this holiday reached more than 3,800 billion VND, an increase of nearly 33% over the same period in 2023.

Ha Tinh is the locality with the highest increase in visitors in the country, 68% over the same period, reaching about 603,000 arrivals, mainly focusing on beaches. Nearly 85% of guests use accommodation services, causing most hotel and motel systems in coastal tourist areas in the area to be overloaded. At Thien Cam beach, in the first 3 days of the holiday, there were over 60,000 tourists and people coming to visit and swim. Room occupancy rate reached 100%.

Tourists swimming at Thien Cam beach, afternoon of April 29. Photo: Duc Hung

Some other localities in the province have a large number of visitors and resorts such as Nghi Xuan with 180,000 visitors (more than doubling compared to 2023), Ky Anh town with 150,000 visitors, and Cam Xuyen with 150,000 visitors.

Nghe An welcomes 950,000 visitors, an increase of 22% compared to 2023, of which staying guests are estimated at 350,000. Total tourism revenue is more than 1,700 billion VND. Cua Lo Beach is the most popular attraction in Nghe An. On average, there are more than 40,000 people per day during the holidays. Despite the hot weather, many times Cua Lo is “full of people”. Other beaches in the province such as Dien Thanh, Dien Chau or eco-tourism destinations in Nghe An are also often crowded with tourists.

Visitors to Nghe An also visit tourist areas. Mr. Nguyen Bao Tuan, Director of Kim Lien National Special Monument, Nam Dan District, said that this year the number of tourists returning to President Ho Chi Minh’s hometown also increased compared to previous years. On average there are about 15,000 visits per day.

Guests swimming at Sam Son beach, Thanh Hoa, afternoon of April 28. Photo: Le Hoang

Along with Nghe An, Khanh Hoa also reached nearly 1 million visitors, about 970,000, an increase of 21% compared to last year. The proportion of domestic passengers traveling by air decreased by 20% due to increased air ticket prices, but the newly inaugurated Cam Lam – Vinh Hao expressway helped reduce travel time from Ho Chi Minh City from 8 hours to 5 hours. Therefore, Khanh Hoa attracts a large number of visitors from the southern provinces. The average rate of guests staying in the province is nearly 90%.

The total number of visitors and guests staying in Da Nang during the 5-day holiday reached more than 336,000, an increase of nearly 12% over the same period in 2023. Of which, international visitors reached about 72,000, an increase of more than 2 times over the same period. period of 2023. Da Nang’s tourism revenue after 5 days is about 1,336 billion VND, up nearly 13% over the same period in 2023.

Notably, the number of tourists coming to Da Nang by train increased by more than 60% over the same period in 2023 with more than 16,000 arrivals. The number of passengers traveling by road, especially self-sufficient vehicles, has also increased. The overall capacity of 4-5 star tourist accommodation facilities and equivalent reaches 70%.

In the southern region, the beaches of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province attracted about 626,000 visitors, an increase of 25% over the same period, with room capacity reaching more than 90% of the entire province. Mr. Pham Khac To, Director of Vung Tau City Tourist Management and Support Center, said that the number of visitors to Vung Tau City accounted for 46% of the total number of tourists in the whole province, an increase of 38% compared to last year. Total tourism revenue during the holidays of Ba Ria – Vung Tau is estimated to reach 668 billion VND, an increase of more than 12% over the same period in 2023. Room capacity is about 80-95% of the whole province, accommodation revenue reaches 412 billion VND .

Binh Thuan welcomes 220,000 visitors, accommodation increases by about 25% compared to 2023, room capacity is about 75 – 95%, 3-5 star resorts and equivalent room capacity reach 95-100%. 5-day revenue is estimated at about 420 billion VND. During the holidays, prices for services and rooms increase by 20% – 50%, and seafood prices increase seasonally.

Hot weather across the country also makes tourists seek places to escape the heat such as the mountains and plateaus. Places such as Sa Pa (Lao Cai), Da Lat (Lam Dong) or Mang Den (Kon Tum) also attract a large number of visitors, but the percentage of guests staying is not as high as coastal cities. Guests staying in Lao Cai reach about 65% (more than 80% in Sa Pa alone), nearly 80% in Da Lat and more than 90% in Mang Den.

The weather on April 30 was hot and sunny, with few visitors to Hoi An ancient town during the day. Photo: Dac Thanh

According to some tourism experts, airfares have increased and tourists mainly use road transport, so it can be seen that destinations 300-400 km away from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have a large number of tourists. spike. Meanwhile, in Central provinces such as Thua Thien Hue, Quang Nam, or Kien Giang (including Phu Quoc island), the number of visitors increased slightly or decreased.

Quang Nam Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the province had 233,000 visitors, down 5% over the same period, of which visitors decreased by 38%, partly due to the heat. Kien Giang welcomed about 270,000 visitors, an increase of nearly 3% over the same period, domestic visitors decreased by nearly 4%.

Although tourist arrivals have increased or decreased, in general, localities recorded a significant increase in tourism revenue during this year’s holiday season. In some localities where the number of domestic tourists decreased, revenue still grew due to attracting many international visitors such as Thua Thien Hue, Quang Nam (mainly Hoi An) and Kien Giang (mainly Phu Quoc). In addition, the accommodation rate nationwide has also reached a high level, reaching 80-90% of the national average.