Vietnam set for over 60,000 tourists at 2002 Hue festival
HANOI - Between 60,000 and 80,000 Vietnamese and foreign tourists will
come
to the ancient imperial city of Hue to attend the 2002 Hue festival,
according to the Festival's Organising Board.
To welcome the tourists, central Thua Thien-Hue province has poured
money
into upgrading more than 70 hotels with 2,328 rooms. The provincial
tourism
service has also mobilised 250 local houses to provide accommodation to
tourists.
The 2002 Hue Festival will take place from May 4-15 with the
participation
of more than 30 art troupes from Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, France,
China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the host Vietnam.
During the 12-day festival, 13 exhibitions and showrooms on Hue will be
organised.
Thua Thien-Hue province successfully held the 2000 Hue Festival from
April
8-19, 2000.
The central coastal province has emerged as the national hub of tourism
and
culture. With the Hue city recognised by the United Nations'
Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a World Heritage Site
of
Culture, Thua Thien-Hue province has attracted an increasing number of
tourists who have breathed new life into this quiet city.
In an effort to preserve the ancient city, the Centre for Preservation
of
the World Heritage in Hue has over the past five years used more than
VND
100 billion (US$6.57 million) from the local and central sources and
international aid to restore 80 projects listed as historic and cultural
relics. The centre has also studied and preserved 74 royal musical
compositions, 15 royal dances, 27 royal classical opera pieces, and
other
kinds of Hue folk culture.
Apart from 73 hotels owned by all economic sectors, Thua Thien-Hue
province
has over the past two years invested hundreds of billions of Vietnamese
dong
into building new tourist sites such as the Lang Co sea port, ecological
mountainous Bach Ma area, Thanh Tan natural mineral water area, and
other
entertainment areas.
As a result, tourism has been blossoming with tourist arrivals leaping
to
more than 560,000 last year from 367,690 in 1998 and 286,850 in 1996.
The
revenue from tourist services in 2001 increased 24.5 per cent over the
year
2000.
Thua Thien-Hue province plans to receive one million tourists in 2005.
Vietnam News Agency - April 9, 2002
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