Ba Ria – Vung Tau has capitalised on local festivals to lure visitors. (Photo: VNA)

Ba Ria – Vung Tau (VNA) – Endowed with charming natural landscapes, unique cultural historical relic sites, and an array of cultural festivals, the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau has capitalised on its advantages to lure more visitors.

Even in the low season, the first Ba Ria – Vung Tau Tourism Festival held last month attracted some 60,000 local and international visitors thanks to a variety of exciting activities such as a culinary festival, a beer festival and an expo showcasing OCOP products.

There were also paragliding performances, paramotor performances, sporting activities such as kayaking, a kite festival, and a friendly golf tournament at The Bluffs Grand Ho Tram.

Nguyen Sy Giap, a visitor from Ho Chi Minh City, said he was impressed by the vibrant atmosphere of the festival as well as the variety of tourism products.

According to Nguyen Thi Hong Lan, Director of Hai Lan Company Limited, thanks to the cultural and tourism festivals, local handicraft products have been brought closer to both domestic and international visitors.

Cultural and tourism events have been designed over the past time to stimulate tourism demand and increase revenue for local firms during the low tourism season, which runs from September to November.

Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Tourism Tran Thi Thu Hien said besides festivals, the province has developed a kaleidoscope of tourism products to attract visitors from far and wide.

𝓡 Since the outset of the year, Ba Ria – Vung Tau has welcomed 13 million tourist arrivals, higher than the set target of 12 million, she said, adding the province expects to service 14-15 million visitors for the whole year.

Local handicraft products have been brought closer to both domestic and international visitors thanks to the cultural festivals. (Photo: VNA)

With an array of culinary festivals and tourism events, the local hospitality sector has opportunities to popularise their high-quality hotels, restaurants and services. Besides, they also helped increase the locality’s average hotel occupancy rate to 90%, as compared to 40-50% recorded in the previous low travel seasons.

This means the province needs to organise more high-quality events and activities to lengthen the stay of visitors.

According to Le Ngoc Khanh, Deputy Director of the provincial People’s Committee, the province has worked with neighbouring provinces and cities to diversify its tourism products, and elevate its festivals’ values.

Nghinh ong (Whale Worshipping) festival is organised in the eighth lunar month, Dinh Co Festival in the second lunar month, Vung Tau culinary festival in August, among others, he said, highlighting the provincial Department of Tourism was ordered to develop festival and tourism programmes, renew the existing tourism products, and work to improve the quality of tourism human resources.

According to its master plan for the 2021 – 2030 period with a vision to 2050, Ba Ria-Vung Tau set tourism as one of the five important economic pillars. The planning outlines the direction for developing the driving force of tourism economy in the southeastern coastal area with a chain of tourism urban areas like Vung Tau, Long Hai, Phuoc Hai, Loc An, Ho Tram, Binh Chau, and Con Dao national park.

At present, local tourism infrastructure is progressively improving, in both quality and quantity, with 1,490 lodging facilities offering 30,623 rooms. Of them, nearly 900 hotels have been rated from 1 to 5 stars with 8,522 rooms. There are now 45 domestic and international travel agencies in operation. Premium and well-known brands, both domestically and internationally, have been established and developed, such as The Grand - Ho Tram Strip, Six Senses Con Dao, The Imperial, Pullman, Marina Bay Resort, Malibu, and Melia at the Hampton.

🔯 Ba Ria -Vung Tau boasts a chain of three coastal urban areas that play a key role in driving its socio-economic development, namely Vung Tau city, and Long Hai and Phuoc Hai townships. Additionally, the province has Con Dao as a coastal urban area and is now in the process of planning three more others, namely Ho Tram, Binh Chau, and Loc An. It is anticipated that by 2025, Ba Ria - Vung Tau will have a total of seven coastal urban areas./.