Binh Thuan (VNA) - South-central BinhThuan province will further promote its image as a tourism destination, withparticular attention being paid to safety in association with the COVID-19epidemic, in an effort to revive a local tourism industry severely affected by thepandemic.

Efforts will also be made to step up cooperationand links between businesses and localities as well as between the tourism sectorand other sectors, Ngo Minh Chinh, Director of the provincial Department of Culture,Sports and Tourism, told a meeting on June 4.

From now to the end of this year BinhThuan will host a range of events to attract visitors, including the Kate Festival,the most important annual celebration of theethnic Cham Brahman community, cuisine festivals, and beach sports.

All tourist sites are expectedto reopen in July to meet travel demand during the summer holidays, Chinh said.

Delegates at the meeting discussedother measures to boost local tourism, such as improving the quality of staff andintroducing joint tourism packages.

Binh Thuan earlier launcheda major promotional programme called “Oh Wow Mui Ne” that offered 1 million VIPcards with discounts of up to 50 percent and valid until 2023.

According to the provincialDepartment of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Binh Thuan has welcomed about 1.4 milliontourists so far this year, reaching 20 percent of its annual target. It has earned3.73 trillion VND (160 million USD) from tourism, down 50 percent year-on-year.

Last year it welcomed more than 6.4 million tourists,including 775,000 foreigners, up 11.39 percent against 2018.

Revenue from tourism stood at more than 15.1 trillion VND,a year-on-year increase of 17.5 percent.

It also attracted six additional tourism projects in2019, raising the number of valid projects in the sector to 383 with total registeredcapital of more than 59 trillion VND. Among them are 24 foreign-invested projectsvalued at over 561 million USD.

Binh Thuan province is currently home to 550accommodation facilities with 16,500 rooms./.