Kien Giang (VNA)♉ – The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang welcomed over 335,000 holiday-makers in January, representing a year-on-year rise of 18 percent.

The figure includes 37,000 foreigners, 7.4 percent higher than the same period last year. Tourism sites in Rach Gia city, Ha Tien town and the districts of Hon Dat, Kien Hai, Kien Luong and Phu Quoc proved attractive to tourists. Phu Quoc island alone greeted over 27,000 foreign arrivals. Kien Giang province is hosting a tourism year with the theme “Explore the Southern Land”. It is a large-scale cultural, economic and social event, aiming to attract domestic and foreign tourists. A ceremony to commemorate the 54 th anniversary of the death of heroine of the people’s armed forces Phan Thi Rang was held at the Ba Hon historical relic site, marking the beginning of the event. Mai Van Huynh, vice chairman of the provincial People’s Committee and vice head of the event’s local-level organisation, said local authorities are working hard to promote activities for the event. The highlight will be a festival celebrating the 280 th founding anniversary of the Chieu Anh literary coterie group in Ha Tien town from February 20-22, which will feature a wide range of activities such as poetry and calligraphy, a photo exhibition and traditional games. Last year, Kien Giang received over 4.3 million visitors, up 15 percent compared to the previous year. International tourists to the province hit 220,000. The locality raked in nearly 2.25 trillion VND (around 100 million USD) in 2015, 18 percent higher than the annual target and up 46 percent against 2014. Kien Giang is home to 252 tourism projects with total registered capital of over 188.3 trillion VND (84.6 million USD). Many of these have been completed and put into operation. In 2016, the locality hopes to serve 4.94 million arrivals, including over 280,000 foreigners, and earn 2.6 trillion VND (117 million USD).-VNA