Binh Thuan (VNA) – Tourist sites andresorts in the Ham Tien-Mui Ne area, Phan Thiet city, the south central coastalprovince of Binh Thuan, are busy during last months of the year as manyinternational tourists come here for their winter vacation.

The winter holiday lasts from October 2017 to March 2018, with tourists comingfrom both traditional markets like Russia and Germany and new ones such as theUS, France, Sweden and Poland.

Tran Van Sang, Deputy Director of Hoang Ngoc Resort, said his resort’s room occupancyrate in the last six months of 2017 hit 85 percent, as compared with 70 percentrecorded in the same period last year.

Zinke Elke from Germany said this is sixth time she and her husband havevisited Mui Ne, adding that she has been attracted by the warm weather, goodservices and fresh air.

Alina Ruzanova from Russia, who has been Binh Thuan for the first time,commented on the warm weather and hospitable locals, saying she will come back nexttime.

According to the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, BinhThuan welcomed about 5.2 million visitors in 2017, representing a year-on-yearrise of 13 percent.

Of the number, 599,000 are foreigners, up 13 percent year-on-year, with 57,000 recordedin December and 160,000 in the last three months of this year.

Binh Thuan earned nearly 11 trillion VND (484 million USD) from the tourismsector in 2017, up 20 percent against the previous year.

Binh Thuan has 192 kilometres ofcoast with beautiful beaches, landscapes, clean environment, nationalhistorical – cultural relics and festivals.

It is home to more than 300hotels, with 11,000 rooms and over 500 villas and apartments for tourists.

The locality expects to welcomearound seven million tourists by 2020, contributing 10 percent to provincialGRDP.-VNA