Hanoi (VNA) ཧ– The “Visit Vietnam Year - Quang Nam 2022” will offer a good chance for the tourism industry to recover after a long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and contribute to creating a green tourism brand of Vietnam in general and Quang Nam province in particular, especially when tourist activities are officially opened on March 15.

The opening ceremony of the national tourism programme, themed “Quang Nam – A green destination,” will take place at Ky Uc island in Hoi An Ancient Town on March 25. The closing ceremony, meanwhile, is slated for late December at the VinWonders Nam Hoi An amusement park in Thang Binh district. During this year, the programme will feature 192 events, including 10 national-level ones, 62 organised by Quang Nam, and 120 others by 40 centrally run cities and provinces. Quang Nam, home to two UNESCO-recognised heritage sites of Hoi An Ancient Town and My Son Sanctuary, boasts great potential to develop tourism. According to Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Tri Thanh, Hoi An and My Son have been selected as favourite destinations for foreign tourists by many prestigious international magazines and websites. Last year, Hoi An was named Asia’s leading cultural city destination at the World Travel Awards. The city also won this title in 2019. It also entered the Top 15 cities in Asia selected by Travel Leisure’s World's Best Awards 2021, and has earned many other prestigious titles. The province is building “satellite” tourism products near world cultural heritage sites to reduce pressure on these sites in the peak season, including the development of trade villages such as Cam Thanh coconut forest, Tra Que vegetable growing village, Kim Bong carpentry village, Thanh Ha pottery village (Hoi An); and experiencing community-based tourism in Triem Tay farmhouse (Dien Ban town), Tra Nhieu village (Duy Son), and My Son community tourism village (Duy Xuyen). Tours to the western mountainous region to learn about the cultural identity of ethnic minorities has also become attractive. In December 2021, Quang Nam issued a set of green tourism criteria with the support of the Swiss Sustainable Tourism Programme (SSTP) on the basis of reference to 25 sets of international sustainable tourism criteria. The province is pinning high hope on the Visit Vietnam Year 2022 with a desire of making an impression and conveying a message about the new image of Quang Nam tourism - Green tourism./.