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Hanoi welcomes the first international visitor in 2018
Ho Ha - Mai Nguyen 11:43, 2018/01/02
On the morning of January 1, Lebreton Didier, a passenger on Vietnam Airlines’ flight VN18 which landed at Noi Bai International Airport, became the first foreign visitor setting foot in Hanoi in 2018.
Hanoi welcomes the first international visitor in 2018.
Hanoi welcomes the first international visitor in 2018

Didier and his group of 13 other visitors from France were treated to flowers and gifts and a music performance. The French said that this is the third time he came to Vietnam and he plans to spend almost a month to discover the country’s beauty with his wife, adding that he was surprised by the warm welcome on the first day of the year.


 
Lebreton Didier, a passenger on Vietnam Airlines’ flight VN18, became the first foreign visitor setting foot in Hanoi in 2018.
Lebreton Didier, a passenger on Vietnam Airlines’ flight VN18, became the first foreign visitor setting foot in Hanoi in 2018
 
Present at the greeting ceremony, Tran Duc Hai, Director of the municipal Department of Tourism noted that the event aims to promote Hanoi as a safe, friendly, quality and attractive destination for visitors.
Last year, some 5 million foreigners came to the thousand-year-old city of Hanoi.  The northern coastal province of Quang Ninh, home to the World Heritage site of Ha Long Bay, also held a ceremony to greet the year’s first international tourists at Tuan Chau International Port in Ha Long city on January 1.
In 2018, the locality expects to welcome 12 million visitors, including 5 million foreigners. Last year, nearly 10 million holiday-makers, comprising 4.2 million foreigners, chose Quang Ninh province to spend their holidays.
Meanwhile, the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai also enjoyed a good start for 2018, with renowned Sa Pa town drawing 42,000 visitors during the three-day New Year holiday from December 30-January 1.
The crowds of visitors caused traffic jams and overloaded local hotels. The town’s nearly 500 accommodation facilities with more than 6,000 rooms were fully booked, but homestays are available at village or tourism site like Cat Cat and Ta Van.
A slew of cultural and sports activities are being organised in the town on New Year occasion, including a photo exhibition, a street festival, and traditional games like tug of war and stick pushing.
Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City greeted the first foreign visitors of 2018 at Tan Son Nhat International Airport on January 1 morning. The city’s first visitors who come from France were treated to art performances, and Vietnamese coffee and tea. They were also guided how to make “non la” (conical hats), flowers and locusts from coconut leaves.
Mbodj Camtam said she visits Ho Chi Minh City every New Year holiday, and travels to many locations like Phan Thiet and Binh Thuan with her family. She particularly noted the fusion of modernity and tradition in Vietnam’s development.
According to Tran Vinh Tuyen, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, the city served more than 6.38 million international holiday-makers in 2017, up 22.88 percent year-on-year. The number is expected to climb to 7.5 million this year.
In 2017, the southern hub served an estimated 24.98 million domestic tourists, a rise of 14.6 percent against 2016. The city aims to attract 29 million domestic vacationers and earn VND138 trillion (US$6.07 billion) from the tourism sector in 2018. The municipal Department of Tourism also held a ceremony to greet the first domestic visitors of the year on early January 1.
The same day, Da Nang City welcomed the year’s first tourists, who flew in from South Korea on Vietjet’s VJ881 flight. Also on the morning of January 1, nearly 2,000 Chinese holiday makers arrived in the city on cruise liner MSC Lirica. 
According to the municipal Department of Tourism, during the three-day New Year holiday from December 30, 2017 to January 1, 2018, the total number of tourists to Da Nang is estimated at nearly 143,000, up 17.9 percent year-on-year, of which over 81,500 are foreigners.
In 2017, Da Nang hosted 6.6 million visitors, a year-on-year increase of 19 percent, and earned over VND19.4 trillion (US$853.6 million) from tourism, up 20.6 percent over 2016 and fulfilling 104.9 percent of the set target.
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