The Da Nang Department of Tourism organized a ceremony to welcome the first group of tourists to the city on Sunday morning after Vietnam had managed to stall new outbreaks stemming from the touristy destination in July.

The group included 55 people from Hanoi, who arrived in Da Nang by plane at 9:30 am the same day.

They were given souvenirs by local tourism officials, the managers of the Da Nang airport, and national carrier Vietnam Airlines.

A travel company had planned to take them to Da Nang in August but it had had to postpone its plan over new outbreaks of COVID-19 in the coastal city in late July.

As Vietnam has spent 33 successive days detecting zero community-based infections, the company resumed the plan to bring its clients there.

Da Nang tourism officials upgraded the 55 tourists’ hotel from three to four stars and treated them to a free gala on Monday evening.

Le Dinh Kien, one of the Hanoi visitors, expressed his trust in the safety of the Da Nang destination.

Kien and his family feel assured to visit Da Nang as they love it and Vietnam has well controlled the coronavirus epidemic, he said.

The return of the first group of tourists proves important to Da Nang, the local Department of Tourism said, adding that city authorities vowed to ensure safety for visitors.

A new wave of infections struck Vietnam on July 25, when touristy Da Nang logged the first community transmission after 99 days of zero domestic cases nationwide.

A total of 551 local cases were then logged across the country in the following weeks, the majority linked to Da Nang.

The nation spent more than a month aggressively tracing contacts and managing to suppress the outbreak afterward.

The national tally now stands at 1,097, with 1,022 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths, according to the health ministry.

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