Da Nang will host a festival showcasing hot air balloons this weekend to celebrate Vietnam’s international tourism reopening.

The event is to be co-organized by the Danang International Terminal Investment and Operation Joint Stock Company and the municipal Department of Tourism.

Seventeen colorful hot air balloons of different shapes and sizes will float to altitudes from 15 to 40 meters above the APEC Sculpture Garden on Bach Dang Street on March 27 – the same day Da Nang will welcome its first two international commercial flights since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020.

One of the flights will arrive from Thailand, the other will arrive from Singapore.  

Vietjet Air, a budget airline in Vietnam, will operate three return flights to Da Nang from Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok each week during the country’s first phase of international tourism reopening.

Other local airlines, such as Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo Airways, and Vietravel Airlines also plan to operate international flights from Da Nang in the second quarter of 2022.

In the meantime, Singapore Airlines schedules one flight a day from Da Nang to Singapore, starting from March 27.

Tourism in Da Nang has been in a major slump since the pandemic began, though tourism-related bookings in the coastal city have increased sharply ahead of a national holiday on April 30 and May 1 – a sign that the industry may see a turnaround in the future.

Some travel agencies and hotels have reported reaching their maximum capacities.

Many others have announced that nearly one-third of their rooms are currently booked and they expect to reach 70-80 percent occupancy during the holiday.

Da Nang in particular and Vietnam in general have reopened inbound tourism since March 15 after two years of suspension.

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