The northern province of Quang Ninh is teaming up with many universities to intensively train tour guides and offer training courses on reception at hotels and restaurants, and sales skills to gear up to welcome back Chinese groups.

It has welcomed over 45,000 Chinese visitors at the Mong Cai international border gate over the past three weeks.

Pham Thi Oanh, head of the Culture and Information Division of Mong Cai City, Quang Ninh Province, said that the city would propose the provincial Department of Tourism organize an examination in tour guiding skills in late March to award accreditation to qualified tour guides.

The Quang Ninh Department of Tourism held a press briefing on Tuesday to announce the Quang Ninh tourism development conference 2023, which will be rolled out on March 17.

The conference will bring together nearly 350 representatives to discuss solutions to drive up the province’s tourism in 2023 and seek ways to diversify tourist sites and tourism products on the Ha Long and Bai Tu Long bays, and other parts of the province.

Quang Ninh targets 15 million tourist arrivals in 2023.

The conference will play a key role in popularizing the province’s potential for tourism, said Trinh Dang Thanh, deputy director of the Quang Ninh Department of Tourism.

Through the event, the tourism authorities will get feedback, recommendations, suggestions and initiatives to speed up the launch of tourism products and woo more tourists from new source markets.

Quang Ninh Province has set a target to welcome 15 million visitors in 2023 and looks to book VND32.4 trillion (about US$1.4 billion) in tourism revenue.

In specific, the province aims to attract nearly 4.55 million travelers in the first quarter of the year, 3.65 million holidaymakers in the second quarter, 4.35 million tourists in the third quarter and 2.45 million arrivals in the last quarter, said Thanh.

Some parts of the province have set a high target of welcoming tourists.

Ha Long City is set to serve 8.5 million travelers, while Mong Cai City, Uong Bi City and Van Don District will target over 1.5 million tourists, 2.3 million visitors and 1.3 million tourist arrivals, respectively.

Detailed plan to welcome Chinese visitors back

To prepare for Chinese tourist arrivals, the Quang Ninh Department of Tourism has worked with many travel firms and relevant units to reach a consensus on measures to lure tourists.

Nguyen The Hue, chairman of the Quang Ninh Travel Association, said that all restaurants, lodging facilities, shopping centers, tourist destinations and passenger transport service providers are ready to serve travelers, mainly Chinese tourists.

“China’s resumption of outbound travel for Chinese tour groups to Vietnam, starting from March 15, gives a big chance for Vietnamese tour operators to bounce back and thrive,” said Hue.

Echoing that view, the representative of Mong Cai City, Pham Thi Oanh, said that the city was speeding up efforts to serve legions of Chinese travelers.

Ngo Thi Lan Phuong, director of Kim Lien Travel, said that the firm would roll out a new tour called “New Ha Long” with a focus on expressway transport services, high-quality tourism, onsen experience, in which visitors can relax and soak in hot mineral spring, and golf tourism.

Quang Ninh Province is more attractive to Chinese tourists as traffic with China’s Dongxing City is convenient thanks to the Mong Cai-Van Don expressway, according to Phuong.

“I strongly believe that many Chinese tourists will visit the province during the upcoming holidays, Reunification Day (April 30) and International Labor Day (May 1), so adequate preparation for good services and reasonable prices is a need,” said Phuong.

Quang Ninh Province will also launch a host of tourism activities this year, including Carnaval Ha Long, Hokkaido Festival, and nighttime tourism programs in Ha Long.

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