Hoi An, a city in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam, has issued a plan to mitigate overcrowding on beaches where people jostle for space to swim and picnic on the sand.

The city will tighten the management of its coastline from Cua Dai Beach to An Bang Beach, said vice-chairman of the Hoi An administration Nguyen Van Lanh.

Hoi An’s beaches are considered amongst the most beautiful in the world. 

With fine sand, rows of coconut trees, and high-end tourist sites, the beaches have become attractive destinations for tourists.

The Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers' Day (May 1) holiday saw a surge in activity on Hoi An's beaches this year, especially An Bang Beach, as tourists gathered to swim and enjoy picnics by the shore.

Local restaurants and eateries, however, experienced a slump in business.

Le Ngoc Thuan, the owner of the Deckhouse An Bang restaurant, complained that many foreigners left after seeing the scene, believing the beach to be in chaos.

Other local enterprises said the beaches should be re-planned to provide more services to travelers as tourists from other Asian countries and domestic visitors have complained of a shortage of services. 

The local tourism market is witnessing a boom of Asian guests, according to Nguyen Son Thuy, director of Indochina Unique Tourist Co. Ltd., a local travel company.

These guests have shown keen interest in beaches. Those from South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and India accounted for 51.2 percent of the total foreign tourists to Hoi An over the past few years, Thuy added.

However, many of Hoi An’s beaches do not have management boards or are in a mess.

Thuy suggested local authorities upgrade infrastructure on beaches, increase advertising costs, and accompany enterprises in organizing sea-related events.

Other tourism companies agreed that beaches are tourism spaces of Hoi An. Among them, An Bang Beach used to be listed as one of the most beautiful in Asia.

Dinh Dung, chairman of the administration in Cam An Commune, said An Bang Beach welcomed some 15,000 visitors per day, mainly local residents.

The high number of visitors results in a high volume of garbage.

Dung stated that picnicking on the beach had been prohibited in the central area of Cam An Beach, with permission granted only for the two sides of the beach.

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