![[PR] PR_Ascott and Vimut Hospital_2024](https://www.traveldailynews.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PR-PR_Ascott-and-Vimut-Hospital_2024-400x265.jpg)
The Visit Year will help to reposition Haiphong as a top tourist destination and also highlight the potential along of the Red River Delta.
Located North of Vietnam and only 100 km away from Vietnam’s capital Hanoi, the city of Haiphong, one of the largest ports in the country will be the focus of a Visit Year 2013. The announcement was made during the Thailand Travel Mart hosted in Bangkok on June 7 and 8 by the Head of the department in charge of marketing at the Vietnam National Tourism Administration (VNAT), Tran Phong Binh.
Despite its excellent location and the fact that this is Vietnam’s third largest city with a population of 1.8 million people, Haiphong is far of being popular among international travellers. Most foreign visitors in the North will rather go direct from Hanoi to Halong Bay, avoiding to pass through Haiphong. In fact, most tourists would then miss an opportunity to discover a region rich in culture, art and natural sightseeing. Haiphong City Centre has kept a rich colonial architectural legacy including also an Opera House and many old villas built by the French during their occupation of Vietnam. They are many old temples including the Du Hang Pagoda, built in the 17th century. And also Cat Ba Island, easily to be reached by ferry from the city. Ba is the largest island in the Bay and approximately half of its area is covered by a National Park, which is home to unique animals and flora as well as well preserved landscapes including tropical limestone forests, mangrove, lagoons, caves and willow swamp forests. They are some fishers’ villages along the Island. Cat Ba National Park on the Island is located some 30 km away from Haiphong. It covers a surface of 263 km2 and comprising 173 km2 land and 90 km2 of inshore water. Another attractive area is Do Son Beach which has now Do Son Resort, a four-star resort integrating also a casino.
According to Tran Phong Binh from VNAT, the Visit Year will help to reposition Haiphong as a top tourist destination and also highlight the potential along of the Red River Delta. Among the highlights of the year, the Province will host a Haiphong spring walk festival from February to April 2013; the Cat Ba fishing Festival, 1 April; an exhibition of artistic photography of the Mekong Sub-region countries in May; the Red Flamboyant Flower Festival from May to June; the Red River Delta Food Festival in June and the Red River Delta 2013 traditional operette festival in August.
Photo: Haiphong, Opera House
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
