During the reviewed period, the province served 1.6 million tourists, 65% of them are domestic visitors, raking in nearly VND3.5 trillion (US$149.9 million), up 148% year-on-year.

Thua Thien – Hue saw stable growth in the number of international tourists, especially from the traditional markets such as Thailand and the Republic of Korea (RoK).

It also recorded a recovery in the number of tourist arrivals from European markets such as France, Germany, and the UK. Meanwhile, the numbers of visitors from new and potential markets such as Malaysia, the US, and Australia accounted for a large proportion of the total international holidaymakers to the province.

Thua Thien - Hue is ready to welcome potential segments of visitors from India or Muslim countries through direct flights in the near future.

Director of the provincial Department of Tourism Nguyen Van Phuc attributed the province's tourism recovery to the effectiveness of tourism promotion programmes in recent times.

Businesses have made creative efforts to diversify tourism products, focusing on community-based tourism; and maritime, health and agriculture tourism.

A number of hotels and resorts in Thua Thien - Hue have received positive reviews and high ratings from international tourism organisations.

In particular, Hue city was named in the top 10 in the “best cities” category at the Luxury Awards Asia Pacific 2023 held by US travel magazine Travel Leisure.

Vice Chairwoman of the Thua Thien – Hue Tourism Association Nguyen Hoang Thuy Vy said the above-mentioned results are achieved thanks to the long-term efforts and well-prepared investment strategy of the local tourism industry.

There remains potential for Thua Thien – Hue to welcome more international holidaymakers, she said, noting that investment in developing infrastructure will be a “springboard" for local tourism to make breakthroughs.

Thua Thien – Hue aims to develop various services, with tourism will be a spearhead economic sector.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has recently launched a project to promote night-time services to diversify Vietnam's tourism products.

Thua Thien - Hue was selected as one of the localities to build at least one model of night-time tourism, toward forming a separate night-time entertainment complex. Night-time tourism models have been exploited by Hue city in recent years.

According to Vy, Thua Thien - Hue possesses many advantages in terms of cultural heritage which has been honoured by UNESCO, along with the diversity of landscapes of rivers, mountains, sea and lagoons.

Vy said that it is necessary to spend more investment on developing special products to fully tap the locality’s tourism potential, towards promoting sustainable tourism development, affirming its position on the tourist map of Vietnam.