The number of Chinese tourists visiting the central city and the central region this month is expected to reach 15,000 this month.— Photo dulich.vn

DA NANG (Biz Hub) — The number of Chinese tourists visiting the central city and the central region this month is expected to reach 15,000 this month.

Five of 14 direct chartered flights connecting the city to Chinese destinations have returned to operation.

Vice director of the city's culture, sports and tourism department, Tran Chi Cuong told Viet Nam News yesterday the airlines have resumed travel from Da Nang to Beijing, Kunming, Hangzhou, Chengdu and Xianyang.

"The five routes, which were temporarily suspended during rioting in May, re-opened at the same time as Vietnam Airlines launched direct flights from the Da Nang to Narita, Japan, and Kuala Lumpur as well as Busan (South Korea)," Cuong said.

He revealed that Chinese tourism had dropped by about four thousand last month.

The central city, which promoted other venues to make up numbers, hosted 1.3 million tourists, of whom 407,000 were foreigners, in the first half this year. The tourism industry earned VND3.5 trillion (US$167 million), up 24 per cent over the same period last year. — VNS