On Dec. 19, at the Ha Long International Port, in Ha Long city, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Quang Ninh Provincial People’s Committee, Sun Group and Saigontourist jointly held a ceremony to welcome the 15 millionth foreign tourist.
The 15 millionth international guest was James Kopenec from the United States. Annita De Vriesere from Belgium and Masahiko Nagishi from Japan were tourists 14,999,999 and 15,000,001.
They are passengers on the cruiseship Celebrity Millennium bringing 2,000 visitors to Ha Long Bay. On this special occasion, those three lucky visitors was gifted campaign medal by Quang Ninh province.
Quang Ninh’s Chairman Nguyen Duc Long stressed that it is an honor for Quang Ninh to welcome the 15 millionth visitor to Vietnam, marking an important milestone of tourism development of Vietnam in general and Quang Ninh in particular. This is also a significant event showing that Vietnam is now an attractive and friendly destination for tourists, and tourism is a key sector to boost Vietnam’s economic development.
James Kopenec, in turns, expressed his happiness to be the 15 millionth visitor to Vietnam, and appreciated the warmly welcome by Vietnam. He highly appreciated the beauty of Vietnam and Ha Long Bay, and believed that Vietnam tourism will be further developed in the future.
Article by Thu Huong - Hung Son
