The northern city of Ha Long, home to the World Heritage Ha Long Bay, received over 3,000 tourists on the first day of the year of the Tiger on February 14, of which 90% are foreigners.

The record high figure of international arrivals marks a good start for Quang Ninh province on its way to the goal of attracting 5.2 million tourists, with 2.4 million among them being foreigners, earning VND3 trillion (US$159 million) in revenue for 2010.

More than 250 trips of ship set out on the day, bringing the tourists to a sightseeing tour round the bay.

Earlier on February 13, the international cruiseship Legend carrying 2,000 foreign travellers docked at the city.

This is the fifth time tourism agencies and tourist companies in Quang Ninh have launched special programmes on the occasion of the traditional New Year.

The programmes are designed to provide tourists with an opportunity to learn about Vietnamese customs by directly joining in preparation works for the Tet holiday, such as making square sticky rice cakes, or performances of various traditional art genres. (VNA)