Hoi An town in the central province of Quang Nam is building a VND 2 billion tourism promotion plan between now and 2010.

The plan will focus on three strategic spearheads, including the World Cultural Heritage of Hoi An Ancient Town, the Cham Islands World Biosphere Reserve and sea-based tourism.

According to the Quang Nam provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, traditional tours such as “One day being a resident in the Ancient Town” and “One day being a resident in the Cham Islands World Biosphere Reserve” together with two new products -“Night Market” and the “Tourism and Environment Festival”-will be promoted in the programme.

Information on Hoi An will be posted on tourism websites, in aviation publications, tourist guide books and books on Hoi An.

About 30km from the central city of Da Nang, the small town of Hoi An not only contains diversified architecture of different cultures but also preserves a huge treasure of intangible cultural values. The Hoi An Ancient Town, which was recognised by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a world cultural heritage site in 1999, has become an attractive destination for tourists.

In the first nine months of this year, Hoi An town welcomed 812,000 tourists, including 396,000 foreign arrivals. Especially, after the Cham Islands was recognised as a world biosphere reserve, the number of visitors to the town increased by over 80 percent compared to the same period last year.

Hoi An was also selected as one of the top ten destinations in Asia based on an online vote conducted by the tourism magazine Smart Travel Asia. (VNA)