VietNamNet Bridge – Local government in the central city of Da Nang is calling for companies to invest in a resort project exclusively for elderly Japanese, the Saigon Times Daily reported.

The Da Nang municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the city has zoned a coastal area of more than 10 hectares near Quang Nam province for the project. A number of investors have come to look into the project and the city is waiting for more investors to select qualified ones for the project.

The number of Japanese tourists in Da Nang has increased significantly since the launch of an air route connecting the city and Japan in July this year. The second air route is scheduled later this year.

Experts described the Da Nang-Japan flight route as a good opportunity for central Vietnam in general and Da Nang City in particular to woo Japanese visitors, especially the elderly.

At several previous meetings with Da Nang authorities, members of the Japan Association of Travel Agents recommended the city diversify services to attract the elderly from Japan as more than three million elderly Japanese travel overseas a year and the number is on the rise as Japan’s population is aging.

According the Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the number of visitors to the city in the first nine months of this year soared by 18 percent year-on-year to more than three million visitors, meeting 84 percent of the year’s target. Of the total number, international arrivals expanded by 18.4 percent to some 657,600 while domestic visitors surged by 19.1 percent to more than 2.36 million.

Total tourism revenue in the period stood at 7.83 trillion VND, up 28.7 percent and meeting 88.8 percent of the year’s target.

The tourism sector of Da Nang is boosting promotion activities in major foreign visitor-generating markets such as the Republic of Korea, Japan, Russia and Malaysia as well as domestic markets such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho City.

In the year to date, 36 hotels have been put into service in the city, raising the total number of hotels and rooms there to 426 and 15,465 respectively. Hotels of three-to-five-star hotels make up 71 with more than 7,260 rooms.

Figures of the General Statistics Office showed more than 486,400 Japanese visited Vietnam in January-September, up nearly 9 percent year-on-year.

SGT