The central city of Da Nang will host the first International Balloon Festival as a tourism attraction at the city’s Hi-tech Park and Hoa Trung Lake in Hoa Vang District later this year.

A balloon in Da Nang during the Asian Beach Games. (VNS Photo Cong Thanh)

The city’s Foreign Affairs department said the city and event partners from South Korea have been preparing the location and space for hosting the festival in the west of the city.

It said the two sites – the Da Nang Hi-tech Park and Hoa Trung Lake – have been popular locations for hosting paragliding races in recent years.

Balloon flights were introduced during the Asian Beach Games in 2016 as a recreational event My Khe beach.

The city hopes that the balloon festival, in combination with a series of international events including the fireworks festival, marathon and Ironman, will help promote the tourism brand of Da Nang.

In 2012, the city also hosted the first the International Paramotor Race, which drew thousands of spectators.

The city also hosts an annual paragliding event on the beaches of Da Nang to attract tourists during the summer holidays.

Earlier, Da Nang International Fireworks Festival (DIFF), themed “The Legend of Bridges”, officially opened in the central city on April 30^th. The event, which was held for the first time in 2008 and was formerly known as the Da Nang International Fireworks Competition, has emerged as an important cultural and tourism event, contributing to cultural exchanges and inviting many foreign tourists to Da Nang and Vietnam. From 2017, the annual event has become a two-month festival in order to lure more visitors to the city.

In 2017, about 6.6 million visitors came to Da Nang, up 19 per cent over the previous year and 4.8 per cent higher than its yearly target. The figure included 4.3 million domestic tourists, up 11.3 per cent year-on-year. The central city earned over VND 19.4 trillion (USD 853.96 million) in revenue, an increase of 20.6 per cent from 2016, according to Da Nang Department of Tourism.

Da Nang hopes to welcome nine million visitors by 2020, with 30% being international holidaymakers, and rake in VND 31.5 trillion (USD 1.38 billion) in revenue./.

VNF