Female tourists wearing ‘ao dai’ visit Hue Imperial Citadel located in the namesake city in the central province of Thua Thien – Hue. Photo: Nhat Linh / Tuoi Tre

Phan Ngoc Tho, chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, has directed the Hue Monuments Conservation Center to make residents and visitors aware of the free-entrance offer.

Both Vietnamese and international tourists currently have to pay for entrance tickets to relic sites in Hue.

Particularly, tickets are priced at VND150,000 (US$6.50) apiece to the Hue Imperial Citadel, VND200,000 ($8.62) each to visit the royal tombs of Emperors Minh Mang, Tu Duc, and Khai Dinh, and VND40,000 ($1.72) each to visit the royal tombs of Emperors Gia Long and Thieu Tri.

Earlier this year, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center also launched a similar campaign to offer free entrance to female visitors who donned the ‘ao dai’ to the Hue relic sites on March 7-9 as a way to honor women on the International Women’s Day (March 8).

The 'ao dai' is a Vietnamese national garment, worn by both sexes but now most commonly worn by women. In its current form, it is a tight-fitting silk tunic worn over trousers.

Hue City, famous for being Vietnam’s former capital during the Nguyen dynasty - the country’s last dynastic reign, has attracted more than 3.4 million visitors so far this year, according to the Department of Tourism of Thua Thien – Hue.

Of the 3.4 million visitors, 1.4 million were foreigners, an 8.7-percent growth from the same period of last year.

The provincial revenue from tourism in 2019 has exceeded VND3,299 billion ($141.85 million) as of October, up nine percent year-on-year.

VNF ( TTO )