Da Nang (VNA) – The central coastal city of Da Nang will increasethe level of scrutiny applied to budget tours in a bid to further develop sustainabletourism services.

Although low-cost tours or the so-called “zero dong” tours have catered to anincreasing number of tourists visiting the city in recent years, there is agrowing concern about their impact on the local economy. Customers on suchbudget tours are forced to follow the agencies’ itinerary, often visiting touristattractions, restaurants and shopping malls where payments are electronicallytransferred back to foreign countries, leaving little to no profit for Da Nangcity.

Beyond this, the demand for budget tours has sparked competition between travelcompanies and service industry businesses, eager to capitalise on the city’spopularity while avoiding paying taxes to local authorities.

According to Ngo Quang Vinh, Director of the municipal Department of Tourism,the rise of budget tours is not unique to Da Nang and studies have shown theirimpact on markets in neighbouring countries, such as Thailand and Cambodia.Statistics showed that low-cost tours make up 30 percent of the total tourismmarket in the region.

In a bid to reduce the number of cheap tour operators, Da Nang city is workingwith relevant agencies to ensure that visitors make proper payments in linewith regulations. Enhancing inspections at local shops and restaurants has beenprioritised to detect fraudulent trade and tax evasion.

The city is now channeling its focus on improving standards for travel agentswhile simultaneously working to ensure that shopping malls operate in accordancewith regulations. Plans are in motion to set up representative offices in Chinaand the Republic of Korea where greater scrutiny can be applied to package tourssold there.

Meanwhile, sustainable tourism products will be monitored to ensure that theycontinue to attract high-end tourists, generating higher revenues and benefitsfor the local population.

DaNang’s tourism sector has grown exponentially, with an average annual growth of20.06 percent between 2013 and 2017.

Last year alone, ithosted 6.6 million tourists, including 1.67 million foreigners. From the outsetof 2018, the city welcomed around 6.5 million visitors, up 27.7 percent fromthe same period last year, of whom 2.4 million were foreign travellers. Totalrevenue gained from the tourism sector was estimated at 14 trillion VND (597million USD), a year-on-year increase of 12.3 percent.

The city has bolstered its promotion of tourism in Thailand, Indonesia, HongKong (China), Japan and the Republic of Korea, and expanded efforts inAustralia, Western Europe and Russia.

Da Nang city remains a popular tourist destination in central Vietnam andcontinues to develop. The online marketplace and hospitality service Airbnbannounced listings of the world’s top 10 destinations for 2018, in which thecity ranked fifth with a 255 percent growth in bookings. –VNA