Thua Thien- Hue (VNA) – The number of visitors to Hue city, thecentral province of Thua Thien-Hue is estimated to reach 230,000 during the Tetfestival.

Of the visitors, about 70,800 will be foreigners, said the provincialDepartment of Tourism.

The average occupancy rate is about 59.6 percent while tourismrevenue of the whole province is estimated at 140 billion VND (6 million USD) duringthe 12-day holiday from January 31to February 11 (the 26th day of the last lunar month tothe seventh day of the Lunar New Year).

Notably, the Hue ancient citadel relic complex – a UNESCO World CulturalHeritage site – will be open with free admission for domestic visitors duringthe first three days of the 2019 Lunar New Year (February 5-7).

Holidaymakers to the Hue ancient capital city on those days will have a chanceto participate in royal games and enjoy calligraphy and martial artsperformances, along with traditional dragon and lion dances. 

As part of activities welcoming the arrival of Tet, the biggest and mostimportant festival year-round in Vietnam, the Hue Monuments Conservation Centrere-enacted the Neu tree planting ceremony, a traditional ritual practised underthe Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) on January 28 (the 23rd day of the last lunarmonth).

There are also an array of activities such as wrapping chung cake (atraditional Tet novelty cake made from glutinous rice). 

In 2018, the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre earned 381.7 billion VND (16.4million USD) from serving over 3.5 million tourists, up 19 percent compared tothe target set.

The centre has implemented 24 restoration projects with total investmentexceeding 278.8 billion VND (11.9 million USD).

Hue, the formal imperial capital of Vietnam for hundreds of years, is home tofive heritages recognised by UNESCO, including the ancient citadel reliccomplex (a World Cultural Heritage site), Hue royal court music (an intangiblecultural heritage item), Nguyen Dynasty’s wood blocks (a documentary heritageitem), Nguyen Dynasty’s royal administrative documents (part of theAsia-Pacific Register of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme), andliterature on Hue royal architecture (another documentary heritage).

The Hue imperial citadel relic site has been ranked second among the top seventourist attractions of Vietnam in 2017. –VNA