Long holiday sees crowded beaches

      During a four-day holiday from April 30, a great number of holidaymakers rushed to the country’s famous tourist sites like Nha Trang city in the south central coastal province of Khanh Hoa and Ha Long Bay in northeastern Quang Ninh province.
Between 25,000 and 30,000 tourists visited Nha Trang per day, three or four times higher than on normal days, according to the local tourism industry. Nha Trang also received over 1,600 passengers from the Bahamas-flagged ship Legend of the Sea on May 1.
During the week from April 25-May 2, some 150,000 tourists came to the world heritage site of Ha Long Bay. Ha Quang Long, Deputy Director of the Quang Ninh provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, attributed the surge partly to the Ha Long Tourism Festival featuring a wide range of activities.
Large numbers of visitors also arrived at popular beaches such as Do Son in the northern port city of Hai Phong, Sam Son in the central province of Thanh Hoa, and Cua Lo in the central province of Nghe An.
The tourist increases have sharply pushed up service charges, and caused traffic congestion on many major roads.