VietNamNet Bridge – The Danang International Fireworks Competition (DIFC) will be held biennially instead of every 12 months, according to a decision by Nguyen Ba Thanh, Danang City’s party committee secretary, at a five-year review meeting of the DIFC on Wednesday in the locality.

From next year, the city will organize the event on odd years to “both attract tourists and help the organizing process and sponsors’ mobilization.”

“For the past five years, the DIFC was held by mobilizing sponsors and not using the state budget. The organizing task is better and more professional. The big success was no explosions or fires during the event. It also helped promote Danang’s tourism sector,” Thanh added.

Thanh also ruled there will no large-scale ticket sales. Tickets will be directly distributed at four and five star hotels based on the demand of each hotel. The organizers, though, have to create more free spaces for tourists and local people to admire the fireworks display.

Moreover, Thanh approved for local hotels to increase their prices by no more than 50% during the DIFC. If any hotel violates its prices announced on the website, it will receive a sanction to contribute from VND300 million to VND500 million to the city’s fund for organizing the fireworks competition. Food shops and parking areas are not allowed to increase their prices during the event.

Ngo Quang Vinh, director of the local Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that: “After five years, the DIFC has attracted a large number of tourists to Danang annually. Especially, the tourist’s number in 2011 was triple compared to 2010 - from around 100,000 to 300,000 travelers.”

VietNamNet/SGT