More than 170 foreign professional athletes and entrepreneurs will take part in a yacht race from Hong Kong to Vietnam’s Nha Trang City slated for October 18 to 25.

According to a document issued by the Government Office, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has approved the international yacht race named Volvo Hong Kong to Vietnam Race 2017.

The deputy prime minister assigned the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to work closely with Khanh Hoa Province and relevant ministries and agencies to organize the race and related activities.

The 673-nautical-mile race will be jointly held by Saigontourist Travel Service Company and the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club.

According to Saigontourist, 14 boats participating in the race will depart from Hong Kong on October 18 and arrive in Nha Trang two days later.

Since 2014, the biennial race has been organized to promote sea tourism and investment in Khanh Hoa Province and Vietnam as a whole.

According to data of the Khanh Hoa Department of Tourism, the province welcomed more than 4.3 million tourists in the first nine months of the year, up 20% year-on-year, including 1.5 million from abroad, increasing 74% over the same period last year. Chinese and Russian visitors made up 80% of all foreign arrivals to the province.

Hotels’ occupancy in Khanh Hoa reached 70% and the tourism sector fetched VND13 trillion (US$0.57 billion) in revenue in January-September, growing 31% over the year-ago period.

SGT