According to Vietravel, the travel agency responsible for guiding the Indian tourists, this first group toured Ha Long Bay on 33 ships.

The relevant units plan to deploy over 100 ships to accommodate all 4,500 tourists with the remainders visiting the bay from now to September 6.

Nguyen Huyen Anh, Director of the provincial Department of Tourism, said that this is the largest group of Indian tourists ever to visit Ha Long Bay.

Quang Ninh aims to provide a warm welcome and make a strong impression on the visitors, she said, adding that this presents a great opportunity for the locality to attract international tourists in general, and Indian tourists in particular.

The tourists are employees from Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, the fourth largest pharmaceutical corporation in the world.

The group is divided into small packs traveling for five days in Hanoi, Quang Ninh and Ninh Binh province, from August 27 to September 7.

They do not stay over-night in Quang Ninh and Ninh Binh, but spend all four nights in the capital city organising activities such as conferences, seminars, and gala dinner./.VNA