The 2018 sea festival of Sam Son city of the north central coastal province of Thanh Hoa will take place on April 21, heard a press conference held in the city on April 12.

Sam Son beach in Thanh Hoa province (Photo: samson.org.vn)

Along with traditional rituals, the opening ceremony of the festival will feature a 3D mapping dance and performances of Vietnamese artists, with a fireworks display closing the ceremony.

Sports events, including table tennis, badminton, tennis, cycling and futsal tournaments will be held alongside the festival.

Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Sam Son city Hoang Khac Nhu said the city is striving to improve quality of tourism services in 2018. New destinations in Sam Son are open to the public this year, namely ones invested by Sun Group and FLC Group, he added.

Local authorities will also enhance tourism activities management and promote Sam Son’s images, with a hope that the city will become a top destination of Vietnam’s resort tourism by 2020.

The city aims to serve more than 4.2 million visitors in 2018, raking in 3.6 trillion VND (157.96 million USD).

Located 16km from the central city of Thanh Hoa to the east, the coastal city of Sam Son is home to the famous Sam Son beach.

Sam Son city together with Thanh Hoa city and Nghi Son economic zone will form a development triangle.

The city is expected to be one of 12 key national tourism cities according to the national tourism development master plan through 2020 with a vision towards 2030.

With an area of  44.94 square kilometres and a population of 150,902, Sam Son city hopes to become a second-tier urban area by 2025 and a first-tier coastal tourist urban area by 2040 under the province’s master plan. 

It is also expected to become an economic, cultural, scientific-technological, administrative, education-training, tourism, services and transport centre and fuel the development of Thanh Hoa and the region. 

The master plan also considers linking Sam Son with Thanh Hoa city, major local economic and tourist areas such as Hai Tien, Hai Hoa and local relic sites. -VNA