On the morning of October 2 (the first day of Tet), at Phan Thiet station, Mr. Nguyen Minh - Vice Chairman of Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee, together with leaders of the Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism of Binh Thuan organized a welcoming ceremony for the first tourists to enter the new year on the SPT2 Saigon - Phan Thiet train.

Train SPT 2 from Saigon station (HCMC) departed at 7:00 a.m. the same day and arrived at Phan Thiet station at 11:00 a.m., bringing 210 passengers to Binh Thuan on New Year's Day.

Among the visitors to Phan Thiet station on New Year's Day were 51 international visitors from Europe, the US, South Korea and China.

The first guests on board the SPT2 were welcomed, congratulated, given gifts, New Year wishes and lucky money according to Vietnamese customs. In addition, some random visitors were also given free resort vouchers by representatives of the tourism business.

Ms. Fieke, a tourist from the Netherlands, said she was very surprised by the warm welcome on the traditional Vietnamese New Year. "My husband and I were very surprised by the lucky money gifts we received when we first arrived here, and the joyful atmosphere. Happy traditional Vietnamese New Year and a good year to you all" - Ms. Fieke said.

On this occasion, leaders of Binh Thuan province and the tourism industry also visited, wished a happy new year, presented flowers and lucky money to representatives of Saigon Railway Joint Stock Company, Saigon Railway Exploitation Branch, leaders and staff of Phan Thiet Station, and service staff on train SPT2.

Earlier, on the same morning, leaders of Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee and Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism visited, presented flowers, New Year greetings and lucky money to representatives of leaders and employees of Delta Valley Binh Thuan Company Limited, NovaHotel and Resort World Company, leaders and employees of K-Town Resort Phan Thiet.

This is the third consecutive year that the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Binh Thuan has organized a program to welcome and wish the first tourists to visit Binh Thuan at Phan Thiet station and to wish them a happy new year and give lucky money to tourists staying and celebrating the Lunar New Year at accommodation establishments in the province.

In the first month of 2024, tourism activities in Binh Thuan province welcomed nearly 570,000 visitors to visit and relax at key tourist areas such as: Phan Thiet, La Gi, Tuy Phong, Ham Thuan Nam, Phu Quy...

The number of international visitors increased sharply compared to the same period last year, with the total number of international visitors reaching 42.5 thousand (up 1.8% compared to the previous month and up 2.1 times compared to the same period in 2023), of which Korean and Chinese tourists accounted for a high proportion, the rest were tourists from Nordic countries, ASEAN...