Published:  13:44 Wednesday - December 29, 2010

Vietnam’s central city of Danang will begin offering tourists a different view of the city as they prepare to launch first helicopter tours.

Phung Tan Viet, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, said the move comes after a proposal from the Northern Service Flight Company (NSFC).

Vietnamtourism JSC (Vitours) will have exclusive rights to organise helicopter tours to island and peninsulas in Danang and the central region, Viet shared.

The firm will use helicopters including the 12-seat EC 155 B1, the most modern in the European Helicopter Association (EHA) and a 24-seat MI 17 and MI 172 that were manufactured in Russia to serve the tours. Leasing prices range between USD3,800 and USD7,500 per hour.

Tours to be held may be half-a-day Danang City Tour, one-day Danang - Cu Lao Cham, one-day Danang - Son Tra - Cu Lao Cham – My Son - Danang, one-day Danang – Con Co, and one-day Danang-Ly Son.

The tours are expected to serve VIP tourists from the U.S., Europe, Japan and South Korea.

Vitours Deputy General Director Cao Tri Dung said the demand for this type of tourism turned up in Vietnam and the firm is studying to boost the services.

Dung added that a 20-tourist group in Ho Chi Minh City has already booked a City tour by helicopter at the end of December.

Danang received more than 1.589 million tourists in the first ten months of this year, including 336,000 foreigners and surpassing 10% of the year’s plan. The city’s tourism industry earned revenues of VND1.051 trillion (USD52.55 million) in the Jan-Oct, up 62% from the same period last year.

The city targets to receive 8.1 million tourists in the next ten years, including 1.4 million foreigners.