There will be a range of cultural and tourism activities in the UNESCO-recognised imperial citadel of Hue in central Thua Thien-Hue province in April and May, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Among them is the Hue Traditional Craft Festival from April 28 to May 5, a highlight of the summer festival which will last from April to June as part of the 2023 Hue Festival.

Sixty-one craft villages and facilities both in and outside the province have registered for the 8th craft festival.

Notably, for the first time, the craft festival will feature activities such as running, cycling, photo and painting exhibitions, and art performances capturing the iconic Huong (Perfume) River, and local residents.

As part of the activities within the Hue Festival, an international hot balloon festival is taking place from April 10-18, and a lotus festival is slated for May 18-20.

Thua Thien-Hue served over 2 million visitors last year, up nearly 190% against 2021, and earned more than 4.5 trillion VND (190 million USD) from the sector, surpassing the set target by 12.5%.

It is striving to welcome from 3-3.5 million holidaymakers this year, of whom some 70-80% are domestic, and gross about 6-7 trillion VND in revenue.

To that end, the province has focused on agriculture-based tourism, eco-tourism, golf tourism and medical tourism, among other sustainable tourism products.

Hue, a former imperial capital of Vietnam for hundreds of years, is home to five heritages recognised by UNESCO, including the ancient citadel relic complex (a World Cultural Heritage site), Hue royal court music (an intangible cultural heritage item), Nguyen Dynasty’s wood blocks (a documentary heritage item), Nguyen Dynasty’s royal administrative documents (part of the Asia-Pacific Register of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme), and literature on Hue royal architecture (another documentary heritage)./.