The directors of 11 tourism departments from southern China, representatives of travel agencies and tourism service companies from both China and Vietnam to Ha Long Bay have been invited to discuss mutual measures that can be taken to increase the number of tours to the World Heritage site by land and sea.

The province is also preparing to organize a major international tourism promotion conference in December to highlight Ha Long Bay and tours by sea. At the moment, one ship arrives daily from southern China carrying some 700 passengers to the bay.

Since Ha Long Bay was recently nominated in a global online competition to be named as one of seven natural wonders of the world, Quang Ninh has greeted increasing numbers of tourists. More and more foreign cruise ships are coming to the bay.

According to the Quang Ninh Tourism Department, nearly 2.2 million foreign and local tourists traveled to the province, mainly to Ha Long Bay, in the first half of this year, up 32 percent against the same period last year. Of the tourists, 767,500 are from other countries, mostly China, South Korea and France.