The central province of Thua Thien-Hue received 972,500 tourists, more than one third of them coming from abroad, over the past ten months, an increase of 8.6 percent over the same period last year.

In October alone, the number of foreign visitors to the ancient city of Hue increased by 20.7 percent though it was badly affected by Typhoon Xangsane, which wreaked havoc on Vietnam's central region in early October.

To fulfil the province's target of attracting 1.2 million visitors to Hue in 2006, provincial authorities have promptly acted to overcome the aftermath of the typhoon.

Besides traditional tours of Hue city, the tourism department is opening new trips to other famous areas in the province.

After the newly built Hai Van tunnel was put into use, many tourism projects have been developed in Lang Co, Bach Ma and Hai Van with a total registered capital of about US$21.5 million.