The Saigontourist Firm will welcome 1,200 tourists and crew members, most of whom are from Italy, from the Costa Marina cruise ship on the first day of the New Year 2007 at the Tien Sa Port in the central city of Da Nang.

The tourists will join cyclo tours to visit the three cultural heritage sites, including the ancient town of Hoi An, the ancient citadel of Hue and My Son Sanctuary.

Saigontourist says they will hold a ceremony to welcome the tourists at the port with traditional art performances such as festive drums, lion dances, flag dances, Cham dances and Kate dances, along with greetings and New Year gifts. At 8pm on the same day, the ship will leave Da Nang for Singapore.

Also on the first day of the New Year, the Saigontourist is expected to welcome a group of international tourists from Britain, the US and Egypt who arrive in Vietnam for the first time.

These are the first tourists out of 1,300 international tourists to Vietnam from Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, China, France, the US, Mexico, Austria and Thailand to be welcomed by the Saigontourist.

The firm said, on the New Year’s eve, they will organise a serenade night on the Saigon River for 200 foreign tourists from Japan, France, Britain, the United States, Germany, the Republic of Korea and Spain who are present in Ho Chi Minh City at the time.

The programme is hoped to bring warm atmosphere of the New Year’s eve rich in Vietnamese cultural identity with traditional songs and dances to welcome the Near Year.