Citing data compiled by travel search engine Kayak, the Hong Kong-based newspaper has ranked Da Nang third among 10 most popular destinations for Hong Kong holidaygoers to enjoy summer holidays based on an increase in flight searches.

Kayak data shows that the search frequencies of flights in the next two months from Hong Kong to Da Nang has seen a year-on-year surge of 246 percent.

"Hong Kong travelers are looking to discover new destinations this summer, and are not afraid to explore further from home," Matthew Wong, Kayak’s senior Asia-Pacific regional manager.

Fukuoka in Japan was the most sought destination, with flight searches surging 304 percent year-on-year, followed by Chiang Mai in Thailand (270 percent).

Melbourne and Sydney in Australia came in fourth and fifth on the list. The rest of the top 10 included Busan in South Korea, Thailand’s Phuket, Sapporo and Okinawa in Japan and Taiwan’s Taichung.

Da Nang, home to the beautiful My Khe Beach and a neighbor to the popular ancient town of Hoi An, has a busy summer agenda with its signature international fireworks festival taking place every Saturday from  June 1 to July 6 along the Han River.

Dragon Bridge is one of the top tourist destinations in Da Nang.
Photo by Shutterstock/Huy Thoai

Last year, Da Nang received 7.6 million tourists, 2.87 million of them foreigners, a 23.3 percent increase year-on-year.

South Korea, mainland China, Japan and Hong Kong are the four groups of foreign visitors with the highest growth rates in the central city. 

Several new international flight routes have been launched to connect Da Nang with other Asian destinations, including mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea.

Last December, Jeju Air, another South Korean low-cost airline, began operating flights everyday between Daegu City and Da Nang. The Daegu-Da Nang flight takes around five hours. Korean Air, the oldest and largest air carrier in Asia, also launched a direct air route between Busan and Da Nang last year.

Malaysian budget airline AirAsia last April launched direct flights from Thailand's Chiang Mai to Da Nang. 

Vietnam's private budget airline Vietjet Air plans to operate the Da Nang-Tokyo daily flights from October 26 onwards. Each flight will take around seven hours.

Earlier this year, the New York Times ranked the city among 52 best places to go in 2019, dubbing it "the Miami of Vietnam."

Travel magazine Live and Invest Overseas, which calls itself "the world's savviest source for top opportunities to live better, retire in style, invest for profit, do business," voted Da Nang among world’s most livable cities last year.

Australian travel website Finder chose Da Nang as one of the best travel destinations for 2019.