Delegates who have been in Vietnam to attend the 44th Executive Board Meeting of the Organisation of the Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) on April 20 visited Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO world heritage site in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

Quang Ninh is home to more than 2,000 islands along its 250km-long coast. Notably, its Ha Long Bay features 1,969 islands and islets covering 1,553 sq.km. The bay was recognised as World Natural Heritage by UNESCO in 1994 and 2000. It was also selected one of the new seven wonders of nature in 2011.

Mustafa Ozkaya, Deputy General Director of Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, said he was happy to visit Ha Long Bay and be warmly welcomed by local residents. 

Ozkaya said Ha Long Bay is one of the most beautiful places he has ever visited, and he would introduce it to Turkish people.

Meanwhile, OANA Secretary General Vugar Seidov recommended Quang Ninh popularise its world natural heritage to news agencies as well as people of other countries.

Promoting images is the best measure to promote tourism, and journalists are the best tool to carry out that promotion, he added.

Quang Ninh is located in the northeast of Vietnam and has a total land and sea area of more than 12,000 sq.km. The province is described as a “miniature Vietnam” as it gathers all typical features of the country in terms of terrace, natural resources and landscapes. 

It shares both land and sea border with China and is an important trading gateway of Vietnam with China and ASEAN countries.

In 2018, Quang Ninh welcomed about 12 million tourist arrivals with 43 percent of them foreigners, earning 24 trillion VND (over 1 billion USD) in tourism revenue, according to local authorities.

The 44th OANA Executive Board Meeting was hosted by the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) in Hanoi from April 18-20 under the theme of “For a professional and innovative journalism”.