Some 30 local travel agencies have launched tours to the central province of Thua Thieu-Hue to coincide with the Festival Hue 2008 from June 3 to 11.

The tours were developed after the provincial tourism authority and travel agencies surveyed tourists about the province’s attractions and discovered the most popular are Duyet Thi Duong Theatre, singing Hue folk music on the Perfume River , My Khanh Cham Tower, Le Ba Dang Arts Centre, and the ancient village of Phuoc Tich .

According to figures from the province’s Tourism Department, tourist arrivals in the first two months this year hit a record high, despite bad weather, of nearly 200,000, including 124,000 foreign visitors, a year-on-year increase of 43 percent. The largest numbers have been from Thailand , China , Japan and France.