The 5th Asian Beach Games (ABG5) were originally scheduled to be held in Da Nang and the provinces of Khanh Hoa and Binh Thuan in June 2016, but then a decision was made to only involve Da Nang and to move the date to September.
The reason for this change was that Da Nang boasts a more favourable geographical location and better traffic infrastructure than the other two localities. In addition, the city has great potential for bolstering tourism development, and it has a lot of experience in organising international events.
Being given the opportunity to host this international event is a great honour for Da Nang. However, the city has faced numerous difficulties during its preparations for the event, due mainly to the delays in receiving funding from the State budget, and the unexpected recent bad weather.
As a result, the city has had to overcome significant difficulties to try to ensure the success of the event.
In particular, the city has selected hotels alongside Vo Nguyen Giap and Hoang Sa streets to accommodate the international athletes and their coaches during the event to save travel costs. Also, it has been arranged that athletes competing in the same events will stay at the same hotels in order to facilitate the transport services offered to them.
The city has also taken the initiative to work closely with the event’s central organising board and specialised sub-committees to ensure the best preparations for the event.
A digital clock counting down to the ABG5 was installed at the roundabout of Ngo Quyen and Pham Van Dong streets on 24 September 2015 to mark one year before the event begins.
Since last year, numerous meetings have been held in the city to discuss the preparations and publicity for the event. Most notably, the local sports sector has given top priority to boosting advertising for ABG5 during the organisation of international events in the city.
Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Le Khanh Hai has highly praised the city authorities for their great efforts in preparing for ABG5, especially their proactive measures to cope with the recent heavy rains and Storm No 4. Thanks to this, the city minimised any damage to the ABG5 facilities, and kept the event on schedule.
Municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Dang Viet Dung affirmed, “ABG5 will provide Da Nang with a golden opportunity to advertise its tourism image and brand name, as well as to attract even more international visitors. We hope that our international friends in the city for the event will be deeply impressed by the beauty of the land and the people, along with the local rhythm of life and its special cultural identity”.
(Source: ĐTĐN)
