Clipper Round the World Race – a big opportunity to promote the city’s image

Da Nang is an official sponsor and host port for the 2015 – 2016 Clipper Round the World Race, which officially started in London on 30 August and will stop off at the city in February 2016.

Municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Dang Viet Dung remarked that this biennial event will be one of the greatest opportunities for Da Nang to advertise its image to international friends, and attract more visitors and FDI inflows into the city.

The Clipper Round the World Race is the longest round-the-world ocean race at 40,000 nautical miles. This year’s 11-month race is being contested by 12 teams, all sailing identical 21.3m-long boats, and passes through 138 countries and territories worldwide. The race route is London (UK) – Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) – Cape Town (South Africa) – Albany, Sydney, Hobart and Airlie Beach (Australia) – Da Nang (Viet Nam) – Qingdao (China) – Seattle (USA) – Panama – New York (USA) – Derry-Londonderry (Northern Ireland) – Den Helder (The Netherlands) – and returning to London on 30 July 2016.

This is the first time in the 19-year history of the biennial race that a locality in the Southeast Asia region has been chosen as one of the event’s stopovers. Throughout the race, Team Da Nang-Viet Nam, made up of 39 men and 20 women from 12 different countries, will attract a great deal of attention from billions of people worldwide.

The Clipper Race fleet is expected to stay in Da Nang from 17 to 27 February 2016. During their stay, the special characteristics of Viet Nam and the traditional cultural values of its people will be publicised in the domestic and international media, and specifically the investment attraction and tourism development potential of Da Nang.

Clipper Ventures Plc, the organisers of the race, are responsible for publicising the race in the large international media agencies including CNN, USA Today, The Guardian, Sky News, ESPN, Discovery Channel, ABC, NBC, and on the race’s official website, the magazine 360, and on some social networking websites. The Da Nang-Viet Nam team’s racing yacht features the image of a dragon’s head breathing fire.

Vice Chairman Dung happily reported that the organisers of the race had agreed to collect only £500,000 (780,432 USD) from the city to make it one of the event’s host destinations.

The Viet Art and Indochina Sun companies have taken responsibility for publicising the race and the city’s image, and they have produced a 30-second TV commercial which will be shown on international channels such as BBC World, Star World and National Geographic, and on domestic TV and radio channels.

Numerous roadshows about Da Nang-Viet Nam will also be taking place in the race’s major destinations including Sydney and New York and in the UK when the fleet completes its journey.

The Han River Port has been chosen as the arrival and departure point of the racing yachts in Da Nang, and various cultural activities will be organised on the river and along both its banks.

In particular, the ceremonies for welcoming and seeing off the yachts will be held in a solemn manner, and will reflect Viet Nam’s distinctive cultural identity and values.

During the 10-day stay of the partipating teams in the city, there will be various fascinating programmes including a fair featuring the cultural values and culinary arts of the countries of Team Da Nang-Viet Nam’s crew members, photo exhibitions about the city’s tourism and the team, and workshops to promote marine and river tourism development. In addition, a parade of the racing yachts will take place on the river, and sporting and cultural exchange activities with the skipper and other crew members of Team Da Nang-Viet Nam will be held.

Also, the city will work with UNICEF, which is the world’s leading organisation for protecting children’s rights, and a racing yacht named after this organisation, to organise social and charitable activities in the city.

In particular, the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and local travel agencies will jointly offer attractive tours for the yachts’ crew members and other related participants to promote the city’s tourism. These will include trips to discover the beauty of the local beaches and the Son Tra Peninsula, and tours to heritage sites in the central region.

Theo baodanang.vn