Five out of the 14 direct chartered flights connecting the city to Chinese destinations have returned to operation.

Vice director of the city's culture, sports and tourism department, Tran Chi Cuong told Viet Nam News on August 21 that airlines have resumed travel from Da Nang to Beijing, Kunming, Hangzhou, Chengdu and Xianyang.

The five routes, which were temporarily suspended during the rioting in May, re-opened at the same time Vietnam Airlines launched their direct flights from Da Nang to Narita, Japan, Kuala Lumpur and Busan (the Republic of Korea), Cuong said.

He revealed that Chinese tourism dropped by about four thousand last month.

The central city, which promoted other markets to make up for the loss in tourism, hosted 1.3 million tourists, of whom 407,000 were foreigners, in the first half of this year. The tourism industry generated VND3.5 trillion (US$167 million), up 24% from the same period last year.