Over 100 ships serve Indian billionaire company's tourists in Ha Long Bay

Vietravel, the travel agency responsible for guiding the Indian tourists, said this first group toured Ha Long Bay on 33 ships.

The relevant units plan to deploy over 100 ships to accommodate all 4,500 tourists with the remainders visiting the bay from now to Sept. 6.

Nguyen Huyen Anh, director of Quang Ninh Province's Department of Tourism, said that this is the largest group of Indian tourists ever to visit Ha Long Bay.

The province aims to provide a warm welcome and make a strong impression on the visitors, she said, adding that this presents a great opportunity for the locality to attract international tourists in general, and Indian tourists in particular.

The tourists are employees from Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, the fourth largest pharmaceutical corporation in the world.

The company's owner Dilip Shanghvi is the fifth richest individual in India and 13th richest in Asia. Forbes estimated the tycoon's net worth at $29.6 billion as of Aug. 29.

The group is divided into small packs traveling for five days in Hanoi, Quang Ninh and Ninh Binh provinces, from Aug. 27 to Sept. 7.

They do not stay over-night in Quang Ninh and Ninh Binh, but spend all four nights in the capital city, organizing activities such as conferences, seminars, and gala dinner.