Nha Trang, a coastal city and capital of Khanh Hoa Province, is well known for its pristine beaches and many other tourist attractions including Ponagar Nha Trang Temples, Pasteur Institute and Nha Trang Oceanography Institute, where thousands of oceanic life samples, exhibits are on display. It is also home to the largest oceanic library in Vietnam. Nha Trang Bay is amongst the world's most beautiful bays.

It is fast becoming a popular tourist destination, attracting large numbers of backpackers as well as more affluent travelers nationwide and world wide. In 2008, Nha Trang received 1.6 million arrivals, a year on year increase of 17.4% with the total turnover of 1,282 billion VND, a year on year rise of 31.4%. At present, 366 lodging establishments consisting of 8,728 rooms and 14,178 beds have employed 7,770 direct workers.

In 15 years to come, Khanh Hoa Province plans to develop tourism and service in three zones including Nha Trang City and neighborhood, Cam Ranh Township and neighborhood, Doc Let and Van Phong Bay. Nha Trang and the neighborhood will be a focus of the tourism development strategy as Nha Trang City has the greatest potentials to develop into an attractive tourist center. The two other zones have their beautiful natural scenery, but they are not as attractive as in Nha Trang in terms of culture and society.

Top priority must be given to tourism development in Nha Trang City, a focus of economic investment. Tourism is an important economic mainstay of many cities including Venice, Edinburgh, etc… such as it brings a huge profit. Edinburgh has the strongest economy of any city in the UK outside London. The economy of Edinburgh is largely based around the tourism and service sectors.

At present, Nha Trang tourism is based on tours of Nha Trang Bay. Nha Trang is surrounded on all three sides by mountains and a large island on the fourth side (in the ocean directly in front of the city's main area) that blocks major storms from potentially damaging the city. However, the marine environment, especially coral reefs and salangane nest caves need conservation. If the marine environment is polluted, aquaculture is also badly affected.

In the city project to the year 2025 and the vision beyond 2025, counselors of Vietnam Institute of Architecture, Urban and Rural Planning (VIAP) - Ministry of Construction (MOC) says that conservation is vital for sustainable tourism development and suggest that investment focus in lodging service in Nha Trang City more than in other places to make Nha Trang to become a key tourist center of Khanh Hoa Province and other tourist destinations in the remaining zones create natural attraction adding to the beauty of Nha Trang City. Besides, the locality must promote and preserve the values of heritages in Nha Trang Bay, upgrade Nha Trang Port into international tourist port, etc…

Nguyen Thi Nhung, vice chairperson of Nha Trang City People’s Committee said, Nha Trang city will give priority to development of forms of tourism and service in accordance to the strategy to build the city to become a national and international sea tourist and cultural center and preserve the values of natural heritages. Major tourism development projects include constructing Nha Trang Port to become an international tourist port, setting up tourist areas along Cai River and so on. All hopefully contributes to the attraction of Nha Trang City, helping the city to become a national and international fascinating tourist center.