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MONDAY 05 OCTOBER, 2009 |

Hanoi heralds national tourism event

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"The National Tourism Year is the country’s important event to promote national tourism sector to international countries," Pham Quang Long, director of the Ha Noi Culture, Tourism and Sports Department, said.

The National Tourism Year, themed Thang Long-Ha Noi, Hoi Tu Ngan Nam (A Thousand-Year Meeting) will open on October 10 with a special ceremony celebrating the city’s 999th anniversary.

Ha Noi plans to introduce more eco-tours and homestay tours as well as develop handicraft village products.

For next year’s celebration, it expects to complete the Bat Trang Tourism Port and the Hai Ba Trung Temple upgrade next year.

New tourism programmes will be created, including Nguoi Ha Noi Don Ban Tham Nha (Hanoians Welcome Guests) and Green Tourism Year.

The Thang Long-Ha Noi International Tourism Festival 2010, International Water Puppet Festival and ao dai (Vietnamese traditional costumes), kite and flower festivals will also be held during National Tourism Year.

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The little dragon

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Bai Tu Long Bay hosts hundreds of large and small islands of various charateristics. Often called the baby of Ha Long Bay, beautiful and diverse Bai Tu Long Bay holds its own.  The Vietnamese nation was invaded so often in ancient times that God was moved to send a dragon and its child to fight the enemies. After the fighting was over, the dragon refused to return to heaven. The mother became Ha Long Bay (Descending Dragon) and her children, Bai Tu Long Bay (Dragon children cheering their mother). The children are beautiful, like the mother, but not as well known. Located around 200 kilometers to the northeast of Hanoi, Bai Tu Long Bay includes the seas off Cam Pha Town, Ha Long Town and Van Don District. The bay hosts hundreds of large and small islands of various characteristics. One island looks as if it were made by piling up stone bowls. Locals call it Dong Chen (Bowl Pile). Yet another, called Dua (chopstick), is like a giant chopstick lying on the water surface.   Quan Lan Island does not have a particularly striking shape like its neighbors, but it has sandy and rather wild beaches, like Ngoc Vung and Minh Chau, alongside a 300-year-old primeval forest. The sixth lunar month is festival season on the island. No locals are allowed to leave, but visitors are welcome to join the festivities. Other islands carry different flavors. Ban Sen Island, for instance, brings to tourists cups of tea produced from trees whose seeds were first sowed hundreds of years ago. Meanwhile, Minh Chau Island presents the pristine lifestyle of a fishing village. Like its mother, Ha Long Bay has several caves such as Dong Trong Cave and Hang Quan Cave. The latter served as a Vietnamese army base during the Vietnam War. Other attractions at the bay include temples dedicated to famous generals during the feudal period and seafood specialties like snout otter clams (Lutraria Rhynchaena), locally known as tu hai. National ‘water park’ Covering nearly 16,000 hectares of land on 30 islands, Bai Tu Long National Park boasts considerable biodiversity with mangrove forests and coral reefs that are home to rare flora and fauna. The park also has considerable archeological significance with scientists finding traces of people who lived there 14,000 years ago. Located at the end of a mangrove forest, Doi (Bat) Cave is the home of thousands of bats and other animals like foxes and otters, while the Cai De Cave, about one kilometter away, goes through a range of mountains for about 500 meters at a maximum width of 60 meters. Although the cave is decorated with stalactites and a plentiful source of marine life, visitors can only enter when the tide is low. Cai De was proposed to be introduced to visitors in 2007, but nothing has been done so far to make this happen. VietNamNet/Thanh Nien

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Can Tho looks to develop tourism

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The tourism property market in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta city of Can Tho is becoming increasingly attractive to real-estate investors since the Viet Nam Tourism Property Association signed a memorandum of understanding with the city’s authority.

The association plans to invest about US$1 billion in tourism infrastructure in the city. In addition, Phu Quoc Dong A Real Estate JSC in conjunction with Starbay Holdings Group plans to pour $2 billion into developing city’s tourism sector.

Can Tho City has many advantages when it comes to the tourism property market. "It is a new emerging market that has only been partially exploited," said Than Thanh Vu, chairman of Phu Quoc Dong A Real Estate JSC.

The city is famed for its network of small islands such as Au isle, Cai Khe Khuong isle and Son isle. Other tourist attractions include Ninh Kieu Port, Cai Rang floating market and Bang Lang stork garden.

Economic development in the city has been stable, despite the global financial crisis. In 2004-08, the annual average growth rate was 15.64 per cent per year.

The tourism sector in the city is so buoyant that demand for accommodation outstrips supply. Up to the end of 2008, the city had just 154 hotels and 21 entertainment and tourism centres. There is no five-star hotel in the city.

The local authority is making efforts to attract investors. During 2006-18, city authorities plan to implement 18 tourism projects.

However, the city lacks transport infrastructure, according to Vu, who has to regularly travel from Can Tho to Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCM City.

To travel by road the 200km journey takes six hours. "The lack of transport infrastructure is discouraging investors," Vu said.

Potential investors agree that the city needs investment in infrastructure, which includes Can Tho, Tra Noc and Cai Cui ports.

In addition, they said the city needed to appeal more to the high-end tourists, as other cities have done.

VietNamNet/VNS

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News for Friday 02 October, 2009

• Passage to Vietnam - back to Vietnamese origins

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