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Vietnam Open Tour News & EventsWEDNESDAY 03 FEBRUARY, 2010 |
 Tourism promotion to expand overseas The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism’s chief Nguyen Van Tuan said tourism and aviation agencies will join hands to open representative offices abroad.
Tuan said offices will be opened in the five key markets this year with further details to be released at a later date.
At a recent workshop on Vietnam’s tourism promotion, experts discussed areas of weakness. La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of the HCM City
“If we lack funds for it, the VNAT can cooperate with
He also said that it is necessary to hire professional media firms in host countries to organize tourism events because they understand the demands of travelers in their countries.
Paul Stoll, managing director of the Celadon International Consulting Company, said that the
Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Tran Chien Thang commented that the tourism sector spends a lot of money organizing foreign tourism fairs but when the fairs end, no agency is responsible to maintain contacts with foreign partners.
At the workshop, officials of a number provinces asked the VNAT to empower and allocate funds for locals to implement activities to promote tourism. The provinces of Quang Ninh, Lao Cai and Nghe An has asked the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to give them the right to promote
Deputy Minister agreed with the proposal, saying that last year the Ministry authorized HCM City to advertise Vietnamese
The funding for tourism promotion is estimated at 150 billion dong (around $10 million) for the last ten years. However, these activities are said to ineffective. This year, the VNAT plans to attract tourists from the Northeast Asia (China, Japan, South Korea), Southeast Asia and Australia,
PV - english.Vietnamnet.vn
Hotels say they’re full up for Tet Many hotels between
Travel firms estimate that the number of travelers this year is higher by 20 percent than the previous year meaning tourist groups are running at full capacity. According to Luu Duc Ke, Director of Hanoitourism, the demand for traveling increased sharply this year. As travelers booked tours soon, they soon filled up with many already oversubscribed a month ago. “We are now just focusing on serving those who have already booked. Those, who plan Tet tours in the final days before Te will not be able to book tours,” he said. In the north, most travelers have registered to depart on the second day of the KTV Tourist & Trading also said that client numbers are higher by 20-25 percent than the previous year. The most popular tours are the ones to No more hotel rooms Representative from Viettravel said that most of big hotels in the areas from Da Nang Cit to the south have seen rooms fully occupied. As this Tet holiday is longer than previous years, hotel rooms will also be busier. Viettel said that idle rooms will only be available after the 10th day of the Lunar New Year, or February 24. Though hotels have charged higher room rates, this will not keep clients away. The hotels in Mui Ne coastal The four star Notovel Coralia Ocean Dunes & Golf Resort, which have the average hotel room rate of 125 dollar per day, said all its 123 rooms are fully booked. Doi Su Resort. which has lower room rate, also said it has no more rooms. Thanh Huyen from Viettravel said that more tourists want to book tours to the south, but Viettravel is unable to assist them because it cannot arrange any more rooms. Duc Quang, who plans to travel on Tet with his family, said he booked them months ago. “I luckily booked rooms at $45 per day. Meanwhile, my friend, who booked rooms one month later, has to pay $120,” he said. However, he added that the most important thing that travelers need is the service quality, not a low price. “If you are happy at the beginning of the year, you will be happy the whole year. Therefore, no one wants low rate rooms with a low VietNamNet/VnMedia
Foreign tourists flock to Vietnam for a traditional Tet It is estimated that over 416,000 foreign visitors came to Vietnam in January, a 20.4 percent increase from a year earlier and a 10 percent increase compared to December 2009, reported the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).
There was an increase in the numbers of foreigners from various countries, including Australia (26.3 percent up), Canada (24.3 percent), the
During this month, many foreign sea liners have selected Vietnam as their destination, including Voyages of Discovery with 900 tourists on board, the Spirit of Discovery with 800 visitors and the five-star Costa Classica with 2,000.
At Tan Son Nhat International Airport, numbers of foreign visitors and overseas Vietnamese returning home for Tet is expected to jump by 10-15 percent.
With thousands of foreign visitors flocking to Vietnam during the
VietNamNet/TTXVN Some special things for foreigners during Tet As usual before
The tour will start every day from February 14 to 19 and comprise a visit to a southern family to prepare a special meal for Tet, ostrich riding at Vinh Sang Farm in Vinh Long Province, games and shopping. The program on An Binh Islet will offer a chance for foreigners to mix with local people by making lunch, cakes and jams which are often used during Tet. Foreign visitors can bring these cakes back home to their relatives as special gifts. Lucky money, or li xi, is the second gift that local people will give to foreign guests during the tour. Giving small money to people who visit a Vietnamese family during Tet is giving best wishes for a whole year of happiness. Saigontourist Travel Service Co. is offering a half-day tour every day from February 14 to 17. The half-day trip takes in Tao Dan Flower Market and Thien Hau Temple in downtown HCMC and includes an hour ride in a chauffeur-pedaled tricycle, known as cyclo, around Saigontourist has tours to the For more information, contact Ben Thanh Tourist Travel Service Center, 86 Ly Tu Trong Street, District 1, HCMC, tel: 08 3 822 2506, email: inbound-e@benthanhtourist.com or Saigontourist Travel Service Co., 49 Le Thanh Ton Street, District 1, HCMC, tel: 08 3 829 8914. VietNamNet/SGT Domestic tourism thrives despite crisis The global
Those travelling four or five times a year accounted for 22 per cent of 2,000 people in Ha Noi and HCM City surveyed by the FTA. More than 50 per cent travelled on holidays, while 22per cent also booked tours on special days like birthdays and wedding anniversaries of family members. More HCM City residents (71 per cent) were fond of travelling than Ha Noi (59 per cent), the survey found. Over 68 per cent of travellers chose to book four-day tours organised on holidays like Tet (the Two-day tours were also attractive to many domestic tourists, mainly the youth. Residents in Ha Noi and HCM City spend between VND2 million-VND5 million (US$110-280) on tourist travel, the survey estimated. Sixty-two per cent of the respondents said travelling helped them relax and enjoy more time with family members and relatives. Only 5 per cent travelled with business partners while 32 per cent liked going on tours with friends. While 56 per cent people bought eco-tours last year and only 3 per cent joined team building trips, the survey showed that 95 per cent of people in Ha Noi and 85 per cent in HCM City preferred tours organised by themselves. They said tours offered by travel agencies were expensive. The shortage of professional tour guides was also among problems mentioned by the respondents. Viet Nam welcomed 3.8 million foreign visitors last year, a decrease of 11.5 per cent over 2008, but domestic visitors increased by 19 per cent to 25 million people, according to the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism. The number of high income earners has continued increasing, and this has seen more Vietnamese travelling abroad. The National Institute for Tourism Development Research recently reported that the number of Vietnamese people booking overseas tours increased 30 per cent last year over 2008. VietNamNet/Viet Nam News Tet celebrations in Hoi An The annual banh tet (glutinous rice cake filled with green bean paste and pork fat) festival for the poor will open February 13, New Year’s Eve, at the Hoi An Museum of History and Culture giving the poor a chance to join the holiday. The event will feature a banh tet making contest then presenting banh tet to the poor. Last year, the event attracted 30 units and collected more than 6,000 banh tet to give to more than 500 poor households.
The highlights of New Year’s Eve will be a During the holiday, there will be many cultural, sports and entertainment programs such as a VietNamNet/SGT Up to the forest, down to the sea The sunlight of early morning wakes the hidden charms of the white-sand beaches and forests of Chua Mountain National Park in Ninh Thuan Province and shows the path to a number of unparalleled natural attractions.
However, Nguyen Si Hung of the Ecotourism and Hung lets his guests stay for a while to shoot pictures of these quiet beaches in the glow of dawn and then asks them to continue their steps up toward the path through the bushes to the national park. The running water of a far-off stream lifts the spirit of Hung’s guests from being a little tired after some 20 minutes of trekking. And a few more minutes of walking leads to the Binh Tien Stream. Hung easily makes his way through the bushes and trees by the stream but it is a hard job for his guests to follow him in the alien forest. However, the more they go upstream, the more astonishing their scenic reward is. The stream, the boulders, the greenery, the tree-clapped mountains and the waterfalls form a picturesque background for photo shooting. Near and far from the stream are wild flowers and some trees whose leaves are in unusual colors as a result of cold nights and hot afternoons in the national park around this time of year. The stream has some areas large and deep enough for swimming, and those who do not like soaking their body in cool water can sit or lie leisurely on the flat boulders to rest and admire the running water and small but eye-catching waterfalls in the stream. This is one of the biggest streams ever discovered in the nearly 30,000-hectare national park. Hung says the stream winds its way down from the mountains all the way to Cha La Beach. After an hour of letting his guests eat, chat and swim, Hung takes them downstream and then crosses the stream to proceed to Cha La Beach, where many boulders sit firmly on the sand and the turquoise sea is, of course, a great place to swim. A ten minute trek from Cha La Beach is the arch-shaped Binh Tien, a beach whose white sand and beauty is exposed under the sunlight and can be seen from the national park. Binh Tien Beach is recognized as one of the most beautiful beaches of central Vietnam and is accessible by road some 40 kilometers from Ninh Thuan Province’s Phan Rang Municipality or by boat from the visit-deserving Vinh Hy Bay. It goes without saying that the off-the-beaten-track Binh Tien Beach is a destination of choice for locals and a number of tourists, particularly on weekends. VietNamNet/SGT Better year awaits HCM City’s tourism The recovery in HCMC’s
The department says the city’s tourism is receiving positive signals this month from both international and domestic travel segments while the number of outbound tourists stays unchanged from that in January 2009. The city is forecast to see an estimated 280,000 foreign arrivals this month, up 7% year-on-year, with around 214,000 coming by air and some 143,000 being Overseas Vietnamese returning home for the traditional The domestic travel segment fares best this month and next, as around 60,000 people have bought tours from travel firms during Tet, from February 14 to 20, up 20% compared to the same period of last year. Normally, the department collects figures from around 20 big travel companies of the country to give the total picture. The department estimates that the total number of local travelers may hit 500,000 in January when taking into account numbers of tourists at all travel firms plus the number of travelers who travel on their own arrangements and visitors to Dam Sen and Suoi Tien tourist parks of the city. While the number of outbound travelers likely stays unchanged in January, it is seen picking up next month. The department puts the number of outbound tourists to increase around 10% during Tet. Reports from some travel companies have showcased the similar result. Almost all outbound and domestic tours during Tet have been sold out, and tourists wanting to buy tours for Tet are having a very limited choice for some overland tours only. Ben Thanh Tourist has reported 5,000 domestic and outbound tourists during Tet, up 20% year-on-year, while Saigontourist Travel Service Co. has 10,000 outbound and domestic travelers during the time, up 30% year-on-year. In related news, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) on January 27, quoted a report of the General Statistics Office as saying that the number of foreign travelers to the country this month is up 20.4% compared with January 2009 to more than 416,000. The number of visitors from China makes a big rebound with nearly 60,000 in January, up nearly 95% year-on-year. VNAT will organize a meeting in the capital city of VietNamNet/SGT News for Wednesday 20 January, 2010
View all news for Wednesday 20 January, 2010 on one page Recent News
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