Vietnam tourism on the border line |
In the golden age, 2004-2005, Under the new regulations, tourists from other third countries can even drive vehicles themselves through the gates. In the last three years, 2006-2008, The sheer size of Luu Duc Ke, Director of Hanoitourism, is pleased with the great strides taken in opening up the borders but is troubled by what “dumping” from Chinese tour companies Ke says that ultra low prices are being offered to tourists which means that once they cross the border costs are cut so hard their trip is affected. “They are scrambling for travelers by dumping on the market,” said Ly Mon, director of Ha Long Travel Firm. National tourism body VNAT calls it a kind of ‘swindling’ in tourism and says it must be stopped. What to do to attract more cross-border tourists? Participants at the workshop on border tourism held in Lang Son province on November 6, 2009 emphasised that the first thing provinces need to do to attract travelers is to improve infrastructure. Director of the Lang Son province Culture, Tourism and Sports Department Hoang Van Tao said that Lang Son needs some hundreds of billions of dong to build roads for tourism sites. The current road is just 3.5 metres wide which does not fit 50-seat buses. Therefore, travelers have to get into smaller buses when traveling to some places. Vu The Binh, a senior official of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, agreed that the bumpy roads cannot attract many travelers. Especially, the roads in the central region which suffer landslides in flood season. Meanwhile, Tao from Lang Son province authorities says they must get better at receiving their guests. The Huu Nghi border gate in Lang Son province, for example, can receive 20 travelers at a time – not the thousands that it needs to. Ha Yen - vietnamnet Other news for Tuesday 10 November, 2009
View all news for Tuesday 10 November, 2009 on one page News for Thursday 05 November, 2009
View all news for Thursday 05 November, 2009 on one page Recent News
|