TRAVEL IN BRIEF 16/12

New sea tour to Phu Quoc Island

Phu Quoc beach.Hong Kong’s Royal Group will bring its five-star cruise ship, Jupiter Cruises, to Viet Nam for the Phu Quoc Island-Shihanouk Ville route, which will be available before Christmas.
This will be the first 5-star cruise service for Phu Quoc, a joint-service offered by Royal Group and Viet Nam’s Sea Star Corp.
The nine-story Jupiter Cruise is 178m long, 22m wide, and has around 400 cabins. It can serve 1,000 passengers at once, offering conference rooms, restaurants, bars, karaoke, shopping malls, and beauty and entertainment services.
The Sea Star Corp and Royal Group plan to build a tourism port in Phu Quoc. Currently Jupiter Cruises will have to anchor in Duong Dong, 2km offshore of Phu Quoc.

Tet preparations begin

HCM City will host the annual Nguyen Hue Flower Street Festival as part of the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday, which will include entertainment and charity events.
The festival will feature the Banh Tet (glutinous rice cake) fest and fireworks displays, said Saigontourist Holdings Co., the organiser of the event. Nguyen Hue, Le Loi and Dong Khoi streets will be decorated with lights from December 18 to January 1, and from January 18 to February 14 for the Lunar New Year celebrations. Fireworks will be displayed at six locations on New Year’s Eve.
Tran Hung Viet, deputy general director of Saigontourist, said some 10,000 pieces of banh tet will be donated to the poor. Business community sponsorship money will also be given to charity. Saigontourist will spend more than VND10 billion (US$650,000) for the festival.

Hue attracts more cruise visitors

Thua Thien-Hue has welcomed 20,000 foreign cruise tourists so far this year months of the year, a four-fold increase over 2007. Most cruise ships docking at Chan May Port are luxury liners. The largest ship is the 5-star Queen Elizabeth II, which brought 2,000 tourists to the country.
The cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas of the US Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines brought an additional 2,000 foreign tourists to the province. During the call at Chan May Port, foreign passengers visited attractions in Hue, Hoi An, and Da Nang.

New spa resort in Binh Thuan

Princess d’Annam Resort&Spa has opened doors in Binh Thuan Province. The 9ha resort is a blend of styles that mixes the traditional, bold Eastern identity with the stunning and sophisticated opulence of French culture. Jean Philippe Beghin, the resort’s general director, said, "This style helps make a special impression on guests as soon as they set foot on the property."

More buses to Cambodia

The HCM City-based Sapaco Tourist Company began to increase bus tours between the city and Cambodia on December 4, the day the Viet Nam-Cambodia visa exemption for ordinary passport holders takes effect.
In HCM City, the company now operates seven buses every day to Phnom Penh instead of five previously, departing at 6am, 7am, 8am, 9am, 10am, 11.30am and 1pm.
In Phnom Penh, the seven buses leave for HCM City at 6am, 7am, 8am, 9am, 11.30am, 1pm and 2pm.
In addition, Sapaco’s buses between HCM City and Cambodia’s Siem Reap now run daily instead of every two days.

Tourists hunt for war souvenirs

Visitors to the former battlefields in the central province of Quang Tri often buy valuable war keepsakes like identity tags, coins, zippo lighters, US coins and canteens from waste collectors.
Tran Ha, a reputed collector and provider of war objects for tourists in Khe Sanh Town, in the province’s Huong Hoa District, said the war souvenirs he sold were provided by waste collectors in the district.
(Source: Viet Nam News)

Vietnam to cut tour fees immediately to lure travellers

A senior official of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) said that on December 15 VNAT began hurriedly compiling a plan on cutting fees on tours for foreign tourists to lure more travellers.Foreign tourists in Vietnam

The official said that the plan would be ready for the meeting between VNAT and international travel firms, luxury hotels in HCM City and the national air carrier Vietnam Airlines to be held by the end of this week. Details of the plan, which markets the tour fee decreases will be applied to, how much the tour fees will be cut, and how long the special programme will last, will be decided soon.

“For the immediate time, Vietnam still can attract Russian, Japanese, French, Australian and South Korean travellers who have cancelled tours to India and Thailand if we launch some tours with attractive tour fee decreases,” said Vietnam Airlines’ General Director Pham Ngoc Minh.

Vietnam Airlines has suggested that involved parties join forces to focus on some key markets, in which Vietnamese enterprises can offer competitive products.

Price decreases will be different for different markets, and only travel firms that join the campaign will be able to enjoy preferential prices.

VNAT is going to chair two additional similar meetings in Hanoi and the central city of Da Nang to announce the decisions on tour fee decreases as soon as possible.

According to Director of the HCM City Culture, Sports and Tourism Department La Quoc Khanh, it is necessary to persuade shops to join forces with travel firms, hotels and air carriers to create low-cost tours. Thailand, for example, announced the tour fee reduction of $39/traveller for tours associated with shopping, while the travellers are led to shops which registered to join the low-cost tours.

Vietnam witnessed the sharp fall of the tourism industry in 2008 and has forecast a 0% or minus growth rate in the first half of 2009.

A conference discussing ways to lure foreign travellers to Vietnam was held on December 11. It was criticised as being late but ‘better late than never’.

At the conference, Minh from Vietnam Airlines urged travel firms, hotels and involved parties to compile an action plan to attract more clients in the context of the expanded global financial crisis, the political uncertainties in Thailand, which are expected to take 6-7 months at least to recover, and the terrorism case in Mumbai, India. Minh said that in these conditions, tourists will prefer safe destinations with reasonable tour fees.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in the first 11 months of the year, Vietnam attracted 3.87mil international travelers.

(Source: Tuoi tre, VietNamNet)

Russians to get visa exemptions from New Year

From January 1 next year, Vietnam will grant visas exemptions to Russians who have valid passports, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the number of Russian tourists visiting Vietnam is increasing strongly.Vietnam will be the third Southeast Asian country, after Thailand and Laos, to grant visa exemptions to Russian citizens who enter for tourism purposes.To be granted a visa exemption to stay in Vietnam for 15 days or less, Russian visitors must have a valid passport and a return or onward ticket. For stays longer than 15 days, Russian tourists can apply for to the Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a visa extension.
(Source: SGGP)

Hoi An receives nearly 450,000 tourists

Since early this year, Hoi An City known as a World Culture Heritage Site in the central province of Quang Nam has received nearly 450,000 tourists, including more than 320,000 foreigners, earning VND28 billion from selling visiting tickets.

To attract tourists to the ancient city during Christmas and New Year holiday, Hoi An Culture and Sport Centre will organise a number of activities such as traditional art performances, street festival, a cultural fair of ethnic minority groups and meetings with foreigners. The centre’s director Vo Phung said that visitors can enjoy a street festival on New Year’s Eve and a cultural fair featuring specialities of each ethnic minority group.
(Source: VOV)

Vietnamese tourists warned to avoid Thailand

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST) has warned Vietnamese people not to travel to Thailand at this moment. Travel companies, meanwhile, are suffering heavy losses as they have customers stranded in the country.

International passengers stuck at Bangkok-based Suvarnabhumi Airport (photo AP)

The MoCST told the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), local tourism departments and travel firms to keep updated on information about the situation in Thailand to ensure security for Vietnamese tourists.

Nguyen Manh Cuong, VNAT’s Vice Chief, said many local travel companies have been seriously hit by Thailand’s uncertainties because they have had to pay a lot for stranded visitors.

“When the international airport in Bangkok was closed, many foreign passengers on their way to Vietnam were affected because they had to transit at this airport,” Cuong said.

Not only Vietnam, some other countries such as China, Singapore, Australia and the US have also advised their citizens not to go to Thailand at this time. Others have advised their citizens to re-consider plans to go to the beleaguered country or at least avoid areas where there are demonstrations.

According to the Tourism Administration of Thailand, around 600 Vietnamese people were stuck in Bangkok. Many of them have had to return home overland. Many travel companies have cancelled tours to Thailand, including tours to Phuket, where the AFF Cup 2008 was scheduled to be organised.

(Source: VNE)

Vietnam-Cambodia visa exemption likely to boost tourism

The Vietnam-Cambodia visa exemption for ordinary passport holders which comes into effect today will create more opportunity for tourism, local travel agents say.

The director of Lua Viet Company Nguyen Van My said the pact will encourage more Vietnamese to travel to Cambodia.
“The number of tourists from Vietnam to Cambodia will rise about 30 percent as agencies and travelers can now save time and money for visa application at the border gates,” My said.
Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai from Fiditourist Co. said the company is planning to increase tours to Cambodia from two to three or four per week in 2009.
“If the plan is realized, the number of our customers traveling to Cambodia will double,” Mai said.
Sapaco Tourist also announced plans to increase bus tours between Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh from 10 to 14 trips a day, while trips from HCMC to Siem Reap would run daily.
Regarding Cambodian visitors, My said the number would only rise slightly as the neighboring government’s procedures make it difficult for their citizens to obtain ordinary passports.
Many travel agencies in HCMC had previously operated four-day tours by bus to Cambodia at an average price of US$210-220, including visa application fees, while Vietnamese citizens had to spend $20 to apply for a visa to enter Cambodia prior to the exemption pact.
According to the agreement signed in Hanoi on November 4 by Vietnamese Prime Minster Nguyen Tan Dung and Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen, citizens of both countries with ordinary passports valid for at least six months can stay in the visited destination for up to 14 days without a visa.
Reported by Mai Phuong

Trek travel

Trekking tours are a new and popular option offered by many travel companies in Vietnam. Tour operators throughout the country are also beginning to offer more than just a standard hike through a forest. ( Tourists hike through a primeval forest in the Central Highlands’ Dak Nong Province)

Many now combine visits to remote mountain communities where tourists can interact with locals while learning about the indigenous flora and fauna in the area.
Several local travel companies also focus on trips to national parks and forests where plants and animals are abundant, diverse, colorful and easy to spot with the naked eye.
In addition, primeval forests and minority ethnic villages in the Central Highlands and Vietnam’s northwest are also popular places for trekking adventures. These areas feature diverse scenery, rich ecosystems, and colorful villages of traditional minority ethnic groups.
Tourists can hike through quiet forests and terraced fields on mountainsides, visit small springs, touch rare plants and beautiful wild flowers, and go bird-watching. They can also meet and speak with people of Bana, Ma, J’Rai and H’Mong ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands as well as the Phu La, Dao, Tay and Nung people in the northwest.
Visitors may also choose a home-stay tour and spend a night at a local family’s home.
The Central Highlands is also home to the Madagui forest, an ideal area for exploring a primeval forest. These woods are part of Nam Cat Tien National Park. Here, tourists can observe a rich ecosystem of flora and fauna, listen to guides speak about animals and plants of the rainforest, and explore caves and springs.
In addition, visitors can camp out, enjoy traditional gong drum shows, drink ruou can (a kind of wine contained in an earthen jar), meet with minority ethnic people, and visit their homes.
Reported by Tien Dat

Japanese hot pot buffet bring a special culinary culture to Hanoians

A moving Hot Pot Line rocking special Japanese hot pot buffet with hundreds of dishes such as such as salmon, scallop, oyster, Kobe beef and mushroom and vegetables along with a free sauce pot comes to Hanoians for the first time at Asahi Hot Pot restaurant, 76 Trieu Viet Vuong Street.

A specific characteristic of Asahi Hot Pot is delicious sauce and fresh materials imported from Japan. According to Yoshikwa, the Japanese main chef of the restaurant, a Japanese special hot-pot, must have special consommés, in which some special natural ingredients such as the Konbu leaf is indispensable.

Besides, the consommés is sophisticatedly processed within 8 to 12 hours to make original tastes of pure and tender.
There are various kinds of Japanese hot pots such as vegetarian pot, salmon head pot, seafood and special Asahi Pot. Each kind of hot-pot goes together with its correlative sauce made from sesame, alcohol and Japanese Soya-sauce by the main chef.
Japanese styled interior space with suffused light, sophisticated designs and charming staff in Kimono and aromatic flavour from meals is to the delight of anyone who step in there. In the coldness of the winter, hot pots are mostly the favourites as it accords to Hanoian’s liking. Furthermore, enjoying hot pot buffet brings fresh feelings for gourmets.
(Source: ND)

Ticket bookings for Tet low

Airlines as well as operators of trains and coaches, who are selling tickets for the trips on the peak days of upcoming Tet holiday (Lunar New Year), agree that bookings do not grow as fast as expected. ( Passengers flood the Saigon Railway Station to buy train tickets for their travel during the upcoming Tet.)

The transportation operators attribute lower-than-expected demand to the fact that many Vietnamese people are tightening their purse string for holiday because of economic woes in Vietnam, while the international financial crisis has affected foreigners’ plans for vacations in this country.
The management of Saigon Railway Station said there remained fares for the trains departing from HCMC to Danang, Hue and Hanoi a week ahead of Tet. Last week, the station started to sell tickets via SMS and at the station for the trains from HCMC to the central stations in Nha Trang, Binh Dinh, Quang Ngai, Hue and Danang on January 24, or two days before Tet.
As for air travel, Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific said they had almost sold the seats on flights from HCMC to Hanoi on the days close to Lunar New Year’s Day. However, the airlines still have tickets for the other days.
“We still have seats on good planes during Tet holiday,” Do Anh Tuan, commercial director of Indochina Airlines, told the Daily on the phone. Now, passengers can book economy-class fares on the website of the first private airline in Vietnam for the trip departing from HCMC to Hanoi days just before Lunar New Year’s Day.
Last week, Vietnam Airlines announced to sell 12,000 promotional fares lower than normal fares from December 15 till February 6 as part of the national flag air carrier’s annual program entitled “Happiness for Family Reunion.”
The airline knocks off 50% of the seats on certain flights from Hanoi and Danang to HCMC from February 1 to 25. Meanwhile, there are fares valued at VND400,000 and VND600,000 for a single trip between HCMC and Danang, and VND900,000 and VND1.1 million for a trip between here and Hanoi. These fares will be for the flights from January 30 to February 6, or after Tet, which falls on January 26.
Jetstar Pacific said seats had run out on the planes from HCMC to Hanoi one to five days before Tet, but are still available on the other days.
Jetstar Pacific and other airlines are of the opinion that the demand for air travel in the coming Tet is higher than the last occasion, but it is too early to ascertain the growth rate.
Demand lower than projected
Transportation operators predict demand is up 10-15% this Tet compared with the last holiday, an increase that they say lower than previously projected.
Nguyen Ngoc Thua, director of Mien Dong Coach Station One-member Ltd., said the company was planning an increase of 10% in the number of passenger vehicles.
Mien Dong Coach Station in Binh Thanh District mobilized around 14,500 vehicles to transport 390,000 passengers on the days in the run up to last Tet. Nearly 16,000 vehicles able to transport some 430,000 passengers are planned for the upcoming Tet.
Thua expected transportation demand would grow on the routes from HCMC to Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, Nam Dinh, Thua Thien-Hue, Nghe An, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Gia Lai and Daklak.
The railway sector is also gearing up for Tet. Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuong, chief of Saigon Railway Station, said the station sold 10,000 tickets every day for the trains running during the holiday, an increase of a mere 5% over the last occasion.
Thanh said the station would operate 44 trains on the north-south trunk rail during Tet to meet some 30% of the transportation demand for this occasion, and that the rest would be shared by coach operators and airlines.
Train fares for Tet trips between HCMC and Hanoi range from VND641,000 to VND1.276 million, or the same to the levels of normal days.
Airlines do not sell air tickets higher than VND1.7 million, a ceiling level applicable to a single trip between HCMC and Hanoi before, although they are allowed to hike fares.
Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific sell Economy-class highest fares of VND1.7 for a single HCMC-Hanoi trip during Tet, while Indochina Airlines offers one-way tickets of the same class at VND1.65 million.
However, coach fares for Tet are forecast to soar 20-60% compared with the rates of normal days, and operators are expected to announce their final rate increases before December 20.
This year, around 260 coach and bus operators will transport passengers from Mien Dong to their homes during Tet, which is the biggest holiday in Vietnam.
(Source: SGT)

Enjoy com dep to know more culture of Khmer people

Khmer, one of the ethnic peoples living in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long, is rich in traditional cultures and crafts. Com dep (flat green rice) is one of the crafts that the Khmer people have made a great effort to preserve and develop, according to Vietnam News Agency. ( Khmer people in a traditional ceremony to offer com dep to the moon at Bom Mat pagoda in Soc Trang Province in Ok Om Bok festival this November. (Photo: TTXVN))

Com dep has existed in Binh Minh District, Dong Binh Commune for hundreds of years and has become essential in support of preserving the traditional features of the Khmer people. In the Ok Ombok traditional festival of Khmer, com dep is the main offering to the moon, as the event is the time when Khmer worship the moon.
The festival is held yearly in the 14th and 15th days of the tenth lunar month (Khmer Calendar). It denotes the welcoming of new rice because it is the end of the rainy season and vegetable harvesting. Thus, com dep is symbolic of the traditional cultural features and culinary of Khmer people.
Com dep is made from sticky rice. Three farmers can grind 20 kilograms of sticky rice everyday for a profit of VND100,000. Even though making com dep is not well-paid, the Khmer people continue to make it in an effort to preserve their culture and develop their economy and tourism.
Com dep is not only the main offering of the Ok Ombok festival; it is also an important dish for the Kinh people, Chinese and the Mekong Delta residents as well as the Khmer people. Therefore, the local authorities have supported credit policies to help farmers maintain this traditional craft.
To produce tasty and delicious com dep farmers have to take the rice through three phases: preparation, grinding and processing. The first phase of grinding the harvested and roasted sticky rice is the hardest step. Farmers have to soak the sticky rice in fresh water for 48 hours to 50 hours, then pour it into rice mortar and pound it with a wooden pestle rhythmically and steadily. When the sticky rice becomes glutinous the farmers take the rice out of the mortar and winnow to remove the husk from sticky young grains.
Traditional com dep is mixed with ground coconut and coconut water, salt, sugar and peanuts in some hours until com dep become soft and tasty dish.
Son Thi Huong, a com dep artisan from a family with generations of making com dep has been chosen by local authorities to present this craft in the 4th Southern Khmer people Culture, Sports and Tourism Festival in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho taking place in December 4 to 9.
(Source: SGT)

Vietnam Airlines helps stranded passengers return home

Vietnam Airlines said, in the late afternoon Thursday, that the authorities of Bangkok-based Suvarnabhumi Airport announced that the airport would be closed until 6pm on November 29. Arpproximately 330 passengers of Vietnam Airlines are now stuck in Bangkok, including 162 Vietnamese nationals.

Stranded passenger at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok (photo: AP)

Vietnam Airlines will have to cancel its flights from Hanoi to HCM City on November 28 and 29. The airline said it would increase flights and provide bigger planes to bring stranded passengers in Bangkok to Vietnam through three gateways, namely Vientiane (Laos), Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. It will allow passengers to change air routes without collecting any other fees.
Today, November 28, Vietnam Airlines will use an Airbus A321 to conduct three flights, including VN 840 from Vientiane to Hanoi at 6.10pm, VN 822 from Siem Reap to HCM City at 5.30pm, and VN 800 from Phnom Penh to HCM City at 9pm (local time).
Passengers can use road vehicles to move to Vientiane and Siem Reap to catch flights to Vietnam or contact the Vietnam Airlines office in Bangkok through hotlines: 662 6554137/38/39/40 or +6....
The office’s chief, Do Nguyen Khoi, will help passengers to contact travel agents or road transport companies. If necessary, Vietnam Airlines will arrange more flights to Vientiane, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh to help passengers.
In case passengers arrive in Vientiane, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, but are not able to catch a flight on that day, Vietnam Airlines will subsidize part of the accommodation and food expenses, at the level of $30 per person.
If passengers need assistance in these cities, they can call +856 205526374 in Vientiane, +85512357866 in Siem Reap, and +855 12809694 in Phnom Penh.
Vietnam Airlines is also in collaboration with the Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok and its representative office in Thailand to provide information regarding flight timetables and immigration procedures for passengers. According to the Thailand news agency (TNA), on the night of November 25, civil aviation authorities in Bangkok closed Suvarnabhumi Airport after hundreds of anti-government protesters broke through police lines and flowed into the busy terminal, disrupting airport operations, in an attempt to prevent Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from returning home from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Peru. The current conditions at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport are still strained, and have forced Vietnam Airlines to cancel four flights from the country to Thailand since November 26 to ensure the safety and security of its flights and passengers.
(Source: Tien Phong)

Vietnam struggles to hit tourism target

A decline in the number of foreign arrivals in Vietnam during recent months due to the global financial crisis will seriously hinder the tourism industry in achieving its set target of 5 million foreign visitors this year. ( A guide introduces Hoa Lu Ancient City in Ninh Binh Province to tourists.)

According to the tourism sector, the number of foreign visitors dropped alarmingly in June and this downtrend has continued since then. By the end of October, the tourism sector had catered for a total of 3.6 million visitors during 2008, an increase of 3.5 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, it had recorded a growth rate of more than 15 percent during the first half of the year. A sharp drop in the number of visitors from high-income countries, such as China , the Republic of Korea , Japan , the US and Canada , has caused great concern within the tourist industry. As visitors from those markets account for 40 percent of the total number of foreign arrivals, the Vietnam Administration of Tourism (VNAT)’s Travel Department has referred to the current situation as “quite serious”. The concomitant fall in hotel room occupancy is also worrisome. Many luxury hotels reported room occupancy rates of only 55 percent in the past ten months, 10-15 percent lower than the rate recorded during the same period last year. “If this situation continues, it will be impossible for Vietnam to welcome 5 million foreign visitors, the target it has set for this year,” said VNAT deputy director Nguyen Manh Cuong. Although the global financial crisis and economic recession are regarded the main culprits for the decline, there were additional factors behind drop in overseas visitors, including natural disasters, floods, weak infrastructure, and the low quality of guides and services provided by the hospitality sector, Cuong said. Struggling in the current climate, both state-owned and private travel companies, including Hanoitourist, Saigontourist, Vietmark and Lotussia Travel, are striving to offer new products while also adopting new marketing strategies to attract new tourists. They have also been advised to explore new markets. To help give impetus to the industry, the Government has agreed to provide 30 billion VND for a range of promotional activities. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has approved a plan to advertise images of Vietnam on the BBC and is planning to build on this approach by promoting the country’s natural beauty via other worldwide television channels. The UN Tourism Organisation predicted that the global tourism industry would remain static during 2009 before rebounding in 2020 with 1.6 billion tourist arrivals.
(Source: VNA)

Foreign tourist arrivals by sea surge in October

Foreign tourist arrivals to Vietnam by sea reached 127,481 in the first ten months of this year, a decrease of 32.4 percent year on year. However, the number saw an 8 percent increase in October against the previous month.

In October, Vietnam greeted nearly 6,000 foreign tourists by sea. However, in the first ten months of this year, the number of foreign tourist arrivals to Vietnam by sea was only 67.6 percent of the same period last year. Vietnam’s tourism market is now facing structural weaknesses which are hampering growth, such as lacking cruise ship terminals, a lack of tourism products and non-professional promotion and campaigns for Vietnam’s maritime tourism in the international market. However, several travel agents believe that Vietnam’s sea tourism has the potential to attract a large number of tourists during New Year 2009 and Tet 2009 (the Lunar New Year). At present, oil and food prices are declining, offering opportunities for travel companies to reduce their tour prices. Favorable natural conditions, attractive landscapes, and political stability all contribute to attract more foreign tourists to Vietnam.
(Source: CPV)

Tourism workers need better training

The tourism industry, expected to be one of the spearheads of Viet Nam's economic growth in the future, hopes to have 80 per cent of its workers professionally trained by 2015, the tourism authority has said. ( The country's 40 universities and 83 colleges that have tourism-hospitality faculties have failed to supply qualified human resources.)

Only 30 per cent of the industry workforce are trained, the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) said.
Only 7 per cent of the workers have tertiary education while half of them cannot communicate in English, a major hurdle to attracting foreign tourists, it said.
Training fails
The country's 40 universities and 83 colleges that have tourism-hospitality faculties have failed to supply qualified human resources, it admitted.
Insiders said the training quality is very poor. Since lecturers do not work directly in the tourism or hospitality industry, the programmes are theory-based, Nguyen Phu Duc, chairman of Viet Nam Tourism Association, said.
Businesses said it takes two to three years on average to retrain new graduates to fit their needs.
A number of schools are, admittedly, trying to invest more in their facilities. Saigontourist Travel Co, for instance, plans to build a hotel to provide internships for students of the HCM City Hotel and Tourism Training School.
Ha Thanh Hai, deputy general director of the Sofitel Metropole Hotel in Ha Noi, said with the tourism and hospitality industries thriving, finding good personnel has become an urgent need.
The Metropole has to provide refresher training to its staff for four hours every month.
Speaking at a conference on human resources development in tourism earlier this month. Prof Steven Chua, president of SHATEC-Singapore Hotel and Tourism Education Center, said a personnel shortage was also threatening many other countries like Singapore and Japan.
The quality of tourism and hospitality services in Viet Nam is just better than in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, and far worse than in other countries in Southeast Asia, Nguyen Manh Cuong, VNAT deputy general director, said.
Not uniform
The quality is not uniform throughout Viet Nam. A three-star hotel in Ha Noi is much different from its counterpart in Thai Nguyen Province, he said.
"It generally affects the image of the entire industry", he added.
By 2015 he proposed an overhaul of this sector in terms of training and education programmes to improve human-resource quality and urged the Government to make strategies for long-term development.
VNAT estimates six million foreign arrivals and 25 million domestic tourists to provide the industry a turnover of US$4-4.5 billion in 2010, a one-third increase over current figures in terms of both volume and value. Then, the industry would need around two million workers, double the current number, it said.
(Source: Viet Nam News)

Phan Thiet - a place to explore and stay in

Visitors to new places often remember them because of beautiful landscapes and local specialties. In Phan Thiet, a coastal city about 200 kilometers from HCMC, people are not only attracted by the tourism sites in the area but also by something interesting on the way to the city and back. ( A view of Ca Ty River at night.)

For many travelers, riding on a motorbike is the best way to experience beautiful sights along the road, to enjoy ancient streets in the warm and pleasant air of the central region during any season of the year. On Ham Tien, a romantic street which runs beside many popular resorts and the Lau Ong Hoang, visitors should never miss a chance to drop by Poshanu Cham Tower, a complex of towers and temple relics of the Cham dynasty on Ba Nai hill.
Visitors to Phan Thiet can learn about the history of the city from hearty local residents. Many years ago, Cham ethnic people called the land Hama Lithit, which means “a flat field near the sea”. Later, the name Lithit was passed down orally by Kinh people, gradually turning out to Phan Thiet.
Today the city is a famous tourist destination with many beauty spots. Ca Ty River is considered one of the most interesting with bridges above and the ideal venue for grand festivals, like ship races and flower lantern floating. Such events attract hundreds of thousands of local and international visitors to the river and nearby locations each year.
Located by the river is Phan Thiet water tower with the French name of Château d’eau. The 32-meter tower, which was constructed by Laos’ architect and king Souphanouvong in late 1928, is a symbol of the city. Words of U.E.PT (Unise Des Eaux de Phan Thiet) on the body are joined from broken glass due to economical difficulties after the tower was completed in 1934.
It is interesting to wander to each corner of the city on a warm evening and drop by street eateries to enjoy specialties like banh xeo (rice pancake), or snail salad. Many people love can cake, a traditional dish with green onions, boiled eggs, braised fish and sour pickles.
The beautiful images of sights and people in Phan Thiet City seem to cling to many tourists when they leave. With the sweet and red dragon fruits, dry fish, or scented fish sauce along side, they feel like bringing parts of the city to their home.
(Source: SGT)

Vietnam Airlines cancels Bangkok flights

Vietnam Airlines (VNA) Wednesday canceled two flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok for security reasons, a company representative said.

VNA spokesman Trinh Ngoc Thanh said the company made the decision after receiving information about civil unrest in Bangkok.
VNA doesn’t have plans to relaunch service to Bangkok today, Thanh said. For detailed information, passengers can call (04) 3 832 0320.
A representative at Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport said five flights en route to Bangkok conducted by Thai Airways, Thai AirAsia and Air France were canceled.
The carriers won’t have to refund fares since the flight cancellations were beyond their control.
Reported by Xuan Toan

Hoi An tourism faces tough year

The number of tourists going to Hoi An in the first 10 months of the year reached 1 million, a drop of 30 per cent compared to the same period last year. ( Tourists visit Hoi An in the central province of Quang Nam. The number of tourists to the city in the first 10 months of the year dropped by 30 per cent year-on-year. The drop was attributed to the economic downturn and poor quality of services. )

Dinh Thi Thu Thuy, chief of Hoi An City’s Commerce and Tourism Office, attributed the fall to the global financial crisis and low quality services.
Total tourism turnover in the last 10 months was only VND550 billion (US$32 million), a decrease of 33 per cent compared to the same period last year, Thuy said.
Nguyen Thi Thanh, sales and marketing manager at Hoi An Tourist Service Joint-Stock Company, said the number of local and foreign tourists was expected to fall from 20 per cent to 30 per cent for the rest of the year.
The majority of tourists in the first 10 months of the year were from the US, France and Germany.
Arfan Marwazi Ismail, general director of Hoi An Riverside Resort&Spa, said a lack of advertising and low quality services were also to blame.
The State should have better facilities, particularly for Australian and Japanese tourists, he said.
Claude M Balland, general director of Victoria Hoi An Beach Resort&Spa, said the most important factor was improving quality of services and training staff.
(Source: VNS)

Vietnam Airlines leaves airfares unchanged for Tet 2009

This was stated by Vietnam Airlines’ (VNA) General Director Pham Ngoc Minh at a press conference on November 19th. General Director Minh stated that this was a gift for VNA’s loyal passangers.

During the Lunar New Year (Tet) 2009, and for Tet holidays in following years, VNA will strive to increase its capacity while leaving ticket fares unchanged, added General Director Minh. This action comes as VNA is trying to overcome a crisis caused by the sudden increase in fuel prices last summer and impacts from the global financial crisis.
At the end of August, 2006, VNA had announced a loss of VND 80 billion due to the increase in fuel prices to over USD150 per barrel of crude oil. However, its fee cut strategy and raising turnover of VND 1 trillion helped compensate for those losses, and VNA was able to overcome the crisis. VNA managed to save 25,000 tons of petrol and oil, equivalent to USD 25 million. “At the end of 2008, VNA will reap many financial benefits,” General Director Minh stated. “VNA will share these benefits with its passengers”.
During the Lunar New Year 2009, VNA will keep the ceiling price on its fares, and will even reduce ticket fees on some flights.
Moreover, VNA will increase its capacity by 153 percent. For example, the capacity of the Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi and the Ho Chi Minh City – Danang routes will be doubled”.
(Source: CPV)

Vietnam’s image to be promoted on BBC

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST) has approved the Vietnam National Tourism Administration’s project to promote Vietnam's image on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

The ministry also assigned its International Cooperation Department to conduct negotiations with other TV channels such as France’s Fashion TV, the Republic of Korea’s Ariang and the US’s Discovery channel and to explore the possibility of running advertisements on Japan’s NHK and China’s CCTV channels, as well as in a popular Russian newspaper. MoCST Minister Hoang Tuan Anh also directed the administration to consider re-broadcasting a trailer on Vietnam on CNN and organising roadshows in Australia, Taiwan and China. The advertisement campaign is part of the national trade-investment and tourism promotion programme which was adopted by the Government with a total capital of VND30 billion. According to an official from Ben Thanh Tourist – a large travel agency in Vietnam - the Vietnam National Tourism Administration spent VND4.7 billion promoting the national image on CNN Asia. However, the programme did not meet the expectations as few Asian people watched the channel to book tours, while none in Europe and America could watch it.
(Source: VOV)

PM pushes ahead Phu Quoc tourism island plan

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged local authorities of the southern Kien Giang Province to accelerate a plan to turn Phu Quoc, the largest island of Vietnam, into a big tourism centre. (PM Nguyen Tan Dung asked the Ministry of Construction to coordinate with Kien Giang Province to hire foreign experts for the implementation of infrastructure plans.)

At his working session with Kien Giang authorities on Nov. 22, PM Dung said the master plan to develop the island by 2010 and towards 2020 is going at a slow pace after four years of implementation, thus failing to tap its potentials. He asked the Ministry of Construction to coordinate with Kien Giang Province to hire foreign experts for the implementation of infrastructure plans. He urged relevant ministries to focus investment on constructing main roads on the island. The Phu Quoc International Airport and An Thoi sea port must be completed on schedule and more international air routes should be opened to the island, the PM said.
Regarding power supply, the PM said in the long run, the island will be connected with the power grid on the main land, but in the immediate future, the Vietnam Coal and Minerals Corporation should conduct a feasibility study for building a 100MW thermo-electric power plant to supply power to the island in next two years. The Phu Quoc island, having another name as Dao Ngoc ( Pearl Island ), for its cultured pearl, gathers great potentials to become a major tourist centre of the country. Located in southwestern Kien Giang Province, 45km from the mainland, the 565sq.km island owns 32,000 ha of primeval forests, beautiful and clean beaches, and undamaged coral reefs. One of its beaches, named Bai Dai (Long Beach), has been chosen by the ABC News as one of five beautiful and clean beaches, but rarely known in the world.
(Source: VNA)

High tour prices put off foreign visitors

The local tourism sector has been hit hard by the economic downturn as foreign tourists tighten their belts, tour operators said. ( Tourists visiting Ngoc Hoang Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1)

Ly Tat Vinh, head of Cholontourist Company’s development research division, said European tourists often planned trips a long time in advance and tended to book tours and hotels at least six months ahead.
At the time when they considered visiting Vietnam, tour package prices offered by local travel agencies were surging, due to high hotel and restaurant prices, he said.
As a result, they might have chosen other countries to visit, he said.
Meanwhile, the number of customers canceling trips had increased recently since the global financial crisis unfolded, Vinh told Thanh Nien.
TransViet Travel Company estimated the number of its foreign customers this year would fall by 40 to 50 percent compared to 2007, with the biggest drop occurring among Asian tourists.
Vu Duy Vu, deputy general director of Saigontourist Company, said he expected a 20-to-30 percent drop in the number of its foreign customers next year. According to the company, its customer base comprises mainly well-off tourists from the US and Europe.
Foreign tourists have also started forgoing luxury services to save money.
Huyen Thanh, director of Wildlotus Adventures Company, said many tourists didn’t want to stay in five-star hotels anymore, choosing lower-ranked hotels instead.
“The economic recession has forced foreign tourists to cut their spending and the difficult situation can last until the end of 2009,” VnExpress newswire quoted Hanoi’s Melia Hotel spokesperson Dao Viet Nga as saying.
Some regular customers of Melia Hotel in Hanoi have switched to less expensive hotels, Nga said.
Statistics released by CB Richard Ellis Vietnam showed that the occupancy rate of some five-star hotels in Ho Chi Minh City in the third quarter this year was approximately 61 percent, a decrease of about 16 percent compared to the same period of 2007.
A little too late
Seeing tour operators make less bookings, some four- and five-star hotels began lowering prices a few months ago.
But it was a little too late because local travel agencies’ foreign partners had already advertised tours for 2009 to the US and Europe markets by then.
Saigontourist’s Vu said travel agencies had to try their best to keep their tour package prices as low as possible, which also meant they sometimes had to accept losses.
Most agencies said they will not launch new tours at the end of this year, usually the tourist high season in Vietnam. Instead, they will focus on promoting low-priced and short term tours, for example, to Da Lat or Nha Trang.
He said the biggest problem that local travel agencies faced was setting tour prices because of rise and fall of air fares, hotel prices and domestic transport costs.
Huyen Thanh said tour operators couldn’t offer customers the best prices because they have to include a margin to allow for sudden price hikes in related services.
If hotels and airlines only lowered their prices for a short period, all the efforts of travel agencies to develop the tourism industry will be in vain, Vu said.
An official of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), who did not wish to be named, said there was currently no cooperation between tourism businesses on prices.
The official said the time was right for them to “sit together and cooperate” to benefit their own businesses, the sector and the country.
Nguyen Manh Cuong, deputy head of VNAT, said the global economic crisis had affected the tourism sector, so the target of receiving 4.8 million-5 million foreign tourists this year may not be reached.
Cuong said he expected only 4.3 million-4.35 million foreign visitors, or a 3.5-4 percent increase on last year. In 2007, the number of foreign tourists visiting Vietnam was 16 percent higher than the previous year.
“Product quality is the biggest problem of Vietnam’s tourism and many tourists have complained that we don’t have a wide range of products,” Cuong said, noting a plan to reform the sector had been created and would be implemented at the beginning of next year.
Vietnam’s tourism industry pulls in revenues of US$3 billion a year. The country targets about 6 million tourists and $4-4.5 billion revenue by 2010, according to VNAT.

Source: TN, Agencies

Hidden relics make Chau Doc worth a visit

A walk around Chau Doc Town in An Giang Province can transport visitors back to another century. ( A tourist views the sights of Chau Doc Town from a pedicab)

Chau Doc is the second biggest town of the Mekong Delta’s An Giang Province after Long Xuyen. It was the province’s administrative and economic center under King Gia Long’s reign from 1802 to 1820. It was in this period that the French people based offices in Chau Doc to control Dong Xuyen, now called Long Xuyen, and Dong Thap Province’s Sa Dec Town.
It takes about five hours to travel by car from Ho Chi Minh City to Chau Doc, which is near the Vietnam-Cambodia border. All goods and travelers heading to Cambodia must pass through this town.
Chau Doc has many ancient buildings that have been certified as national cultural relics, such as Thoai Ngoc Hau Mausoleum, Bo De Dao Trang Pagoda, Tay An Pagoda and Ba Chua Xu Temple. There are many temples, pagodas and mausoleums in the town, as well as the charming Chau Doc Market and Chau Doc Theater, although some of the buildings can be a little difficult to find, hidden away behind modern buildings.
Visitors who want to see Chau Doc’s ancient architecture should go to the blocks of streets around Chau Doc Market, which has houses and buildings featuring French architecture. Though Chau Doc’s ancient constructions do not rival those of Hoi An and Hue in the central region, they are attractive and interesting.
Chau Doc is rather small but most tourists do not see all the best sights as they are scattered throughout the town. Visitors wandering through ancient streets in the
downtown area could feel as if nothing has changed over the past 100 years.
After walking around to see the ancient constructions of Chau Doc, visitors can drop in at Chau Doc Market to do some shopping.
Traders here say the market has been trading since the time of French rule. One of the most famous specialties on sale here is mam, fish fermented with salt. Many brands of mam are available, such as Ba Giao Thao, Ba Giao Khoe and Ut Canh.
Reported by Diem Thu

Saigon railway station to sell more tickets via SMS

Saigon railway station will today sell 1,200-1,300 tickets to passengers booking via SMS for January 22, 2009, it said Friday.

The Saigon Railway Transport Company has been selling tickets to people traveling during Tet, the Lunar New Year festival, and said
it sold around 1,200 tickets Friday to passengers leaving on January 21.
Tickets for the period from January 19 to 21 have almost been sold out, it said.
Only a few dozen tickets for January 16 to 18 are still available to each destination, it added.
Reported by Mai Vong

Treasures of the sea

Visiting Nha Trang Town, tourists should not miss the chance to stop by the Institute of Oceanography, one of the most interesting places in town displaying the hidden gems of the marine ecosystem. ( Visitors examine the bones of a giant whale at Nha Trang’s Institute of Oceanography)

Known as “the sea on land,” the institute remains the country’s only oceanographic center introducing underwater life to the public.
The museum of marine creatures, a part of the institute, comprises a miniature ocean hosting 40,000 plant specimens and 20,000 sea creatures preserved in different forms.
In 2004, the museum was enlarged and upgraded with different sections showcasing marine life, the history of oceans, and ocean-related occupations.
One section of the museum introduces various live marine creatures with unique fish, sea turtles, and eels raised in aquariums exposed to sunlight. Another part displays specimens of sea creatures found by archeologists and fishermen, such as the skeletons of a dugong and a 26- meter-long whale. A third section exhibits oceanic species collected nationwide in the last 100 years, including seaweeds, corals, fish, bivalves and reptiles.
The history showcase introduces ancient books about the sea, equipment for oceanic studies, and many types of fishing gear.
In future, the marine museum will be expanded to take up part of the underside of Cau Da Mountain, becoming a comprehensive underwater complex to serve the public, according to institute director Dr. Nguyen Tac An.
The museum will be a place to peak the curiosity of youths and encourage a love for studying the sea, An said. It will also continue to support and advance the field of oceanographic research in Vietnam.
Built in 1923 by the French, the institute is the oldest center for scientific research in the country, located at 1 Cau Da Street at the foot of Cau Da Bridge beside Cau Da Port.
Reported by Phan Huy Tram

Van Phuc – a 1,000 year old silk craft village

Van Phuc village in Ha Dong City, about ten kilometers from Hanoi, is well-known nationwide as an ancient craft village where beautiful silk products with many patterns were made for traditional clothes for the kings of the Nguyen dynasty. ( Guests choose clothes made from Van Phuc silk in Van Phuc Village.)

Lying on the bank of the Nhue river, close to the West gate of Hanoi, Van Phuc Village retains the image of an ancient Northern village in feudal times, with a well and lotus pond, an old banyan tree at the communal house where villagers still hold a market and, in many families, the old looms beside the modern looms. The craft of silk weaving has been preserved here for over 1,000 years and became famous when Van Phuc silk was displayed at international fairs in Marseille and Paris in 1931 and 1936.
Van Phuc silk is best known for premium satin clothes and “cloud” silk (a silk cloth with a cloud pattern that appears to loom in and out) made from a skillful weaving technique which at one time was unique to Van Phuc craftsmen.
Currently 800 families in the village are working as weavers, with over 900 looms and textile tools, attracting from 3,000 to 5,000 visitors and tourists annually. The average price of silk sold here is from VND20,000 to VND25,000 per meter, while the high quality silk is about VND150,000 per meter.
In 2007, Van Phuc Village produced over 2.5 million meters of silk with the total revenue of 35 billion dong and was honored as one of the representative craft villages of Vietnam, the Vietnam News Agency reports.
(Source: SGT)

Officials lift domestic air-fare cap

The ministries of Finance and Transport have decided to remove the VND1.7 million cap on domestic economy airline tickets. (The Ministry of Finance addressed this concern, saying that air fares still had to be registered with the ministry. Airlines are required to register with the two ministries 15 days before applying the new prices.)

The decision will allow airlines to set their own prices, based on quality of service and market supply and demand, while keeping prices reasonable. They must, however, register fare changes with the two ministries.
According to Circular 103 which published the decision, the cap price of VND1.7 million for economy class will still be applied to some sole routes of Vietnam Airlines, the national airline company.
Vietnam Airlines is the sole airline flying on more than 20 domestic routes, including routes to Dien Bien Phu City, Phu Quoc Island and Con Dao Island. Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific Airlines are the two primary airlines offering services on other domestic routes. Two new private airlines are expected to enter the market soon - Vietjet Air and Indochina Airlines.
Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific Airlines supported the cap lift, saying that passengers would gain in that while companies could more easily regulate flight schedules.
Luong Hoai Nam, general director of Jetstar Pacific Airlines, said that these new regulations would prove far more beneficial than the price cap.
Nam said that without the price cap, airlines would be able to diversify fares based on demand and supply of routes according to each month, day and even hour.
For instance, flights at 9am could be VND1 million, while more convenient 11am flights could cost VND2 million, while the most convenient 11pm flights would be the costliest, Nam said.
Vietnam Airlines said that the new regulations would partly ease over-demand on routes from HCM City to Ha Noi approaching Tet, and on the route from Ha Noi to HCM City after Tet.
The airline did confirm, however, that they would not increase the fare on flights around the 2009 Tet holidays, despite the new regulations.
They continued that to meet demand approaching the nation's biggest yearly festival, they would increase their flight capacity by 33 per cent over last year, between HCM City and Ha Noi and between HCM City and Da Nang. Some, however, expressed concern that the new regulation could lead to the two airlines to mutually increase their fares.
The Ministry of Finance addressed this concern, saying that air fares still had to be registered with the ministry. Airlines are required to register with the two ministries 15 days before applying the new prices.
The two ministries would consider expenses, demand and supply and fuel prices when deciding to approve the new fares.
(Source: Viet Nam News)

Vietnam eyes popular TV channels

Vietnam is eyeing worldwide popular TV channels in a bid to promote its image and develop the tourism industry.

Recently, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) has approved a project on advertising Vietnam ’s image on the UK ’s BBC TV channel. According to the BBC plan, Vietnam’s image will be broadcast on the channel in Asia-Pacific, North America and Europe regions for about 14 weeks with 240 times. The BBC programmes will showcase Vietnam ’s beauty through the images of its seas, cultural diversity and unique character of its heritages such as Ha Long Bay, Sa Pa town, Fansipan mountain and Phong Nha cave. Apart from BBC, Vietnam also eyes other popular TV channels, including Fashion ( France ), Arirang (the Republic of Korea ), Discovery (US), NHK ( Japan ), CCTV ( China ) and some Russia ’s newspapers. Last year, the country paid nearly 4.7 billion VND for the broadcast of a 30 second- clip named “ Vietnam -the hidden charm” for consecutive months on the CNN channel. Earlier this year, a sum of 30 billion USD has been approved for the tourism advertisement campaign through the trade, investment and tourism promotion fund, said the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) The VNAT also said that diversifying forms of advertisement is an important solution to reach the target of 5 million foreign visitors in 2008 and to keep Vietnam ’s image as one of the most favourite destinations for tourist worldwide.
(Source: VNA)

Life on the water

The Mekong Delta has many floating villages on the Chau Doc and Tien rivers. Passing An Giang Province’s Chau Doc Town and the My Thuan Bridge, tourists see many long, narrow houses.

People raise fish under their homes in submerged hardwood cages covered with stainless steel nets. Hundreds of such houses are concentrated together, creating floating villages on the rivers.
Visiting these houses and studying the life of local residents can be intriguing. Tourists can stay in these houses for a few days to experience life on the water. During such a homestay, tourists are separated from life on the land. They must take a boat to visit nearby houses.
In the floating houses, tourists will find themselves in an environment with plenty of wind and fresh air. Tourists from cities will feel relaxed when hearing the babbling of water instead of the din of vehicles and construction sites.
Most residents here make a living from aquaculture and fishing. Visitors staying at the floating houses can learn how to feed and care for the fish to ensure a bumper harvest. They can see how the feed is processed. Throwing feed into the water and seeing thousands of fishes wave their tails to compete for the food is particularly fun.
Visitors can also join the host’s family to collect waterferns and weeds from the river to use as fish food. After a hard day’s work, guests can take a meal with the family. The meal is sometimes simple but fun, thanks to the family’s merry atmosphere and hospitality.
These floating villages are unique to the Mekong Delta and capture some of the bustle of life on the river. Visiting such a village can be rewarding for the tourist and the villagers, who supplement their fish raising business with income from offering homestays.
Reported by Diem Thu

Vietnam Airlines says to maintain fares at Tet

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines said Wednesday it will not raise ticket prices for any domestic flights during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday (Tet).
The pledge was announced by the carrier’s general director, Pham Ngoc Minh, after the government announced a lift on fare caps.
The decision, issued last week, allows carriers to fix their own prices based on demand. The lift applies only to certain domestic routes, however, on which two or more airlines fly.
Carriers may also choose to lower certain fares.
Reported by Xuan Toan

Vietnam Airlines to sell tickets online

The national air carrier of Vietnam will finally sell tickets on the Internet as of December 15, 2008. When passengers book their tickets online and pay for the tickets, they will receive an announcement from the airlines verifying their booking. Buyers can pay by credit card Connect 24 issued by the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank).
Passengers can bring the printed version of their Vietnam Airlines’ announcement and their personal documents to the airport to fly with Vietnam Airlines.
Vietnam Airlines had planned to start selling tickets online in November 2006, but it was postponed to February 2007, then to June 2007, and now December 15, 2008.
Online booking service is a necessary condition for implementing the e-ticket project but for Vietnam Airlines’ passengers who buy an e-ticket they would still have to go to the firm’s booking office to declare personal information and show up with their personal documents.
Explaining this sluggishness, Vietnam Airlines’ official Le Hong Ha said the firm’s passenger service software, including the booking software, is designed to have connection to and process information from various booking systems of other airlines in the world so it still requires a lot of time for testing.

(Source: VNE)

Coastal provinces protect tourists from tropical storm

Three coastal provinces Baria-Vung Tau, Binh Thuan and Khanh Hoa, were taking precautions to protect tourists at seaside resorts from the impacts of tropical storm Noul, which was forecasted to batter the localities overnight. (Binh Thuan Province on Monday asked all seaside resorts to protect tourists, and such resorts have warned tourists to stay away from the sea and in safe places.)

Binh Thuan Province on Monday asked all seaside resorts to protect tourists, and such resorts have warned tourists to stay away from the sea and in safe places.
“We’ve met around 20 resorts, and some of them have prepared hotel rooms in Phan Thiet’s city center for their guests in case the storm hits,” said Le Thi Thanh Lien, deputy head of Binh Thuan Province’s department of culture, sport and tourism.
Lien said the province has over 100 resorts and tourist parks, around 80 of them in Ham Tien - Mui Ne. “Many guests are at these resorts at the moment, most of them in the Ham Tien – Mui Ne area. We are making haste to protect them,” Lien said.
In Baria – Vung Tau Province, the government has issued an alert to protect tourists from the storm.
“Most resorts and tourist parks are prepared to protect their guests and their property,” Tran Van Thong, director of the province’s culture, sport, and tourism department, told the Daily.
Le Xuan Than, vice chairman of Khanh Hoa Province, said that all boat trips to visit bays and islets of the province had been canceled.
“We’ve also given warning about the storm to tourists. At 5:00 p.m, we will move residents to safe places,” he told the Daily.
The storm was last night approaching the central coastal region, and most vulnerable localities include the three above-mentioned provinces. Torrential rains due to the impact of the storm have flooded many areas in the locality, but the storm was expected to weaken into a tropical low right after making landfall early Tuesday morning.
(Source: SGT)

Cham pottery from Go Hamlet in Binh Thuan

Binh Thuan, a tourist site in the central coastal province, does not own its popularity to attractive beaches, splendid sand dunes or deluxe resorts and spas, but rather to its renowned Cham minority craft village known as Go Hamlet by local Vietnamese or Play Gok by Cham minorities. (A Cham woman and Cham pottery works.)

For thousands of years, the generations in this hamlet, located at Tri Duc Commune, Phan Hiep Village, have grown up learning the pottery skills of their forefathers.
Every day women knead the clay which the men take and mix with water and then mould on a very simple potter’s wheel made of wood. The final products are polished with a layer of clay water.
Products are also fired in the traditional Cham way. First they are dried in the sunshine on vacant land next to the hamlet and then the locals collect straw and firewood to put around and into the products to fire them over night.
From traditional models learned from older generations such as pots, bowls, jars and vessels, the potters in Go Hamlet have also been inspired by the development of the modern market to make fine art productions. The high quality of pottery products from Go Hamlet is due not only to good clay but also to the way they are fired.
With the development of society and the demand for decorated ceramics, many artists have visited Go Hamlet to order products of their own design. The Go Hamlet artists have made some of these designs their own.
Go pottery is a reputable brand name in pottery showrooms around the country and craftsmen from Go Hamlet are often invited to demonstrate how they make their products.
In 1996, three Go women were invited to Japan for three months to make baked pottery and to teach about Cham pottery. In early 2005, Vichamco Fine Arts Company Ltd. established a showroom in Phan Thiet City to introduce more than 1,500 Cham pottery products and more than 1,000 products were displayed at the 2005 Trade Fair in HCMC.
The images of Cham women from Go Hamlet making pottery are beautiful, and are regarded as a unique symbol honoring a Cham pottery craft village with thousands of years of history.
(Source: SGT)

Hanoi hotels feel sting of economic downturn, high room rates

Hotels in Hanoi are seeing the gilded age of business going away when their room occupancy and revenue fall due to the sluggish growth in the global economy and high room tariff they have applied for a long time. (In Hanoi, the hotel market was hit by slow demand growth in 2008, as a result of a year-on-year increase of 5.8% in the number of foreign visitors to Vietnam in the first nine months of this year, or much lower than the national target of 12-17% rise.)

The international property services firm Savills Vietnam has released a survey showing that the 4 and 5-star hotel markets in Hanoi continued to drop in both average occupancy and room rate at 4.4% and 4.8% respectively in the third quarter of this year compared to the second quarter.
The 4-star hotels performed better than the 5-star properties in their average occupancy, at slightly higher than 70.5% and less than 60% in the first three quarters of 2008, respectively, according to the survey.
The room occupancy of 60-70% is much lower than that in previous years when there was not any “no low season” for the hotels of 4- and 5-star ratings in the capital city. Even in the third quarter of previous years, which is considered as a low tourist season, many hotels reported their average occupancy of over 90%.
An executive of a 5-star hotel in Hanoi, who asked not to be named, told the Daily on the phone that demand this year was much lower than that of previous years.
Savills Vietnam put overall revenue per available room of the 4 to 5-star hotels in Hanoi in the third quarter at around US$80 per night, and said this was a significant decrease. However, the company did not clarify how much this average revenue is lower than the same period last year.
The hotel executive and Savills Vietnam attributed the falling revenue to the impact of volatility in local and global markets, as well as higher hotel prices that luxury hotels offered over the past years because demand outstripped supply.
According to the survey, the current average room rate at 5-star hotels in Hanoi is less than US$145 per night white the rate at 4-star hotels is more than US$95 per night. These rates are exclusive of 5% service charge and 10% value-added tax.
However, the rates were lower than in HCMC where 5-star hotels publicized nearly US$158 per day, 4-star hotels charged more than US$100 per day and 3-star offered more than US$63 per day. This was one of the reasons why average occupancy was much lower-than-expected in the period, about 55.16% at 5-star hotels and 67.24% at 4-star properties in HCMC.
In Hanoi, the hotel market was hit by slow demand growth in 2008, as a result of a year-on-year increase of 5.8% in the number of foreign visitors to Vietnam in the first nine months of this year, or much lower than the national target of 12-17% rise.
However, Savills Vietnam anticipates that Hanoi’s hotel performance will perform better in the medium-term given improved economic conditions next year.
There are 15 four and five star hotels in Hanoi, or over 1.4 million room nights yearly. Hanoi’s tourism officials said this capital city would need approximately 24,000 hotel rooms, with 6,800 of 4 to 5-star ratings in 2010 when the city looks to attracting two million foreign visitors.
However, there are concerns that high building materials costs and a tight credit policy in 2008 have had a negative impact on the capacity of many developers to implement their hotel projects, resulting in some delays and even cancellations.
Savills Vietnam predicts a total of 2,000 new 4 to 5-star rooms will enter the market by 2010, and nearly 1,000 of these will be in Tu Liem District in Hanoi’s suburbs.
(Source: SGT)

Sail away

Established in 1994 by an Australian with Vietnamese partners, the Sailing Club – at 72 Tran Phu Street in Nha Trang Town – is renowned for its stunning seaside location, open-air restaurant, and trendy nightclub. (A fire dancer performs in front of the Sailing Club in Nha Trang Town)

During the day, the Sailing Club bar offers a fantastic escape from the heat of the sun and a hideaway from the hustle and bustle of the beach town’s busy streets. Here, one can sit on comfortable sofas while enjoying a refreshing drink and spectacular views of Nha Trang’s most popular white sand beach area.
At dusk, the club takes on a romantic feel with soft candlelight, music, and the sound of waves crashing softly in the background. The sky turns a deep red and the sun begins to set behind the Dien Khanh Mountains making for a perfect time to sip a delectable cocktail or ice-cold beer from the club’s extensive drinks menu.
The Sailing Club also offers a delicious and savory mix of Asian and Western food at reasonable prices.
Mouthwatering appetizers, burgers and seafood are a few favorites from the diverse menu. While enjoying a meal here, diners can gaze out at the azure waters and coconut palms or simply watch the crowds of people as they stroll along the beach.
As the night goes on, the relaxed ambience of the early evening transforms into a lively hot-spot for those looking to dance the night away. Drink deals and hip tunes played by contemporary DJs keep the dance floor packed nightly. Live music every Tuesday and Thursday offers something for everyone while local fire-dancers perform on the beach.
“I had an amazing 2007 New Year in Nha Trang with my sister,” said British tourist Loren. “It was a New Year to remember forever.”
The Sailing Club also has locations in Mui Ne and Hoi An Town.
Reported by Kim

Delta Air Lines plans new Vietnam-US service

Delta Air Lines Inc. is seeking the Vietnamese government’s permission to offer daily service between Ho Chi Minh City and the US starting June 2009, the company said in a statement.
Though the proposed service is still subject to the government’s approval, “there is a great likelihood the plan will be sanctioned,” said Nguyen Thi To Nhi, sales manager of East Sea Travel which is a sales agent for Delta in HCMC.
The service would fly passengers from Vietnam to the US, with a stopover in Japan, according to Delta.
The company would later seek the traffic right to sell tickets in the US and Japan, Nhi said.
Brian Swain, Asia managing director for Northwest Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta, said the demand for business and leisure travel between the two countries continues to grow.
United Airlines is the only US carrier currently operating direct flights from HCMC to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago via Hong Kong.
Delta recently completed a takeover of rival Northwest Airlines to create the world's largest airline by traffic.
Reported by Vinh Bao

Online travel insurance now available in Vietnam

The budget airline Jetstar Pacific has joined forces with AIG Vietnam General Insurance Company (AIG Vietnam) to offer an online travel insurance service, called Jetcover, on its website from November 12.

JetCover is the first online travel insurance service to be offered in Vietnam .The service is available to Jetstar Pacific passengers travelling on all flights departing from Vietnam .The product is offered at flexible prices to all Jetstar Pacific passengers, with insurance premiums starting from 2.5 USD for domestic one-way flights to 9 USD for international return trips.JetCover will offer 12 benefits to its customers, including compensations for a ccident and sickness medical expenses , flight delay, flight cancellation and loss of b aggage and personal effects.As part of the service, AIG Vietnam will provide a 24-hour emergency assistance service through AIG Travel Assist- AIG’s emergency assistance centre.Jetstar Pacific CEO Luong Hoai Nam said the launch of JetCover demonstrates the company’s commitment to providing a range of new services and products for its customers.
(Source: VNA)

Tourism in crisis: Vietnam tour fees higher, tourists fewer

Vietnam tour in crisis, it is clear that the financial crisis is the main reason for the difficulties of the world’s tourism industry. As for Vietnam’s tourism, there is one more reason for the gloomy tourism season – high tour fees.

Tourists cancel tours
October is the high tourism season in Vietnam, but the numbers of foreign tourists booking tours to Vietnam remains modest. Travel firms all have forecast that the number of foreign travellers will decrease sharply this season.
Nguyen Van Lang from Exotissimo, specialising in inbound tourism, predicted that his company’s clients would decrease by 20-30% over the same period of last year. Tran The Dung from Fiditour said that the number of his company’s clients is forecast to decrease by 15-20%. Meanwhile, Hoang Tuan Lang, Head of the Marketing Division of Continental Hotel, quoted Japanese travel firms which specialise in bringing tourists to Vietnam as saying that the number of Japanese travellers will be 40% lower this year.
The travel firms all say that the financial crisis has led to the lower number of tourists as people now tend to take domestic tours or travel to nearby countries. However, they have also pointed out that the high tour fees offered by Vietnamese travel firms are also turning foreign travellers off.
In the last year, while tours to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore have increased by 5-10% only, tours to Vietnam have increased by 15-30%.
A tour from Ho Chi Minh City to Thailand (six days and five nights) offered by Vietnamese travel firms is at $400-410/person. Meanwhile, a similar tour from Bangkok to Vietnam is $550-560/person. As for a tour from Singapore to Thailand, a round-trip ticket is just $37, while airfare to Vietnam is $300.
The return Tokyo-Bangkok-Tokyo airfare is $400-500, while Tokyo-Ho Chi Minh City-Tokyo is $900.
A 3-star hotel room rate in Thailand is $70-80/day, while the rate is $100-100/day in Vietnam.
What does Vietnam’s tourism industry expect?
Vietnam’s tourism industry may not reach the goal of receiving 4.8-5mil travellers this year as only 3.2mil travellers arrived in Vietnam in the first nine months of the year.
Lam Tran Huong, Head of the Hotel Faculty at Viet Giao Tourism Vocational School, has attributed the decreased number of tourists to bad management. He said that in 2006 and 2007, when Vietnam joined the WTO and neighbouring countries faced political crisis, it was easy for the country to attract tourists.
However, Vietnam could not take full advantage of its opportunity because it did not prepare well. Vietnam seriously lacked hotel rooms to welcome foreign tourists. Meanwhile, Vietnam did not do anything to lure foreign investors. It even raised hotel room rates to make tours to Vietnam more expensive. Many hotels reportedly raised room rates by 50% in 2007 over the previous year.
“Tour fees are decided by hotel room rates, meals and transport. Vietnam tour fees will only decrease if the prices of services decrease,” said Vo Anh Tai, Director of Saigontourist.
A lot of hotels have been trying to rescue themselves by cutting hotel room rates by 10% and providing free services. However, the decreases prove to be nothing compared to the sharp increases they made last year.

(Source:Saigon tiep thi)

Vung Tau Culture-Tourism Festival scheduled early 2009

The Culture-Tourism Festival Ba Ria - Vung Tau 2009, scheduled from January 26 to February 4, will focus on cultural, tourist and daily life activities.

The major venues are Loc An Wharf, the monument of “the HCM Trail on the sea” in Xuyen Moc District, and Con Dao District.

Numerous cultural, sports and tourist events will be held during the festival, including beach volleyball, beach football, Chinese chess competition, folk games, art performances, human chess, exhibitions of calligraphy and tourist photos.

Especially, five Vietnam’s records in Ba Ria - Vung Tau will be announced.

(Source: Government’s website)