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)