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)