Abu Dhabi prince visits Son Doong Cave

Abu Dhabi prince Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan has taken part in an adventure tour which explored Son Doong, said to be one of the world's most attractive caves.

He was accompanied by two assistants and a friend in a six-day programme to explore the entire cave from February 6 to 14.

According to Oxalis Adventure Tour, the exclusive organiser of tours to Son Doong Cave, the prince loves adventure and himself runs a prestigious magazine on tourism in the United Arab Emirates.

"The prince was amazed by the gorgeous beauty of the cave and reminded us about conserving the cave for the next generation," said Nguyen Chau A, Oxalis's director.

He said the prince promised to publicise the cave in his country and also bring his family to visit it.

Son Doong, which is ranked eighth in New York Times' list of the world's top 52 places to go in 2014, is said to be the largest cave in the world.

Vietnam tops the number of tourists to Cambodia

Vietnam ranked first in the number of tourists visiting Cambodia last year, with around 854,000 people, up 12% compared with 2012’s figure, according to a report from Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism.

In 2013, Cambodia received approximately 4.2 million foreign arrivals, bringing a turnover of over US$2.5 billion to the country. China came  second in the number of visitors to Cambodia with 463,000, closely followed by the Republic of Korea with 435,000.

The most popular tourist destinations in Cambodia are Siem Reap with the famous temple of Angkor Wat, the Royal Palace historic relics in Phnom Penh and the ancient temple of Preah Vihear Temple.  

Tourism is the spearhead of Cambodia's economy, regularly achieving a stable growth of 15%-20% it accounts for a massive proportion of Cambodia’s GDP.

In 2012, Cambodia received 3.584 million foreign visitors and earned a revenue of US$2.21 billion.

Tay Ninh welcomes over one million tourists

More tourists visited the southern province of Tay Ninh during the Lunar New Year Festival from January 27 to February 16, and their spending increased proportionately.

According to Bui Van Lung, head of the management of Ba Den Mountain historic relics,the province welcomed more than one million visitors, up 5% compared to the same period last year.

“The two most attractive destinations this year included Ba Den Mountain historic relics and Tay Ninh Holy See”, Lung said.

Tran Van Dung, a tourist from HCM City said “My family visits the Ba Den Mountain every year to pray for peace and enjoy the breathtakingly beautiful sights from the cable cars”.

“The province’s year-to-date budget collections from the tourism sector also increased and have reached VND20 billion, up 5% against 2013’s figure”, Lung added.

Particularly, the number of visitors using the cable system to Ba Den Mountain and enjoying the impressive360 degree bird’s eye views of the region reached nearly 500,000, bringing in revenue of VND40 billion to the locality.

Bac Lieu villa opens to public

After more than a year of restoration and repair, the villa of a Bac Lieu mandarin's son has been completed and opened to tourists.

The villa, located in Bac Lieu province, is the property of "Cong tu Bac Lieu", once a popular phrase in the early 1900s, referring to the rich playboy in south Viet Nam.

Built in 1919, the villa followed the western style of architecture in the early nineteenth century, combined with oriental feng shui. It features a ground floor and a storey that is decorated with flower borders and floating patterns.

Lam Dong expands trade villages

The Central Highlands province of Lam Dong will develop 12 trade villages into tourist destinations in the period 2014-16.

The villages are located in the districts of Lac Duong, Duc Trong, Lam Ha, Bao Lam, Dam Rong, Da Lat and Bao Loc cities, and along national highways 20, 27, and provincial highways 722, 725.

The programme is part of a project to preserve and develop trade villages in Lam Dong which has a total investment of VND8.2 billion, and has been approved by the province People's Committee.

The project target is to increase the number of trade villages to 33 by 2016.

The province will build showrooms for products of trade villages, including flowers, brocade, ruou can (wine drunk out of jar through pipes), and silk, to bring the products to tourists.

Vietnam Airlines offers discount on local and int’l routes

Vietnam Airlines is offering multiple promotions for domestic and international routes to ASEAN countries.

These roundtrip routes are included in the promotion:

• HCMC to Singapore, VND 195,000 per seat (not including taxes)

• HCMC to Kuala Lumpur, VND625,000 per seat (not including taxes)

• HCMC to Bangkok, VND 1.27 million per seat (not including taxes)

The special rates are only applicable for flights departing before March 31. Passengers must buy tickets no later than 5-30 days before departure.

Also are one-way routes included in the promotion:

• HCMC to Quy Nhon, VND499,000 (not including taxes)

• Hanoi to Chu Lai, VND 599,000 (not including taxes)

• Hanoi to Tuy Hoa, VND 699,000 (not including taxes)

• Hanoi to Quy Nhon, VND 799,999 (not including taxes)

• Hanoi to Buon Ma Thuot, VND 999,000 (not including taxes)

The special rates are only applicable for flights departing between February 16 and April 16.

Southern Central Coastal region attracts Russian visitors

The peak tourist season in coastal provinces of South Central Vietnam including Binh Thuan, Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan falling from November to April received a large number of international travelers especially a large number of Russian visitors.

The province welcomed 291,000 foreign tourists, including 80,000 Russian vacationing toursists in the first 10 months of 2013, according to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Binh Thuan Province.

Anh Duong Travel Company will bring about 150,000 Russian visitors to Vietnam since last November to this year’s April, said Hoang Thi Phong Thu, company chairwoman.

Turkey’s Pegas Touristik Company, recently opened two years ago, received highest ranking from Russian visitors to Binh Thuan.

Phan Thiet – Mui Ne beach in Binh Thuan Province has also become a popular destination for tourists, especialy Russians.

Despite the lack of airports and seaports, the number of tourists from Russia and Russian-speaking countries to Binh Thuan province has still increased steadily since 2006. The average spending is up to VND2 million per person everyday.

Binh Thuan has continued to invest and upgrade its transportation infrastructure, raise the quality of services, diversify tourism products, ensure environmental sanitation, focus on training staff on the Russian language, and making the province a safe and friendly destination.

The costal city of Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa Province is also a favourite destination in the country. Nha Trang Bay has been acknowledged as one of the most beautiful bays of the world.

The province received 80,000 Russian visitors in 2012 and 150,000 in 2013.  It is easy for Russian tourists to arrive that the coastal city because of its seaport, direct flights.

The province plans to spend more than VND6.3 billion to train staff on the Russian language starting now until 2015.

Wild beaches in Ninh Thuan Province have become an attractive destination for Russian travelers who want to enjoy sun and quiet, white, sandy beaches.

Ninh Thuan experienced 72,300 Russian visitors since the beginning of 2014. The area is estimated to draw more 30,000 Russian during the peak tourist season. Visitors often stay for about 14 days.

Saigon and Vegetarian dishes welcome 2014’s New Year

Ho Chi Minh City’s famous vegetarian buffet, Van Canh Restaurant, has been moved to Metropole Wedding & Convention Center on 216 Ly Chinh Thang, District 3 to highlight the seasonal variety of dishes called “Saigon With Vegetarian Dishes”.

The restaurant has been open for over 10 years and is especially busy during Lunar New Year and Le Vu Lan in July (lunar month).

“This year, we have designed a special vegetarian buffet that highlights spring flavors such as ngu phuc vao nha (five luckies into your home), dau hu huong xuan (spring tofu), com chien ngu sac (five color fried rice), sen xao truong tho (long-lasting fried lotus),” said restaurant manager Tran Van Van.

The staff hopes to attract local and foreign customers, added Mr Van.

Buffet coupons are sold at Metropole for VND220,000 per adult and VND100,000 per child under five years old.  If a person buys 10 coupons, they will receive an additional coupon at no cost.

The special menu is open 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. everyday and will end on March 1.

For more information, call +84 090 921 62 16 or email sales@metropole.com.vn.

Fiditour Launches Tours for February and March

Tourist agency Fiditour is launching exciting, low-budget tours to multiple countries such as India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand in February and March.

The company offers a special 3-day, 2-night tour named “Touring the 10 Pagodas in Lam Dong Province” costing VND1,880,000 per person.

Tours to Malaysia are also offered with a free F1 racing ticket.

A list of tours offered by Fiditour include:

1.Three-day, 2-night tour to visit Ba Chua Xu Temple in Chau Doc-Can Tho, VND 1,880,000 per person.

2.Three-day, 2-night tour to visit 10 pagodas in Lam Dong, VND 1,895,000 per person.

3.Eleven-day, 10-night tour to India and Nepal, VND 37,390,000 per person.

4.Seven-day, 6-night tour to Sri Lanka, VND 40,000,000 per person. Tours will start March 10.

5.Five-day, 4-night tour to Laos and Northeast Thailand, VND 10,850,000 per person. Departs on February 26.

6.Four-day, 3-night tour to enjoy F1 racing in Malaysia, VND 11,660,000 per person. Tours will start March 28.

Tourism at Halong Bay takes a hit as prices increase

Services providers in Halong Bay have been complaining about the sharp decrease in the number of visitors, especially domestic, after the higher prices were applied from January 1.

Even though Halong Bay continues to attract a steady number of foreign visitors, most of them are those who already booked last year. Many domestic visitors go to Halong Bay en route to visit Yen Tu Mountain and Cua Ong Temple after Tet, but this year it has seen a drop in visitors while Yen Tu Mountain receives its normal crowds.

According to the managers of Halong Bay, in January the number of domestic visitors decreased by 20% and foreign visitors by 3% compared to the same period last year.

Though a local state official said they should wait until summer to tell whether the decrease in the number of visitors is being caused by higher fares or not, many businesses think that higher fares are the main reason. The general entrance fee is now VND120,000 per person per day (USD6). Before the price hike, one visitor paid VND80,000-90,000 for a complete package and would be able to visit several caves, while now they pay VND50,000 for each cave. Many choose to visit only one cave on their tour.

With the new prices, revenues to Halong Bay in the first month reached nearly VND32.5 billion, but business owners, especially those who rent out boats by the hour are worried. "A group of 70 domestic visitors cancelled their trip after hearing about the new prices. It would have cost them VND12 million instead of VND5-6 million, to visit only one cave, not to mention that they still would have had to pay transportation. Since fewer visitors come, my boats are rarely used to their full capacity." an owner said.

One owner of a hotel said services on the shore have also been affected. "Most foreign visitors and people who can afford it are not affected, but we've lost many customers."

The fee for for a guest staying over night is VND320,000 per person per night. Children under 15 years old, people aged over 70 years, the poor and disabled, will receive a 50% discount.

World Cup tours gain first customers despite high cost

Six groups of tourists have registered for tours to South America to watch some football matches at the World Cup 2014 tournament in Brazil though the cost of the trip amounts to VND170 million a guest.

Nguyen The Khai, director of PerfectToursTravel, said his firm spent a month last year surveying South America to prepare for tour arrangements. As this is a new and expensive tour, the company intended to handle a group of 30 guests during the recent traditional Lunar New Year, or Tet, but the number of bookings was higher.

The tour operator has also introduced a World Cup tour to Brazil and six groups have registered to depart in June, with each having over 15 guests, Khai said.

Just a few firms have tours to South America or during the World Cup season. The 16-day PerfectToursTravel program will take in Brazil, Argentina and Peru and while in Brazil, the guests will have the opportunity to watch some football matches.

The VND170 million cost for this tour does not include other charges such as tips for local tour guides and drivers, air tickets from HCMC to Hanoi City, and visa.