Air route launched between Phu Quoc and Singapore

An air route linking Vietnam’s Phu Quoc island in the southern province of Kien Giang and Singapore was launched at Phu Quoc International Airport on November 2.

To start, Vietnam Airlines will operate flights twice a week using A321 airplanes. It will later adjust the number of flights to market demand and operational effectiveness.

This is the second international air route to Phu Quoc after a route between the island and Russia was launched in February 2014.

The introduction of Phu Quoc - Singapore flights is expected to serve the travel needs of entrepreneurs and tourists, and popularise the island’s image, thus further promoting trade, investment and tourism.

The third international air route will link Phu Quoc and Cambodia’s Siem Reap from mid-December 2014 onwards.

In operation since December 2012, Phu Quoc International Airport received nearly 700,000 passengers in 2013, a year-on-year increase of 39 percent, with around 37 percent of total tourists being international tourists.

It catered for more than 800,000 people in the first 10 months of 2014, up by 53 percent compared to the previous year, and expects to welcome 1 million passengers for the whole year.

On November 1, the five-star tourism complex Vinpearl Phu Quoc was inaugurated on the island.

Invested by real estate firm Vingroup, the complex covers more than 300ha and includes a hotel and villa area with 750 rooms, an entertainment centre, and a 27-hole golf course.

It is the biggest project in Kien Giang province and expected to considerably improve high-end tourism services and infrastructure on the island.-

Stronger safety measures needed to protect Vietnamese tourists abroad

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism issued a dispatch urging Vietnam Tourism Association members and all travel agencies to ensure the safety of Vietnamese nationals travelling abroad.

The announcement followed the recent case of a Vietnamese female tourist who was reportedly physically attacked in Malaysia , which raised concerns over travellers’ personal safety.

The administration also sent a note to the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism and Culture asking for a prompt investigation into the case and the implementation of measures to ensure the safety of Vietnamese tourists in Malaysia .

The document calls upon all travel agencies to implement protective measures to make sure tourists are safe during their travels abroad, including managing tour group members better and issuing warnings on safety issues.

In recent years, the number of Vietnamese nationals visiting other countries increased remarkably, with a year-on-year increase of about 20 percent in 2013.

Malaysia is one of the top destinations for Vietnamese tourists, receiving around 200,000 in 2012.

Con Dao National Park receives Ramsar recognition

A ceremony in recognition of Con Dao National Park as an international wetlands area will take place tomorrow, according to the People's Committee of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.

In addition to the ceremony, the programme will include park visits, freeing of sea turtles, and information about the Ramsar Convention and its significance.

Con Dao National Park currently consists of 14,000ha of wetlands, of which there are about 2,113ha of coastal salt-water wetlands, including shallow bays at low tide; coastal and littoral areas with rocks, sand and gravel; and mangrove forests.

It is a habitat for many sea creatures, including sea turtles, dolphins and dugongs.

In early 2014, the Ramsar Convention Secretariat recognised the park as the 2,203rd Ramsar site in the world. It is the sixth one in Viet Nam.

Ha Giang's Dong Van Plateau welcomes 80,632 visitors

The Dong Van Plateau in the northern province of Ha Giang has received 80,832 visitors this year, including 4,412 international tourists.

Sites that attract tourists include the Vuong family edifice, national flagpole Lung Cu and ancient Dong Van town.

The current cool weather together with the season of triangle oat flowers has attracted many visitors at the villages of Pho Cao, Sung La, Lung Tao and Lung Cu.

Viet Bac heritage sites programme to be held in Thai Nguyen

Thai Nguyen Province officials have announced the sixth tourism programme Through Viet Bac Heritage Sites to be held November 14 to 20.

The provinces of Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Thai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang and Ha Giang will take part, as well as cities and provinces that have co-operation agreements with Thai Nguyen Province, including Ha Noi, Vinh Phuc and Bac Giang.

The programme will feature sports contests, tour surveys, a conference on preserving cultural heritage and developing Viet Bac's tourism.

A trade fair on tourism and the food of Thai Nguyen, as well as traditional arts performances, will also be part of the Viet Bac Heritage event.

 Khmer festival in Hau Giang celebrates solidarity

"The southern Khmer ethnic minority group – solidarity towards the island" is the theme of the sixth Khmer festival of culture, sports and tourism to be held in Hau Giang Province from November 27-29.

HCM City and 11 provinces are taking part.

The festival will include long-boat races, a Khmer traditional food contest, exhibitions and art performances.

Kien Giang promotes tourism links with Thai, Cambodian localities

The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang’s People’s Committee on October 31 held a working session with officials and businesspeople from several localities of Thailand and Cambodia to discuss measures to boost their tourism and trade links.

The Thai guests came from Trat, Chanthaburi, Chonburi and Rayong provinces, while on the Cambodian side were representatives from Kep, Kampot, Sihanouk and Kohrong provinces.

At the event, Kien Giang signed a cooperation agreement with Trat province’s authority on tourism and agriculture development.

Accordingly, the two localities agreed to create favourable conditions for their enterprises to seek and establish partnership in providing tours by air, seaway and road from Kien Giang to Thailand’s eastern provinces such as Trat and Chanthaburi.

The two provinces also reached agreement to boost connection in producing shrimp fry in Kien Giang and share their experience in restructuring agricultural sector, processing, preserving and consuming farm products.

The cooperation is a good chance to promote specific tourism products of each locality, thus creating multilateral links in the field, said Le Khac Ghi, Vice Chairman of Kien Giang Province People’s Committee.

Workshop seeks ways to conserve Ha Long Bay

A workshop was held in the northern province of Quang Ninh on November 1 to seek ways to sustainably conserve and promote the value of Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO-recognised World Heritage site.

Speaking at the event, Vice Chairwoman of the provincial People’s Committee Vu Thi Thu Thuy said strategies and projects on the conservation have been carried out actively over 20 years since the bay gained the recognition in 1994. They have well preserved the bay’s special and unique values while making full use of its potential and advantages to develop tourism and services sectors, contributing to the locality’s economic growth.

However, President of the National Cultural Heritage Council Luu Tran Tieu noted that besides socio-economic benefits, tourism also causes negative impact on the environment, landscapes and ecosystem in the region.

He emphasised the need for sustainable tourism management plans, including making tourist forecasts, studying tourism’s impacts on the site as well as the site’s capacity of serving visitors.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Viet Cuong from the Cultural Heritage Department suggested Quang Ninh continue implementing the 2010-2020 fisheries development and protection master plan, which aims to relocate floating fishing villages in the bay and rearrange aquaculture farms.

The province should intensify education and communication works to attract more locals to take part in conservation work, and strengthen international cooperation in this field, he added.

On December 17, 1994, UNESCO designated the bay a World Heritage site of globally outstanding value in terms of natural landscape. The recognition was extended in 2000, and one year later, Ha Long Bay outranked 261 other landscapes around the globe to become one of the seven new natural wonders of the world.

Since becoming the world heritage site, Ha Long Bay has welcomed nearly 25 million visitors, contributing to turning Quang Ninh province into a tourism magnet.

Moscow-Cam Ranh direct flight launched

The first flight on the newly established direct air route between Moscow and Nha Trang landed at Cam Ranh International Airport on November 1 with 220 passengers on board.

The new route operates a direct flight every 10 days departing from Domodedovo airport at 10pm (Russian time) and from Cam Ranh airport at 1:10pm (local time). The flight takes 10 hours and 30 minutes each way.

Le Van Nghia, a representative of Transaero Airlines in Vietnam, said the route aimed to meet the increasing demand of Russian tourists to go on holiday to the coastal city of Nha Trang, in the southern central province of Khanh Hoa.

Since the beginning of this year, Khanh Hoa province has welcomed more than 685,000 international tourists, including over 185,000 Russian visitors, a year-on-year increase of 60 percent.

Ly Son strives to attract more visitors

Ly Son island district in the central province Quang Ngai, one of Vietnam’s ten most attractive islands, is focussing on improving its infrastructure and services to take full advantage of its natural beauty.

During the first eight months of 2014, the island welcomed nearly 18,000 domestic and international tourists. The figure is forecast to reach 25,000 by the end of the year.

In early October, the district was officially connected to the national electricity grid, which is expected to help it develop a number of industries, including tourism. Many large-scale hotels and restaurants are currently being built.

A waste treatment facility will become operational by the end of November, thus contributing to environmental protection in the district.

In addition, local authorities are running educational programmes and communication campaigns in order to increase residents’ awareness of the importance of protecting the environment, ecosystems and biodiversity in order to achieve sustainable development and ecotourism.

Ly Son district lies 18 nautical miles off the Vietnamese coast and covers an area of 10km2. It includes three communes: An Hai, An Vinh and An Binh.

Archaeologists found relics of Sa Huynh culture on Ly Son Island dating back 3,000 years. From the late 16 th century onwards, a number of tribes came over from the mainland and have inhabited the island ever since.

Since the Sa Huynh civilization, Champa and Viet people have lived alongside each other, creating a rich and diverse culture on the island.

At present, there are 50 heritage sites and 23 old religious structures in the area. Some of the pagodas, tombs and temples have been recognised as sites of provincial or national heritage.

The island also boasts numerous forms of intangible cultural heritage, such as traditional boat races and the Hoang Sa Soldier Feast and Commemoration Festival, which was recognised as a national heritage in April this year.

Ly Son strives to become a maritime economic centre by 2025, with a focus on tourism and aquaculture.

Five-star ship brings tourists to Hai Phong

Five-star cruise ship L’Austral with 207 passengers aboard anchored at Chua Ve port in the northern city of Hai Phong on November 1.

The passengers, mainly from France, the UK and Greece, are scheduled to visit several beauty spots in the city and Hanoi.

Director of the Hai Phong Tourism JSC Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa said her company expects to welcome two more five-star cruise ships this month.

In the first 10 months of 2014, the northern port city served 4.16 million tourists, up 7.15 percent against the same period last year, of which 437,800 were foreigners. Revenue from tourism services hit 1.68 trillion VND (79 million USD), a year-on-year rise of 7.93 percent.

For the rest of the year, the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will intensify tourism promotion activities, organise visits to study other markets, and step up cooperation programmes with other localities in the region to attract more tourists, especially foreigners.

Discoveries of central “beast” cave announced

Excavation findings of Con Moong (beast) Cave in the central province of Thanh Hoa were announced at an international workshop there on October 30.

According to the Vietnam Archaeology Institute, Con Moong Cave in Thach Thanh district was discovered in 1975 and extensively excavated in the following years, containing traces of culture from the Palaeolithic Era (Old Stone Age) to the late Neolithic Era (New Stone Age).

In 2013, scientists found working tools, animal bones and molluscous (snail, crab) shells at ten different soil layers, mostly the tenth at the depth of 9.5 metres.

Con Moong Cave boasts one of the thickest cultural layers and well-preserved in Southeast Asia, indicating the constant development of human beings through periods.

In the coming time, the institute will continue working with the local authorities to do more research and seek measures to protect the vestige.

Japan tours attractive to Vietnamese tourists

Around 10,000 Vietnamese come to Japan a month and many of them are tourists, said Saigon Times daily on October 29.

Some 130 representatives from 45 local travel agencies and 30 hotels and travel firms from Japan gathered at a seminar held at the Pullman Saigon Centre last week to discuss how to cooperate to cash in on the surging number of Vietnamese visitors to the northeast Asian country.

An executive of a local travel agency told the Daily before the seminar that Japan tours had been selling well in recent times thanks to reduced prices and that his company now arranged regular trips for Vietnamese to visit Japan rather than seasonal tours in previous years.

“The number of Vietnamese visitors to Japan will soar when visa procedures are simplified. Therefore, we have to find new partners to help design new tours and lower prices,” he said.

As scheduled, the Consulate General of Japan in HCMC will next month announce information about criteria for the travel firms subject to lax visa procedures when they organise package trips for Vietnamese travelers to Japan .

According to the Japan Tourism Agency, more than 84,000 Vietnamese came to Japan last year, up 53.1% compared to the previous year. In January-August this year, the number soared 50% year-on-year to 80,100.

The agency expected the number of Vietnamese tourists will grow higher thanks to favourable conditions in travelling, strong partnerships between companies of the two nations to offer more tours at lower prices, and Japan’s aid in promoting destinations in that country.

Next month, Japan will simplify the application procedure for single-entry tourist visa for Indonesians, Filipinos and Vietnamese in package tours arranged by accredited travel agencies.

According to local travel firms, the loosened visa requirements will lead tour prices to Japan to fall sharply as this enables them to book air tickets and hotel rooms earlier to enjoy bigger discounts.

Vingroup opened five-star resort in Phu Quoc

Vinpearl Phu Quoc Resort welcomed 4 charter flights from the Republic of Korea, China, and Russia on its inauguration on November 1 after ten months of construction.

The five-star resort, which belongs to Vingroup, consists of 750 rooms, a modern entertainment area, and a 27-hole golf course of international-standard.

The resort also includes an 1,500 square metres conference room and a sport, spa, and swimming pool system which covers 5,000 square meters.

The highlight of the resort is Vinpearl Land-the island’s most modern entertainment area. It include Games World, out-door areas for adventure games, 3,000-seat musical fountain stage, and a special aquarium showcasing hundreds of varieties of fish and other aquatic creatures like penguins, crocodiles, King Crabs, turtles and dolphins. The resort will also offer water sports such as surfing, sailing and scuba diving.

From here, it takes visitors a short time to reach famous tourism destinations of the island such as Ganh Dau, Pristine Khem Beach, Da Ban Spring, Tranh stream, PhuQuoc National Park, Ho Quoc Temple, and Phu Quoc Prison.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Vingroup Vice Chairwoman Vu Tuyet Hang said Vinpearl PhuQuoc project is part of an expansion strategy of Vinpearl-a brand representing luxurious tourist resorts.

She added that this is also a way to grasp the development trend of tourism industry, contributing to helping Phu Quoc Special Economic Zone become a shangri-la of Vietnam.

VinpearlPhuQuoc will also host Miss Vietnam 2014’s finals from November 26-December 6 with the performance of world famous singer Kelly Clarkson.

Websites of Khanh Hoa Department of Tourism, Culture & Sport and Ninh Thuan Tourism Promotion Center have recently been set up Russian version because they both said that the central provinces of Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan have recently become two destinations to attract much more than Russian tourists.

As of resorts, hotels or restaurants in Binh Thuan province have also added Russian language into their menu and changed even their signboard by English into Russian. As many as international and domestic visitors have gradually named “Russian Village” for Mui Ne of Binh Thuan Province. Most of Russian tourists have spent long period in Mui Ne.

Russian tourists often book for long period stay in Vietnam -Photo: SGGP

According to statistics from the Vietnam National Tourism Administration (VNTA), in last two years, Vietnam welcomed over 600,000 Russian visitors. In 2012, Vietnam received 174,000 Russian tourists, up 71 percent compared to 2011. In 2013, 298,000 Russian tourists toured Vietnam, a rise of 71 percent, compared to 2012. In the first nine months of 2014, as many as 265,000 Russian tourists visited Vietnam, a year on year increase of 128 percent.

VNTA said the country expects to welcome one million Russian tourists in 2020 and it will be able to reach the target because of Nha Trang, Mui Ne, Phu Quoc, Vung Tau have recent become more attractive destinations to Russian tourists.

A survey from VNTA showed that Korean tourists often spend an average of US$ 1,200 in their two weeks of travel; Japanese of US$ 1,500 while Russians spend US$ 2,500, higher than an average level of US$ 1,143 when they stay in Vietnam.

With such potential from Russian tourists, Vietnam tourism industry and local tourism agencies have invested to promote more and more attractive destinations to welcome Russian tourists. To date, all foreigners visiting Phu Quoc receive a free 30 day visa and this is a good opportunity for Phu Quoc to welcome more and more visitors.

Anh Duong Company, one of partners of Pegas Touristik said it has taken over 55 percent of Russian tourists to Vietnam, meaning Vietnam is considered as new destination to Russian people.

At present, there are many direct flights from Russia to Cam Ranh of Khanh Hoa province and Phu Quoc district of Kien Giang province.

Many local agencies affirmed that Russian visitors traveling to Vietnam have been rapidly increasing in the recent years.