Caravan tour to Bhutan debuts

HCMC-based tour operator Viking has introduced a caravan tour that will cover a distance of 8,000 kilometers from HCMC to Bhutan in the eastern Himalaya Mountains.

This is a brand-new tour as the previous caravan tours just took in Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia.

Tran Xuan Hung, Viking’s director, said guests could use their own cars in the journey through Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and India before arriving in the southwestern and southeastern regions of Bhutan.

It takes 24 days and costs US$5,000, excluding fuel costs, for a guest joining the tour that will depart on January 20 next year. There are 8-10 guests having already registered for the tour.

“We already surveyed the tour,” Hung said. “The country’s leaders will welcome the participants as this will be the first caravan trip from Vietnam.”

Hoi An – No2 tourist destination in Asia

Vietnam’s ancient town of Hoi An has been voted as the second most favourite tourist destination in Asia after Japan’s Kyoto.

This was the result of an annual survey conducted by Condé Nast Traveler, the world's premier travel magazine.

Last year, this UNESCO-recognised heritage site won Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards as one of the ten leading tourism cities in Asia.

Announcing the results of the survey in New York on October 15, Conde Nast Traveler also included five Vietnamese hotels and resorts in the list of its ideal destinations.

Hanoi-based Sofitel Legend Metropole ranked fifth among the 25 leading hotels in Southeast Asia.

Park Hyatt Saigon, Sofitel Plaza Hanoi, and Sofitel Saigon Plaza were also named the leading hotels in the region.

The Nam Hai resort in Hoi An was voted as one of the top ten resort in Asia.

Greater Mekong tourism students hold exchange

Students studying tourism across the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS) gathered for an exchange at the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Cultural House on October 18.

The event embodies the spirit of a joint declaration released after the first HCM City meeting of GMS tourism city mayors in September last year.

The exchange attracted students from Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Bangkok (Thailand), Vientiane (Laos), and HCM City (Vietnam).

HCM City’s Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Deputy Director La Quoc Khanh highlighted this enthusiastic participation in his address to the opening ceremony. He commended strengthening the sense of solidarity shared by regional tourism sector students.

The contest selecting Young Regional Tourism Ambassadors will highlight the exchange. These ambassadors will form the basis for promotional and informational campaigns, assisting the development of the regional tourism market, Khanh said.

Cambodian Delegation Chief Tang Sochetkresna emphasised the exchange’s important role in linking the region’s five countries and tourism sectors, and the plethora of opportunities it offers participating students.

The exchange will last through to October 21 and includes a cooking contest and tours of HCM City’s famous attractions.

Taiwan promotes medical tourism

Taiwan has joined Singapore and Thailand as a popular destination for Vietnamese to get medical treatment.

Health experts from Taiwan's six largest hospitals yesterday told the media before visiting Cho Ray and other major hospitals in HCM City that 10 per cent of their 170,000 foreign patients last year were in fact Vietnamese.

Dr Huang Cheng Hua, deputy director of Cathay General Hospital, said it has advanced medical equipment and skilled doctors.

The visit is also aimed at promoting co-operation in administration and training, he said, adding that many other hospitals in Taiwan also want to co-operate with their counterparts in Viet Nam.

The visitors held a meeting with the officials from the municipal Department of Health to learn more about the Vietnamese medical system and explore co-operation opportunities.

Four months ago the National Taiwan University Hospital and Viet Nam's Viet Duc Hospital inked an agreement for a medical exchange programme under which the former will send doctors to help their Vietnamese counterparts upgrade medical skills.

Since 2006, when the two first signed an agreement, 17 Vietnamese doctors have received training at the Taiwanese hospital.

The visitors will also attend a medical seminar in HCM City today and share their expertise in treating cardiovascular and liver diseases and other medical services.

They are set to leave for Ha Noi after the seminar.

Ha Noi terminates doomed $40m hotel-park project

The municipal People's Committee has ordered the SAS Hanoi Royal Hotel project at 295 Le Duan Street, located within the area of Thong Nhat Park, to be terminated following a Government decision.

The project is also known as Novotel Hanoi on the park and has an expected investment capital of US$40 million.

Construction began in 2008 by the SAS Hanoi Royal Hotel Company as joint venture between Hanoitourist and Singapore-based SIH Investment Ltd, but public concerns about its location inside the park pushed authorities to reconsider afterwards.

Citizens were worried that the project could have negative impacts on one of the capital's major outdoor leisure areas.

The committee informed the investors and local finance, architecture, planning and investment, and natural resources and environment agencies about the termination on Wednesday.

Instead, another area of land would be allocated along Pham Hung road in Cau Giay District for construction. The hotel will be built entirely with foreign capital from SIH Investment, as Hanoitourist has ceased its investment.

SIH Investment will be offered a discount of over $13.3 million for land use charges at the new site, as it has already invested a similar amount in the prior location.

The committee said the Singaporean company would have to be responsible for all financial duties left by the joint venture, which was to dissolve, and urged it to remain committed to project progress.

The land in Le Duan Street would be revoked for underground car-parks, plantation and services, said the committee.

Tourism Youth Ambassador event kicks off

The Mekong Sub-Region International Students Exchange Programme began on Friday at the Youth Cultural House in HCM City with the aim of promoting tourism industries in the region.

Eight city Ambassadors from HCM City, Phnom Penh, Vientiane, and Bangkok will compete at the final contest at the HCM City University of Economics on October 20.

The ambassadors must show their knowledge, verbal agility, public presentation and passion for tourism in the final contest to become the Youth Tourism Ambassador of Mekong Sub-Region.

On Friday, ambassadors took a trip to Tien Giang Province to take photos of the land and people.

Students from four cities will take part in cultural exchanges through traditional games and culinary contests during the five-day event, which is being held for the first time.

The programme, part of an activity launched by the Lower Mekong Tourism Cities Mayor Summit, would be held annually in participating cities, said La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of the HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

"Young ambassadors will introduce tourism destinations in the countries of the Lower Mekong sub-region to young people around the world," Khanh said at the opening ceremony of the programme which is co-organised by the department, Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union-HCM City Chapter, and the University of Economics.

Typhoon causes big loss for Quang Nam, Danang’s tourism sector

Tourism companies in central coastal Quang Nam Province and Danang City have faced a great loss due to the recent Storm No. 11.

Nguyen Thanh Sang, Chairman of Palm Garden Resort, one of the five-star resorts in Hoi An, Quang Nam Province, said the storm have destroyed many trees and damaged a number of buildings at the resort, resulting a total loss of around VND4 billion (USD190,476).

“The losses were not as much as those from Storm Xangsane in 2006, but the biggest worry is the flooding from tide changes and waves caused by Storm No. 11 which has led to the landslide at a beach section inside the resort,” Sang added.

According to Ngo Van Hoang, General Director of Sunrise Resort in Hoi An City, for many years the resort has had to cope up with the sea water encroachment. Despite investing more in the dyke consolidation, the dyke was collapsed by Storm No. 11, seriously affecting the villa row next to the sea and the hotel’s glass system. The total loss is estimated at some VND15-20 billion (USD714,285-952,380).

Ho Tan Cuong, Deupty Director of the Quang Nam Province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said most of coastal hotels in Quang Nam Province have suffered from losses in the thousands of billions of VND.

According to a preliminary report, Quang Nam Province’s tourism sector has seen a total loss of VND100 billion (USD4.76 million) due to Storm No. 11.

In Danang City, all resorts, such as Intercontinental, Pullman, Furama, Fusion Mia, Hyatt, Vinpearl and Sandy Beach have suffered from serious damage.

The majority of hotels in the central area of Danang have also being affected. The typhoon damaged wooden houses, trees as well as hot spring area at Hoa Phu Thanh Tourism Resort in Hoa Vang District.

Meanwhile, due to being impacted by the rising sea water, sand has flowed onto roads near beaches and public parks in the area of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa Road.

Le Quang Tuoi, Head of Ngu Hanh Son tourism site management board, the site faced the great losses because of the storm and by October 17, it had only served tourists who booked the services in advance.

Quang Nam Province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has proposed that the local People’s Committee, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the government for reducing corporate income tax for travel companies seriously affected by the typhoon by half.

Danang City’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism also plans to seek the cut a 50% of corporate income tax reduction for the affected travel firms.

Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri