Hanoi Women’s Museum: Top tourist destination

TripAdvisor has announced the Vietnamese Women’s Museum in Hanoi, for the third consecutive year in a row, is rated one of the top three most attractive tourism destinations in the capital city.

The results are based on the ratings of tourists via TripAdvisor.

According to TripAdvisor, the museum is home to historical, cultural and artistic values related to Vietnamese women. With a total area of nearly 2000 sq. metres, the Vietnamese Women’s Museum possesses over 25 thousand documents and artefacts reflecting Vietnamese Women’s contribution in history and modern life.

Established in 1987, the museum is not only a place of researches, storages of Vietnamese women’s heritages, but also of holding activities of cultural exchange between Vietnamese and international women.

By virtue of the rating, Vietnamese museums are increasingly defining their role in promulgating Vietnamese Culture to the whole world with their unique and long-standing features.

Flights to connect Phu Quoc with Singapore, Siem Reap

Vietnam Airlines will open two new air routes connecting Phu Quoc International Airport in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta Province of Kien Giang with Singapore and Siem Reap (Cambodia) from November 1.

The carrier will operate two flights per week by A321 aircraft on the Phu Quoc-Singapore route and three flights a week by ATR72 on the Phu Quoc-SiemReap route.

In 2013, Phu Quoc Airport served nearly 700,000 passengers, up 39 per cent from the previous year. It has catered for some 450,000 passengers in the first half of this year, representing 60.8 per cent of its yearly target and a 34.1 per cent increase against the same period in 2013.

The airport also handled 836 tonnes of goods, fufilling 86.6 per cent of the annual target and rising 101.2 per cent from a year earlier. 

VNA launches new routes to Singapore, Cambodia

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) has officially announced that it will launch two new routes to Singapore and Cambodia as from November 1.

A new route from Phu Quoc island to Singapore will operate two flights per week, using A321 aircraft.

A second new route from the island to Siem Reap (Cambodia) will operate three flights per week with ATR 72 aircraft.

In 2013, arrivals at the Phu Quoc airport jumped 39% year on year with total arrivals and foreign arrivals were estimated at 700,000 and 259,000, respectively.

Phu Quoc festival promotes fish sauce specialty

Phu Quoc island district, the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, on July 14 kicked off a festival to promote its fish sauce specialty.

The event is part of a communication week of Phu Quoc fish sauce from July 15 – 22 held by the provincial Department of Science and

Technology, the Phu Quoc Fish Sauce Association, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade .

It is attracting a large number of fish sauce producers and sellers as this is a platform for them to further publicise economic and cultural values as well as the making of their hometown specialty.

Phu Quoc, the biggest island of Kien Giang, has long been well known for its fish sauce. The manufacturing of the product has a history of more than 200 years.

The island currently has 80 fish sauce processing businesses which provide about 20 million litres per year.

In August 2013, Phu Quoc fish sauce was granted the Protected Designation of Origin certificate by the European Union, becoming the first product of Vietnam to get the status.

The country exports 800,000 litres of Phu Quoc fish sauce to the EU each year, while its total annual export volume is about 1.5 million litres.

Community-based tourism hoped to yield sweet fruit

As a world cultural heritage site, Hoi An ancient town in the central province of Quang Nam is seeking to promote tourism in a sustainable manner for the benefit of the community.

Most recently, the city launched a pleasure trip by a unique kind of traditional fishing vessels designed by fishermen in the central coastal area, along the Thu Bon River.

Vacationers have a good chance to visit the Kim Bong woodworking village famous for its carpentry, including shipbuilding.

Sailing down the poetic river, they come to Duy Hai fishing village to explore the culture and daily activities of inhabitants.

As the boat is anchored inTra Nhieu village, holiday-makers are able to experience rowing and enjoy various kinds of seafood and have an insight of fishing activities there.

Additionally, tourists are also allowed to stay with local families for a true experience of their professions such as weaving and knitting along with traditional folk music.

Hoi An was recognised as a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 1999.

In 2013, it was ranked first in the world’s top 10 favourite cities by Wanderlust, a well-known British tourism magazine.

Vinh Long takes efforts to lure more tourists

The tourism sector of Mekong Delta Vinh Long province has promoted its historical and cultural relic sites and traditional villages along with its strength of eco-tourism in an effort to lure more tourists.

Vinh Long is home to over 450 relics, including 10 national-level and 34 provincial-level ones. Over the past six months, the sites attracted nearly 220,000 visitors.

Luu Hoang Minh, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Information and Tourism Promotion Centre, said the provincial tourism authority has updated information and knowledge on historical and cultural sites for its guides, thus providing better services for visitors.

The centre in collaboration with universities, colleges and relevant agencies has held courses on professional skills for them, Minh added.

In 2014, the industry targets to welcome 950,000 tourists, including about 200,000 foreigners, and rake in 210 billion VND (9.8 million USD) in revenues.

Located between two major rivers of Tien Giang and Hau Giang, Vinh Long province is known for orchards green all year round and the cannel system which facilitates waterborne travel.

Vietnam’s seas, islands – magnet for domestic tourists

Coastal areas and islands across Vietnam are becoming a magnet for domestic tourists as they not only offer ideal destinations in summer but also arouse their love for the country’s sea and island sovereignty.

The Vietravel company’s Hanoi branch reported that as of the beginning of June, the number of domestic tourists booking domestic tours climbed 170 percent from a year earlier.

Some of their favourite destinations are central coastal Da Nang, Nha Trang and Quy Nhon cities, and southern Phu Quoc and Con Dao islands.

Apart from such traditional destinations as Ha Long Bay, Cat Ba, My Khe, Nha Trang, and Phu Quoc, visitors also flocked to northern Co To and Quan Lan islands, central Son Tra peninsular and Ninh Chu beach, among others.

Other travel agencies also saw a surge in the sales of tours to the sea.

Newstatour Director Luong Duy Ngan said since the beginning of this summer, his firm has served nearly 7,000 tourists, most them make their holidays in littoral areas and islands.

This year, the company gives their priorities to tours to islands like Co To, Thanh Lam and Bach Long Vi, he added.

Owning a coastline of over 3,000 km, Vietnam has a sea area of more than 1 million sq.km. with some 3,000 islands.

Such a geographic feature offers a great potential in sea and island tourism, said Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ho Anh Tuan at a press conference launching the national tourism promotion campaign on July 9.

More Vietnamese tourists expected to visit Japan

Many Vietnamese travel firms will be granted the relaxations of visa requirements, the Embassy of Japan was quoted by the Saigon Times Daily as saying.

The Embassy will release the list of firms subjected to this loosened visa policy. The move would help boost Vietnamese tourists to Japan in the time to come, added the newspaper.

Tu Quy Thanh, director of Lien Bang Travelink Company, said his Japan tours were not organised regularly in the past due to stringent visa requirements and high prices. But now his company has offered one Japan tour a week and will increase to four trips a week next month.

“Easier visa requirements will result in more tourists, and we then can book air tickets and hotel rooms earlier to enjoy good prices. If so, I think the tour price can be 20 percent lower than the current one, at almost 30 million VND, and thus there will be more tour buyers,” Thanh said.

Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 17 announced to loosen visa requirements for citizens of Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, with multiple-entry visa requirements for Philippine and Vietnamese citizens relaxed significantly. Besides, single-entry visa requirements for tourists from these two countries are eased and almost equivalent to visa exemption if tourists apply for visa via an appointed travel agency.

Like Thanh, the directors of many other travel firms are also hopeful about tourist growth with Japan’s fresh visa policy.

Director Tran Xuan Hung of Viking Travel Company said his company targets not only tourists but also those wanting to get vocational training in Japan for a couple of months and businessmen wanting to study Japanese technology.

Hung also added that many Vietnamese people are interested in short time vocational training in Japan while many Japanese small and medium enterprises are willing to offere these trainings.

A representative of Samurai Tour, which specialises in organising tours to Japan, said that the number of tourists is growing well. Samurai Tour is mulling medical tours enabling tourists to get medical treatments and checkups in Japan.

Late last year, 24 travel firms clubbed together to operate Japan tours to boost sales. A similar club was set up in Da Nang City last month with the participation of travel firms in central Vietnam.

The number of Vietnamese tourists to Japan increased to 90,000, an increase of 150 percent against last year's figure. The upward trend is forecast to continue growing this year thanks to promotion activities of Japan’s tourism body in Vietnam and its special policies offered to Vietnamese tourists.

Japan expects to attract 200,000 Vietnamese arrivals in 2015.

VNA launches new routes to Singapore, Cambodia

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) has officially announced that it will launch two new routes to Singapore and Cambodia as from November 1.

A new route from Phu Quoc island to Singapore will operate two flights per week, using A321 aircraft.

A second new route from the island to Siem Reap (Cambodia) will operate three flights per week with ATR 72 aircraft.

In 2013, arrivals at the Phu Quoc airport jumped 39% year on year with total arrivals and foreign arrivals were estimated at 700,000 and 259,000, respectively.