Hoi An extends opening hours for pedestrian-only zones

Hoi An's areas open only to pedestrians and non-engine vehicles have new hours: from 8.30-11 am and from 3-9.30 pm.

The previous time was from 8-11 am, 2-4.30 pm and 6.30-9.30 pm.

Ha Noi hotels rated in world's top 10 for cheapest room service

The travel website has selected Ha Noi as one of 10 major cities in the world having the cheapest room service. The other cities are Tunis, Tunisia; Cape Town, South Africa; Budapest, Hungary; Prague, Czech Republic; and Marrakech, Morocco.

In another development, a British tour guidebook, The Rough Guide, listed Viet Nam as one of 15 countries having the most attractive cuisine culture. The other countries are Italy, Thailand, India and Japan.

Tam Coc – heaven, mountain and water

About eight kilometers from Ninh Binh City, Tam Coc is known as one of the best destinations in the country’s north and even referred to as Halong Bay in the mainland.

Tam Coc means three caves, which are Ca, Hai and Ba. Cruising along the Ngo Dong River, tourists can see the three. Along the river banks are peaceful rice fields, cliffs and some old temples.

In Tam Coc, visitors may feel lost in a hidden fairy site which is adorned with beautiful stalactites and stalagmites of different shapes and colors sparkling like gemstones.

Drifting along the gentle river under the grotto, travelers can sense the deeply pure atmosphere with a special smell of fresh river water and cool air from the limestone mountains.

The area used to be the capital of many royal dynasties from Dinh and Pre-Le from the 10th to early 11th centuries.

Lao Cai opens online tourism hub for locals, visitors

The People's Committee of the northern province of Lao Cai last week officially opened its tourism website at dulich.laocai.vn with the main aim of bringing news about tourism activities to local people and visitors.

The site is a place for tourism operators to advertise and promote their tours as well as develop their trademarks. It also describes new tourism policies of the Government and province about management of the local tourism sector.

The province hopes that through the new site they will receive customers' ideas on how to improve tourism.

The website is in Vietnamese, English and Chinese.

‘Spring' cultural festival to showcase traditional wares in Sa Pa

A two-day cultural festival called Spring in the northwest will be organised from April 5 in Sa Pa Town in the northern province of Lao Cai.

Joining the festival, local residents in six northwestern provinces and customers will enjoy many shows displaying traditional costumes and food as well as participate in traditional games.

A cultural programme will be held tomorrow night with the participants of six art delegations from northwest provinces as well as other famous singers from around the country.

Ten hotels and resorts get ASEAN Green Hotel Award

Ten hotels and resorts in HCMC, Hanoi, Binh Thuan, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Thua Thien-Hue have been honored at the ASEAN Green Hotel Award 2014 in Malaysia.

They are Chain Caravelle Hotel, Rex Hotel, Majestic Hotel and First Hotel in HCMC; the InterContinental Hanoi Westlake and Sheraton Hotel in Hanoi; Six Senses Resort Ninh Van Bay in Khanh Hoa; Mui Ne Bay Resort in Binh Thuan; Grand Palace Hotel in Ba Ria-Vung Tau; and Pilgrimage Village in Thua Thien-Hue.

An award ceremony is expected to take place at Giang Vo Exhibition Center in Hanoi tomorrow on the occasion of the Vietnam International Travel Mart 2014.

This year’s award has gone to 86 hotels in ASEAN.

The first ASEAN Green Hotel Awards was held in Thailand in 2008, followed by Brunei Darussalam in 2010 and Indonesia in 2012.

Tourists to Hoa Binh up nearly 38%

The northern mountainous province of Hoa Binh welcomed 650,000 visitors in the first quarter of the year including 48,000 foreign arrivals, up 37.4% from last year’s same quarter, said provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Director Bui Ngoc Lam.

He added that revenues from the tourism sector reached nearly US$200 billion in the quarter, up 25.5% from the comparable period last year.

Since the beginning of 2013, more than 70 travel companies from Hanoi, Da Nang, and HCM City have been actively promoting tourism in the province and the European Tourism Association has also been instrumental in developing tourism.

Lam said that as part of a bid to promote Hoa Binh as an attractive tourism destination, in recent years, the locality has focused on launching tourism packages in different forms such as cultural tourism, eco-tourism, and resort.

It also has a plan to upgrade Hoa Binh reservoir area in hopes that it will become a major national tourism attraction.

This year’s tourism promotion will be focused on improving state management capacity, increasing the quality of human resources, intensifying investment in preserving and conserving cultural and historical relics and offering a trans-tour in the northwestern provinces to create stable income for local residents.

Travel expo looks to sustainable tourism development

Vietnam International Travel Mart (VITM), the leading travel event for the country, kicked off in Hanoi on April 3 with 665 companies from 22 countries and territories showcasing their products in 508 stalls.

This is the second time the Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA) in coordination with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Hanoi has organised the event, providing an opportune occasion for domestic tourism companies to promote trademarks, and sell products and services directly to customers.

At the opening ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam called on ministries, departments, associations and the Vietnamese public to join hands to develop a domestic tourism trademark and transform Vietnam into a premiere attractive, safe and hospitable tourist destination of the world.

He affirmed that the event contributes significantly to the development of sustainable tourism in the country, acknowledging that the sector has made strong progress in achieving sustainable tourism in recent years, despite the global economic slowdown.

The number of foreign arrivals to the country grew by more than 29% in the first quarter of this year and its turnover increased by more than 30%.

People in countries throughout the world, including Vietnam, should strengthen cooperation to promote sustainable tourism development, Dam concluded.

VITA Vice Chairman Vu The Binh said the fair is expected to attract around 3,000 companies seeking cooperation partners and around 50,000 consumers desirous of purchasing promotional tours and services.

The fair includes attractive consumer promotions with aviation agents offering 15,000 tickets costing from VND199,000 on international routes and VND330,000 on domestic routes, and travel agents offering 8,000 promotional tours with a 60% discount.