Khau Vai love market festival to lure visitors

The 2014 KhauVai Love Market Culture-Tourism Week will take place in MeoVac district, the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang, from April 24-26.

The information was released by organisers at a press conference in Hanoi on April 17.

Highlighting the new features of this year’s event, Vice Chairman of the MeoVac district People’s Committee Tran Kim Ngoc said that the legendary love story will come to Cai Luong (reformed opera) stage for the first time at the opening ceremony of the week.

A beauty pageant will be held for young girls from mountainous areas in Ha Giang province, he said.

Visitors will have chances to join the market day’s activities and try to weave linen, make brocades and pan-pipes together with local artisans, and ride horses.

A string of cultural activities including goat, cow and nightingale fighting festivals, horse races, and incense offering at two temples in Khau Vai commune will also be held during the week.

In addition, there will be a seminar on preserving and promoting the cultural values of the stone plateau.

The hundred-year-old festival, which is held annually in the third lunar month, is a popular meeting place for ethnic groups in the locality, particularly those in love.

Legend has it that a couple who very much loved each other but could not live together made the promise to meet once every year in Khau Vai on the 27th of the third lunar month. From then on, the festival has been held every year on this day for ex-lovers to meet.

The event has now become a tourist attraction, drawing a huge number of domestic and foreign visitors.

Delta orchards enter enticing harvest

Fruit orchards in the Mekong (Mekong) Delta are entering the harvest season and now is the ideal time to visit them.

With their colourful fruits and green leaves and a cool, quiet setting, orchards are a great place to relax for visitors.

Tien Giang Province, the region's largest fruit-growing area, is home to many speciality fruits like Hoa Loc mango, Lo Ren star apple, longan, and King orange.

Along National Highway No 54 in Vinh Long Province, visitors can visit mango plum orchards with full of ripe fruits in Tra On District. Mango plums are yellow in colour and very fragrant.

Ben Tre Province is famous for its Hai Hoa green-peel and pink-flesh grape fruits, and Chin Hoa small-seed durian. Durian is regarded as the "king of fruits" around Southeast Asia.

Da Lat gets pedestrians-only street

The Da Lat Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism is drafting a plan to create a pedestrians-only street in Lam Vien Square by closing off a section of Tran Quoc Toan Street from Ho Tung Mau roundabout to Yersin Park to vehicles on Friday and Saturday nights. Located between Xuan Huong Lake and Lam Vien Square, the section will have several entertainment spots, including a public area for music, dance, and other art performances and cuisine and souvenir selling areas.

The plan is expected to be put into operation by the end of this month.

HCM City residents head for beaches

Tours to seaside resort towns in the south have increased this year for the Liberation Day and Labour Day holiday period beginning at the end of the month.

HCM City-based Fiditour said its bookings to Phan Thiet, Nha Trang, Con Dao Island and Phu Quoc Island had increased 25 per cent over the same period last year, and Saigontourist's bookings rose 15 per cent over last year.

Flights from HCM City to Phu Quoc and Nha Trang are fully booked on April 30 and May 1, but seats are still available for departures on May 2 and 3, according to travel companies.

Bookings at travel agencies have sharply increased for tours from April 30 to May 4.

Vung Tau, Phan Thiet, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Con Dao and Phu Quoc are the most popular destinations.

Socially responsible tourism promoted in Vietnam

As many as 33 tourism teachers, directors and representatives of Vietnam Tourism Association completed a training course on responsible tourism in Hanoi on April 18-19.

Participants are selected carefully and most of them have taken part in the Vietnam Tourism Occupancy Standard (VTOS).

They received the certificate after the course and became trainers of responsible tourism courses in Vietnam.

They are scheduled to hold 12 seminars on responsible tourism for 3,000 beneficiaries from state agencies, private businesses and local communities, in the coming months.

Responsible tourism contributes to enhancing the competitiveness, bringing benefits to local people, protecting national resources, and promoting Vietnam's position in the regional and global tourism market as an attractive destination.

The course is within the framework of the EU-funded Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme.

The programme, implemented over 2011-2015 by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, has a total cost of EUR12.1 million, with EUR11 million sourced from the EU.

Tourists to Dien Bien increase sharply

Dien Bien is experiencing a surge in tourism as a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory (May 7) draws near, according to provincial officials.

The number of tourists has increased markedly to 4.000 – 5.000 per day in recent weeks and is expected to accumulate to more than 85,000 for the period from March 15 to April 15.

The favorite destinations are the historic relics under the Dien Bien Phu campaign complex such as A1 hill, the Dien Bien Phu Victory Monument, officials report.

To meet the growing demand, the tourism sector has mobilized over 30 interpreters from relevant agencies and young volunteers to provide support at historic sites.

In addition, the sector has organized training courses to improve interpreters’ knowledge on the Dien Bien Phu campaign.

The province’s tourism sector predicts that the number of tourists will peak in late April and May, especially when the new Dien Bien Phu Victory Museum makes its grand opening.

VietJet offers 100,000 super cheap tickets

VietJet, through its major promotional venture, is offering 100,000 tickets at VND99.000 (approximately US$5) on all domestic and international routes, including to Thailand and Singapore.

Tickets are available round-the-clock for grabs on April 21, 22, and 23 for flights operating between May 1 and December 31 (excluding public holidays in Viet Nam).

In order to meet the surging demand during summer, VietJet has recently received more aircraft from Airbus, increased frequency on the busiest routes, and operates more than 100 flights per day with an extensive flight schedule.

Tourists flock to Lao Cai

The northern mountainous province of Lao Cai received 397,410 visitors, including 191,602 foreign tourists, in the first quarter, a 25 per cent jump year-on-year, according to the local Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Located around 300km from the capital Ha Noi, the province has plenty of scenic sites like Sa Pa, the world-famous mountain town, and Bac Ha ethnic market.

The two boast beautiful mountains, caves, forests, terraced fields, ethnic people's markets, historical sites, and many traditional ethnic cultures. The province is home to 27 ethnic groups.

Sa Pa is rated by travel guide Lonely Planet as one of the best walking sites in the world. The US's Travel&Leisure magazine named Sa Pa's terraced rice fields as one of the seven most magnificent in the world.

Lao Cai Province has mostly pleasant weather with an annual average temperature of 23oC.

This year Sa Pa Tourism Week will be held between April 29 and May 4 with various activities like traditional music and dance and ethnic folk games.

The province hopes to welcome 1.5 million tourists this year compared to more than 1.2 million last year.

It is great to visit the northwestern region when peach trees are in blossom. There, visitors can get a panoramic view of mountains and hills covered by the bright pink color of the flowers.

Young people, especially those from major cities, now prefer touring the region just to see peach blossoms. Peach trees are planted almost everywhere in the upland provinces of Son La, Lai Chau, Ha Giang, Lao Cai and Yen Bai.

Local people can earn a living by collecting peach blossoms and fruits. There is high demand for those flowers during the Lunar New Year holiday and for ripe fruits in summer time.

Travelers can choose to go there by motorbike from Hanoi along National Road 6 to Hoa Binh City. Upon arrival in Mai Chau Town, they can see a gate leading to the northwestern region.

Along the way there, tourists can admire peaceful and romantic views that look like watercolor paintings.

Syrena Vietnam starts constructing 5-star hotels in Laos and Phu Quoc

Together with the dynamic development of tourism industry, Laos and Phu Quoc are becoming appealing destinations for travelers around the world. In order to meet the growing demand of tourists, real estate developer Syrena Vietnam JSC is starting to build two 5-star hotels: Crowne Plaza Phu Quoc and Crowne Plaza Vientiane.

Crowne Plaza is one of the most popular and fast-growing hotel brands of InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) – the world largest hospitality group with respect to total number of rooms. Until now, there are 392 Crowne Plaza Hotels in 52 countries all over the world. With the reputation and experiences of Crowne Plaza as well as IHG, Syrena Vietnam is expecting that Crowne Plaza Phu Quoc and Crowne Plaza Vientiane will enhance the development of tourism in both Phu Quoc and Laos markets.

 Known as Pearl Island, Phu Quoc has a lot of advantages to promote its tourism industry. According to Mr. Le Minh Hoang – Director of Kien Giang Culture, Sport and Tourism Department, there are 2,900 rooms on Phu Quoc but only 600 of them have been qualified for tourism. Moreover, as the grand opening of Phu Quoc international airport, Crowne Plaza Phu Quoc has been introduced to adapt the tourists’ mounting demand with respect to service quality. Situated at the Gulf of Thailand, Phu Quoc Island is located 50 kilometers from the mainland and a 50-minute flight from Ho Chi Minh City. The 5-star Crowne Plaza Phu Quoc Hotel includes 400 luxury rooms with sea views. Moreover, the hotel also provides international standard conference rooms, swimming pool, shopping mall and professional staff. Currently, Crowne Plaza Phu Quoc started construction on the foundation. The project is expected to be completed at the end of 2015.

 The 5-star hotel Crowne Plaza Vientiane Project has a very prime location along Samsenthai and Sithong streets, near a park and famous monument of Fa Ngum – the first king who found the Lang Xang kingdom of Laotians. This is also the first 5-star hotel complex in the center of Vientiane with more than 200 luxury rooms designed based on both traditional and contemporary values. Crowne Plaza Vientiane will become the top-notch destination for both local residences and tourists and fully meet the worldwide standard for international conference, ASEM summit and many other national vital events.

 Syrena Vietnam JSC is one of the subsidiary companies of BIM Group – the reputational pioneer in many industries such as food, property development and hospitality. With total capital of VND2,300 billion, Syrena Vietnam is among the largest real estate companies in Vietnam with successful projects such as Halong Plaza Hotel, Fraser Suites Service Apartment, Syrena Shopping Center, and Halong Marina Urban Area. Besides focusing on property development in the country, Syrena Vietnam extends to the ASEAN market, aiming to become the largest and most professional real estate company locally and internationally.

Visiting the Buddha on Cam Mountain

Cam Mountain, also known Thien Cam Son, is located in An Hao Commune, Tinh Bien District, An Giang Province.

The 710m-high mountain is the highest in That Son (seven mountains) Range which also consists of Tra Su, Ket, Ba Doi Om, Co To, Dai and Tuong mountains.

Tourists can climb Cam Mountain either by bus or on foot. It is recommended they walk to experience sceneries along the way and show sincerity to the Buddha.

After a three-hour journey tourists will arrive at Bo Hong peak where Van Linh Pagoda is located. The seven-storey pagoda is next to a lake and surrounded by immense grassland and plants. Tourists can admire a statue of the Happy Buddha with his big and merciful smile on an adjacent hill. The 33.6m-high statue has been recognized as the highest Happy Buddha in Asia.