Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Monday approved a decree to tighten management of foreign tourist vehicles brought into Viet Nam.

Vehicles including motorbikes and left-hand drive cars under nine seats are allowed to be used in the country for between 30 and 40 days for cases such as natural disasters and accidents.

Foreign tourists who have driving licences valid for the type of vehicles can ask for permission from the Ministry of Transport prior to the usage of their vehicles during trips to Viet Nam.

Decree No152/2013/ND-CP also stipulates that those who wish to bring vehicles into the country must ask Viet Nam's international travelling companies to complete the necessary procedures to seek permission.

The regulation will come into effect on December 25.

Jetstar Pacific opens two air routes to Phu Quoc, Nha Trang

The low-cost Jetstar Pacific airline has announced that it will open two new domestic air routes from HCM City to Nha Trang and Phu Quoc as of December 15 to meet  travelers growing demands.

The airline said there will be an Airbus A320 return flight from HCM City to Nha Trang and Phu Quoc every day.

Jetstar Pacific has also offered promotional discounts on airfares which will be sold at 12:00 on November 7 and November 8.

Accordingly, tickets for two people on the HCM City – Nha Trang and HCM City-Phu Quoc air routes will be priced at VND470,000 per flight from December 15, 2013 to January 16, 2014.

In addition, Jetstar Pacific cheap tickets will be sold at only VND279,000 per flight per passenger from December 15, 2013 to January 16, 2014.

Moreover, cheap airfares will be available at VND399,000 per flight on the HCM City-Da Nang and VND749,000 per flight on the HCM City-Vinh route from November 19, 2013 to December 18, 2013.

As planned, Jetstar Pacific will purchase an additional two Airbus A320s in early December 2013 and late January 2014 to cope with increasing numbers of passengers.

Con Dao - more than just historical sites

As the rainy season nearly comes to an end in the south of Vietnam, it gives holiday-goers many months ahead to indulge themselves with days of sunshine, breezes, pristine beaches, delicacies of the ocean and many more. Con Dao is certainly one destination for lovers of these offers of nature.

Con Dao off Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province is better known as a home to numerous historical sites, as the archipelago used to house prisons for independence fighters with many dying before the nation’s reunification in 1975. Historical sites and documents about the “Hell on Earth” have remained intact and constituted part of the attraction of Con Dao nowadays.

However, the attraction of Con Dao also lies in original natural spots. Besides Hang Duong Cemetery, Pier 914 and other historical sites, visitors can ride a motorcycle or drive a car around Con Dao to admire the beauty of nature. Around this time of the year, leaves of cay bang (tropical almond tree) start to turn yellow and swing with breezes in the air before touching down the ground bringing a touch of romance.

There are flights to and from Con Dao daily. Tourists can also travel to Con Dao by boat.

HCMC welcomes 3.22 mln int’l guests

Over 3.22 million foreign arrivals flocked to Ho Chi Minh City in the first ten months of 2013, up 4% against the same period and meeting 79% of this year’s plan.

In October, the number of foreign guests was estimated at 419,650, a year-on-year increase of 9%. Of the figure, 338,800 foreigners travelled by air, up 10% against the same period last year.

In January-October, the city’s tourism industry earned VND 69 trillion in revenue, posting a year-on-year increase of 20% and fulfilling 86% of the year target.

Thanks to a number of tourism promotion programs, tour prices have fallen by 35-40%, according to La Quoc Khanh, Vice Director of the local Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism./

JATA says Central Vietnam key destination for tourists

Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) has singled out Central Vietnam as a key destination for tourists from Japan, and expects the number of Japanese tourists to Vietnam will surge in the next couple of years.

JATA management convened a meeting in Vietnam over the weekend and conducted fieldtrips to some destinations before choosing Quang Nam and Danang in the central region as a highly-potential destination, said Nguyen Quy Phuong, head of the Travel Division under Vietnam National Administration for Tourism.

Phuong said this was the first time JATA held its executive meeting outside Japan, and during the gathering they mapped out plans to develop the market.

“JATA has chosen Vietnam as the focal market and next year there will be direct flights from Japan to Danang, Quang Nam and Thua Thien-Hue to bring Japanese tourists here,” Phuong told the Daily on Sunday after the conclusion of the JATA meeting in Hanoi.

He noted that JATA was an umbrella organization for many big travel firms from Japan, so its decision to choose Vietnam would be of strong assistance to the country’s tourism industry.

The JATA meeting coincided with the meeting of the Vietnam-Japan Joint Tourism Committee in Hanoi, where both sides pledged to boost tourism cooperation, with an aim to make Vietnam a popular destination for Japanese.

At the committee’s meeting, the Vietnam side expected to welcome one million Japanese tourists by 2015, while the number of Vietnamese travelers to Japan is expected to quadruple to 200,000 by then compared to 50,000 last year.

In the January-October, nearly 498,000 Japanese tourists have visited Vietnam, according to Vietnam National Administration for Tourism.

According to Phuong, Vietnamese tour operators and air carriers are launching many promotional programs to attract tourists from Japan. Next year, Vietnam Airlines will launch air service to Haneda Airport in Tokyo to facilitate air transport between the two countries.

Vietjet Air increases service during Tet holiday

VietJet Air, Vietnam's low-cost airline, has made 250,000 tickets available for travel during the 2014 Lunar New Year (Tet) to meet the heightened demand for air travel.

The carrier will increase the frequency of flights on its Ho Chi Minh City – Da Nang route to 42 return flights per week.

The airline is also offering special promotional prices on 60,000 tickets on the Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi route. The one-way tickets, to be sold at the special price of VND1,030,000 (excluding tax and fees), can be booked on the airline’s website – www.vietjetair.com.

In September, the airline sold 150,000 tickets for flights during the Tet holiday.

The promotional programme aims to diversify prices on all VietJetAir routes, to encourage passengers to book flights in advance and to provide more options for air travel.

Currently, Vietjet Air operates more than 500 flights per week on 14 domestic and two international routes.

Source: SGT/SGGP/VNA/VNS/VOV/ND