Cat Tien relic attracts tourists

Although it is not yet a tourist park, Cat Tien archaeological site in Lam Dong Province's Cat Tien District attracts thousands of tourists every month. Some 60 groups have visited so far this year, according to its management.

The venue is suitable for cultural and spiritual tours accompanied by an eco-tour to Cat Tien National Park on the other bank.

Clamp down on Ha Long Bay tours

Quang Ninh People's Committee has ordered all Ha Long Bay tours to publish their service charges in the local media.

This follows many complaints from tourists about disorganised tours and lack of transparency in fees charged.

To improve services and prevent losses to the industry and provincial budget, the committee told all boat-tour agents to publicise their prices in the media.

The people's committee also asked relevant agencies to conduct a market survey and recommend prices for tours and overnight stays on Ha Long Bay.

These rates will be fixed for at least three months and published on the provincial website and Quang Ninh on-line newspaper.

Da Nang plans to celebrate National Day with street music

Da Nang tourism authorities have planned for a street music show and events on the Han River on National Day, September 2.

The music event will be held off Han Market on Bach Dang Street from 7 to 9pm and hosted by the Da Nang Events and Festivals Organising Centre. It will be the centre's 12th street concert this year.

The river events will be held by Huy Khanh Company from 4.30 to 5.30pm and will feature 25 competitors on four canoes, seven jet skis, two paramotors, and five surf boards.

Central region focuses tourism promotion on Russia

Along with Japan and South Korea, Russia has emerged as a major market for Viet Nam's tourism industry.

The market has grown sharply in the last two years, with arrivals up 30 per cent in August, according to Nguyen Van Tuan, deputy chief of the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

Though the high season for foreign tourists is still weeks away, the coastal cities of Da Nang and Nha Trang receive 13 flights from Russia per week.

To promote tourism, Binh Thuan, Thua Thien-Hue, and Da Nang will take part in the Leisure Moscow 2012, an international tourism fair to be held in Russia from September 19 to 22.

Tourists tighten purse strings in tough economic times

International and local tourists in Viet Nam have tightened their purse strings, with their average spending increasing only slightly and even declining if inflation is factored in, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The statistics for the 2009-11 period were released on Tuesday at an online Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism meeting. It collects statistics on domestic and foreign tourists' spending every two to three years.

Foreign tourists travelling to Viet Nam on their own stayed for an average length of 12 days last year, the same as two years earlier. In this time each spent US$1,268.4, up 11 per cent, or $105 per day on average.

Foreigners on package tours spent $62 per day in addition to the tour price, an increase of only 3.6 per cent from two years earlier.

The average length of a tour for domestic tourists was four days, also unchanged since 2009, with each spending VND3.53 million, or VND977,000 per day, a rise of 39 per cent.

VietNamNet/VNS