HCM City operators offer discount tours to compensate for airfares

Tour costs have increased by 15-25 per cent because of a 20 per cent hike in airfares besides significantly higher hotel, food, and service costs.

It now costs VND970,000 for a two-day tour to Phan Thiet, VND700,000 to Vung Tau, and VND5.2 million-5.7 million to Hue – Quang Binh – Da Nang.

A six-day tour to Ha Noi costs VND10 million.

Tran The Dung, deputy director of The He Tre Travel Firm, said most travellers in HCM City now prefer two – or three-day tours to Phan Thiet, Ninh Chu, and Vung Tau to save money unlike in previous summers when companies and others opted for longer tours to Hue or Ha Noi for their employees.

Las Vegas firm invests in luxury intergrated resort on beachfront

Canadian real estate company Asian Coast Development Ltd, which is currently developing Viet Nam's first large integrated resort, the beachfront Ho Tram Strip in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, has sold a 26 per cent stake for US$95 million to Las Vegas, US-based Pinnacle Entertainment.

The deal marks Pinnacle's entry into the rapidly growing "Asian gaming market", the casino operator said last week.

The first resort planned in Ho Tram Strip, the MGM Grand Ho Tram, is under construction and likely to open in 2013. It will be managed by MGM Hospitality, a subsidiary of MGM Resorts International.

Japanese tourists shrug off the effects of recent disasters

Japanese tourist arrivals are expected to rise 6.5 per cent year on year in May despite worries about a slump due to the disaster in Japan in March.

The Viet Nam National Administration for Tourism estimated the number of Japanese visitors in May, the start of the low season, at 204,000.

APEX Travel Co, a tour operator serving Japanese tourists, has asked authorities to allow Japanese tourists to stay in Viet Nam for up to 60 days instead of the current 15 without an entry visa.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News