Preserving cultural heritage

Heritage Tourism is the theme chosen for the year-long National Tourism Year 2012 programme. Thua Thien-Hue Province has been preparing for the event that will open in Hue City on April 4 next year.

The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hoang Tuan Anh, said the national tourism year in the north-central region would be an opportunity to promote Vietnamese culture to the world and raise public awareness of the need to preserve the country's cultural heritage.

The region boasts the Ho dynasty citadel in Thanh Hoa Province, Phong Nha-Ke Bang in Quang Binh Province, the ancient citadel in Quang Tri Province, the former royal capital in Hue, and traditional and folk music forms.

Phan Tien Dung, director of Thua Thien-Hue Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the provincial authorities want to promote the area's UNESCO World Heritage sites to attract tourists to Hue and the central region.

The National Tourism Year 2011 with the theme of Islands and Beaches is based in Phu Yen and other south-central provinces.

Da Nang seeks more visitors

The municipal authority of Da Nang has approved a tourism development plan with an aim to receive 4 million visitors, including 1 million foreign tourists, by 2015.

To meet the target, the central city will develop three main tourism categories, namely sea, resort and ecological tourism; culture, history, landscape and trade village holidays; and business and shopping tours. The city authority has also urged related agencies to speed up tourism projects in Son Tra Pennisula, Ngu Hanh Son Cultural Park, Hai Van Pass and Bach Dang Tourist street.

Tourism reaches new borders

The HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has unveiled a plan to organise a promotional trip to Dubai in the third quarter of this year to introduce Viet Nam's tourism image to the Middle East region.

The department said it would not join international travel exhibitions abroad in the second half of the year, but instead focus on activities at home such as the International Travel Expo set for September in HCM City, and some press trips to HCM City for major markets such as the US.

Travel options for Thai, Lao visitors               

A club of 30 local tour operators have plans to promote tours for Thai and Lao visitors to central Viet Nam. The club's chairman Cao Tri Dung said a trip to Chiang Mai in Thailand would be organised in September. Similar trips to Thailand and Laos would also assist other tours for travellers from these neighbouring countries.

The club members have been assigned by the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) to exclusively arrange tours for Lao and Thai visitors to central Viet Nam via central border gates such as Nam Can, Cha Lo and Lao Bao. VNAT's move is aimed at improving tour services, preventing price undercutting and dealing with unfair competition.

Dung said over 200,000 Thai and Lao tourists visited Viet Nam by road last year.

VIP tourists select only the best

Vietnamese VIP tourists are choosing outbound tours that offer them high-quality services, especially ones to Europe and the US.

An executive of Fiditour said the travel firm once organised a high-grade tour to Dubai which costs US$4,000 per traveller. With higher costs, the travel firms had to satisfy the strictest requirements in service quality, from travelling, accommodations, and meals to excursion points.

Nhan Hanh Nhon, CEO of OSC First Holidays, said VIP travellers often asked for 5-6 star hotels and resorts which can charge up to $1,500 per night.

Regarding meals and drinks, VIP travellers usually choose expensive meals at high-end restaurants, sometimes worth up to $2,000-3,000 per table.

VIP clients requirements are often very detailed. For example, when travelling to Thailand, they may want to have meals on the highest floor of an 88-storey building. In Hong Kong, they require meals on a yacht, and in Egypt, they want to travel on a five-star cruiser on the Nile River, according to Nhon.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News