Malaysia Airlines provides attractive tours to Vietnam

Malaysia Airlines is providing package tours of three days and two nights from Kuala Lumpur to Ho Chi Minh City at a cost of US$292 from now until August 31.

Each tour covers a two-way economy class, airport tax and transfer, accommodation at Equatorial Hotel and daily breakfast.

It operates three flights a day to HCM City.

Economy class and business class tickets for its flights from HCM City to Kuala Lumpur cost US$136 and US$331, respectively, from now until May 31.

Passengers can book their package tours on line at website www.malaysiaairlines.com, or by phone (Number 1300883000), to agents of Malaysia Airlines.

Two hotels in VN ranked in World's best top 100 hotels

Sofitel Metropole Ha Noi and Park Hyatt Sai Gon have just been selected by Robb Report Magazine as two of the World's best top 100 hotels in 100 cities globally.

This list made by Robb Report was published in May 5, basing on the evaluation by highly experienced editors, tourism reporters, tourism collaborators and the experts in field of luxury hotel industry.

Trip Advisor (USA), the world famous tourism magazine has published the list of 25 world's best hotels in 2013. Among them, An Lam resort in An Lam - Ninh Van bay villas ranked 14th in this list. In the list of 25 Asia's best hotels, resorts, An Lam - Ninh Van bay villas ranked 6th.

An Lam - Ninh Van bay villas is high quality five-star resort located in Ninh Van, Ninh Hoa, Khanh Hoa which is built as a private resort, with bold Vietnamese style, comfortable, modern of high rank.

Five Vietnamese eateries among 101 best restaurants in Asia

Four HCMC restaurants have been included in the list of the 101 best restaurants in Asia by the much-respected Daily Meal.

The Palace Hotel’s Lemongrass heads the city eateries in 21st place. Next up is Quan An Ngon HCMC (28) and there is Hoi An HCMC (71) and Mandarine HCMC (95). Both are owned by Oriental Saigon located in Binh Thanh District.

The InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort’s signature French restaurant La Maison 1888 also makes the list in 58th place.

The recently-released list also includes restaurants from Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Macau.

Lemongrass is located at 56-66 Nguyen Hue St, District 1. Phone: (84-8) 3829 2860 - (84-8) 3827 9342, email:  sales@palacesaigon.com, fbdept@palacesaigon.com, website: http://www.palacesaigon.com/dining.html.

Quan An Ngon is at 138 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street, District 1, tel: (08) 38 279 666, website: www.QuanNgon138.com, email: info@QuanNgon138.com.

Hoi An HCMC is located downtown at 11 Le Thanh Ton Street, while Mandarine HCMC is at 11A Ngo Van Nam Street. Both can be reached at www.orientalsaigon.com.vn or email: contact@orientalsaigon.com.

La Maison 1888 is located at Son Tra Peninsula, Danang, tel: 0511 393 8888, email: lamaison1888@icdanang.com, website:  www.danang.intercontinental.com.

The Daily Meal is the brainchild of Forbes.com CEO Jim Spanfeller and was launched three years ago. To check out Asia’s top 101 restaurants click on http://www.thedailymeal.com/101-best-restaurants-asia-slideshow#.

Jetstar offers airfare discounts

etstar Pacific Airlines will offer discounts of up to 25% on some domestic air routes from 1 p.m. today until 8:59 p.m. Thursday in celebration of five years of its services in Vietnam.

When buying air tickets during the period, customers can enjoy low airfares starting from VND399,000 for HCMC-Buon Ma Thuot air service, VND449,000 for HCMC-Danang and Hanoi-Danang and VND499,000 for Vinh-Buon Ma Thuot. Besides, HCMC-Vinh and HCMC-Haiphong flights are sold at a price starting from VND779,000 while the HCMC-Hanoi airfare starts from VND749,000.

The program is applicable to flights departing from September 10 to October 24 with online booking and payment at www.jetstar.com.

Jetstar Pacific will also sell 100 HCMC-Hanoi tickets at a price starting from VND5 to customers attending its birthday celebration held at Vincom B Center in HCMC’s District this Saturday.

Over the past five years, Jetstar Pacific has transported over nine million passengers. The carrier has completed replacing its Boeing 737-400 fleet into with Airbus A320 fleet early this year.

Khanh Hoa Province lures Russian visitors

Russian visitors outnumber visitors from Australia and Japan in Khanh Hoa Province, according to Truong Quang Tuyen, director of the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Khanh Hoa Province.

Last year, the province welcomed 83,000 Russian visitors. This year, the figure is expected to exceed 100,000, accounting for one fifth of the total number of foreign visitors to Khanh Hoa Province in a single year.

By opening a direct flight each week from various cities in Russia to Cam Ranh International Airport in Khanh Hoa Province and a direct flight between Cam Ranh and Moscow, Nha Trang City has become an attractive holiday destination for many Russian tourists.

Vietnam Airlines to increase flights during summer

Accordingly, VNA will increase 3,641 flights corresponding to an increase of about 700,000 more seats, not only on domestic routes but also on international routes as well.

VNA will increase 39 flights on many domestic routes including Ha Noi-Phu Quoc, Hanoi-HCMC, Hanoi-Nha Trang, Hanoi- Da Nang, HCMC- Nha Trang, Hai Phong, and Thanh Hoa.

On international routes, VNA will increase on four routes, namely, Hanoi- Bangkok, HCMC- Bangkok, HCMC- Gao Xiong (China), and HCMC - Taipei (China) .

Besides this, VNA will continue to offer various preferential programs for customer.

HCM City targets 4.1 million foreign visitors

Ho Chi Minh City is expected to welcome 4.1 million foreign guests in 2013 to achieve a year-on-year increase of 8 percent.

The city hopes to earn over VND81 trillion (US$40 billion) in revenue, up 15 percent from last year’s figure.

The local tourism industry is gearing up for the upcoming 9th International Travel Expo Ho Chi Minh City - ITE HCMC 2013 in September.

Sales promotion months will be held from September to December, along with other activities to improve the quality of tourism products and to lure more foreign visitors.

Red River Delta targets 5 million foreign visitors by 2020

The Red River Delta is developing tourism as the region’s key economic industry, aiming to attract 24-25 million domestic visitors and 4.5-5 million foreigners by 2020.

This goal is set in the region’s overall socio-economic development plan up to 2020, which was recently approved by the Prime Minister.

According to the development plan, the Red River Delta, comprising Hanoi, Haiphong, Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Hung Yen, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Ha Nam, Ninh Binh and Quang Ninh provinces, will be an eastern gateway to the world and be a direct connection between the two dynamic economic areas of Southeast and Northeast Asia.

The region will serve as a springboard for the country to make ‘strategic breakthroughs’ in socio-economic development, realize the economic restructuring plan, and renew the economic growth model.

Priority will be given to developing high quality transportation, consulting, design, finance and banking services. Innovation in telecommunications, education, training and health care will be encouraged, while trade, tourism, and science and technology will be promoted.

Growth for the service sector is targeted at 10 percent annually during the 2011-2020 period.

The region also strives to raise the per capita income to US$2,500 by 2015 and to around US$4,180 by 2020, which is 1.3 times the national average.

Focus will be placed on upgrading and modernizing the railway system towards forming high-speed rail routes from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, Lao Cai, Haiphong and Lang Son.

It is hoped that 35 percent of Hanoi residents, as well as 15-20 percent of people in Haiphong and similar urban areas in the region, will be using public transportation regularly by 2020.

Cave Festival opens in Quang Binh

The second Cave Festival opened on May 25 at the 34.1 km long Thien Duong cave in the central province of Quang Binh.

At the opening ceremony, which was broadcast live on VTV1 and VTV4, visitors had the chance to talk with British cave explorer Howard Limbert and well-known local guide Ho Khanh,to learn about exploring the limestone caves in PhongNha-Ke Bang National Park.

Visitors also enjoyed traditional songs from the province’s ethnic minority groups performed inside the cave.

Chairman of the QuangBinh provincial People Committee, Nguyen Huu Hoai, affirmed that the festival will be held twice a year to introduce a new model for tourism that combines cave exploration and scientific research on the ecosystems in PhongNha Ke Bang Park.

A photography exhibition was also held during the eventto introduce the UNESCO World Natural Heritage PhongNha-Ke Bang parkas well as the local cuisine.

CaverHoward Limbertsaid that the festival will help promote Quang Binh and Vietnam to the world and attract more visitors.

Foreign arrivals to Vietnam decline

Vietnam has welcomed 2.9 million foreign arrivals in the first five months of this year, representing a decrease of 1.4 percent against the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office.

The number of holiday-makers to Vietnam by air was down by 3.4 percent, while those travelling by land and sea routes increased by 9 percent and 4 percent, respectively.

China, the Republic of Korea, Australia, and Russia had large numbers of arrivals to Vietnam but the markets of Japan, the US and Taiwan saw a decline compared to the same period last year.

The decrease was attributed to the impact of the global economic downturn. In addition, the quality of tourism services was also blamed for hindering the promotion of Vietnamese image to international friends.

Central Highlands taps tourism potential

A forum was held in Da Lat city on May 25 to discuss ways to tap the tourism potential of the Central Highland region.

The event, organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is part of activities to prepare for the 2014 National Tourism Year.

The Deputy Head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), Hoang Thi Diep, said that the tourism year aims to help explore their advantages and specialties in order to develop their tourism industry.

Priority will be given to developing the Central Highland region’s cultures, mountain resorts, and border tourism.

The Central Highlands is endowed with the advantages of great natural beauty and valuable cultural traditions so it should fully tap its potential and upgrade infrastructure to boost sustainable tourism, Diep said.

Many experts and tourism businesses suggested developing specific tourism products in different areas in order to capitalize on the unique features of each locality. In the Central Highlands, they said, it is essential to pay attention to environmental protection and explore nature-based tourism services.

Various cultural events are scheduled in the Central Highland region during national tourism year 2014, including heritage, flower and brocade festivals, a fashion show of traditional costumes, and an international gong festival, as well as an exhibition of wooden statues and a cultural festival in the eastern region.

A number of sports events will also be held, such as an elephant race, a boat race, and folk games, in addition to a Central Highlands ethnic minority food festival.

Foreign visitors to HCM City rise in 5 months

Ho Chi Minh City welcomed more than 1.6 million foreign visitors in the first five months of 2013, a year-on-year increase of 7 percent, according to the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The city earned VND24.4 trillion from tourism during the reviewed period, up 15 percent over 2012.

Although the growth rate was not as high as expected, it was seen as a positive sign for the city’s tourism as the country’s tourism sector was facing many difficulties and the number of foreign visitors to the country decreased from the previous year.

However, the department also pointed out that the growth rate in the numbers of foreign visitors tends to go down.

The city is preparing a number of programmes to lure more tourists in the coming months.

Singapore helps Thua Thien-Hue develop tourism

Akitek Tenggara-Singapore Company is helping the central province of Thua Thien-Hue with its overall planning for tourism development in the 2013-2025 period, said Nguyen Van Cao, Chairman of provincial People’s Committee.

He expressed high hope that the master plan will create a fundamental breakthrough in local tourism development.

Guidelines and specific recommendations on how to build brand names for tourism sites in Hue city will help make the province become a leading destination in the Southeast Asian region, Cao said.

However, he emphasized, the master plan must fit in with the model of sustainable tourism development towards the green growth of the world by way of preserving the values of natural and cultural heritage sites.

Akitek Tenggara-Singapore Company and Thua Thien-Hue have agreed on 14 major projects, including 5 that need foreign investment to create a breakthrough in Hue tourism development.

All these projects are focused on promoting the agricultural market through close relationship between rural and urban areas, poverty alleviation, tourism development in the countryside as a model of green economy.

Other projects are related to yachting on the Huong (Perfume) River, Chan May-Lang Co green city and water space development.

The Thua Thien-Hue provincial People’s Committee has asked the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to finish the draft plan for local tourism development before May 30, 2013 and present it to the People’s Council for approval at its upcoming session.

The cost of tourism development in the 2013-2025 period is estimated at US$3.52 million, including US$470,000 sourced from the provincial budget and the remaining from the cooperation partner.

Egypt, Vietnam boost tourism cooperation

The Head of the Vietnam National Agency of Tourism (VNAT), Nguyen Van Tuan, on May 27 met with the Chairman of Egypt Tourism Authority (ETA), Naser Hamdy, in Cairo before ending his week-long visit to the country.

Both sides agreed to join efforts in the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tourism Cooperation signed in 2006 by ironing out snags for tour coordination.

The VNAT proposed that the ETA to work with the Egypt Air to launch direct flights to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with assistance from its representative office in Vietnam.

VNAT Head Tuan expressed hopes that tourism cooperation between the two countries will contribute to promoting their people’s mutual understanding.

He asked the Vietnamese Embassy and Egyptian Embassy to accelerate the granting of visas for tourists from both countries.

In recent years, Vietnam has become an interesting destination for foreign tourists and businesses, who are interested in discovery, eco- and maritime tourism potential, Tuan said.

The number of visitors to Vietnam tripled within a decade to reach nearly 7 million by 2012, while about 5 million Vietnamese visited foreign countries each year he added.