Promotion plan to lure more visitors to Hue

The central province of Thua Thien-Hue has designed a tourism promotion plan with various activities in a bid to lure at least 2 million visitors in 2014, said Phan Thanh Hai, Director of the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre.

This year, Hue relics site is expected to welcome the 30 millionth visitor since it was recognised by the UNESCO as a world cultural heritage in 1993, he said.

At a press conference on July 1 to introduce the plan, Hai said the central will organise a “Golden Tourism Month” from September 2-30 and a “Golden Tourism Week” at the site from December 24-30, during which price reduction and more value added services will be offered to visitors and travel agencies.

It will also hold a number of special tourism and culture events and launch new services to attract tourists, he said.

In the first half of this year, the ancient capital of Hue welcomed 1.068 million visitors, including 500,399 foreign arrivals, earning nearly 75 billion VND (3.25 million USD), up 11.3 percent over the same period last year.

The official revealed that the centre has implemented a series of projects to restore important parts of the site, including the Phu Van Lau (Pavilion of Edicts).

Asia – Pacific delegates discuss tourism policy in HCM City

The Tourism Policy of Future Development in Asia – Pacific Region conference started in Ho Chi Minh City on July 2, drawing over 160 delegates from 17 regional countries.

The 20th function, held by the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Asia – Pacific Tourism Association, aims to share experience and knowledge to drive the growth and the quality of regional tourism.

It is also said to be an opportunity to popularise HCM City’s images and help foreign travel agencies and local ones form long-term partnership.

Addressing the conference, Vice Chairwoman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Hong said HCM City considers tourism as one of its spearheads.

Over the past years, it has issued a number of policies and taken measures to step up promotion drives, improve the quality of its manpower, and strengthen its cooperation with both domestic and foreign partners in the field, she noted.

The city has also been working hard to diversify tourism products and create a safe and friendly environment to attract more holiday makers from around the globe, Hong added.

At the event, participants were introduced to a development strategy for five resort cities in the Greater Mekong Sub-region and outstanding destinations in HCM City.

From now until July 4, the conference will have discussions on relating issues such as development orientations of the tourism and hotel sector, the management of destinations and human resources, heritage and health tourism, and communication technology in the field.

Vietnam Airlines opens new route to Tokyo

Vietnam Airlines officially launched an air route between Noi Bai International Airport (Hanoi) and Haneda Airport (Tokyo) on July 1.

The national flag carrier will use Airbus A321 for seven weekly flights, each will departure at 8 am.

This is the ninth air route from Vietnam to Japan operated by the company.

Another route connecting central Da Nang city with Tokyo Narita Airport will be put into operation on July 16.

Haneda airport, which is 14km from Tokyo downtown, served nearly 67 million passengers in 2012.

It has become the fourth global busiest airports and the second in Asia.

Hue greets visitor 1,000,000 this year

The central city of Hue yesterday welcomed the 1,000,000th visitor to its royal monuments this year.

The visitor, Ha Noi resident Ho Mai Phuong, received a free room for two days at a local four-star hotel and became a lifetime visitor to Hue's monuments, meaning she could visit them free of charge.

According to the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre, a total of 1,068,874 visitors came to the former royal capital in the first six months of the year, including 500,399 foreigners. The centre received VND74 billion (US$3.4 million) in revenue, an increase of 11.3 per cent over the same period last year.

In July, the centre will introduce two new services for tourists: a cruise on the Huong (Perfume) River on a royal style boat and a stage for traditional music performances in Tu Phuong Vo Su pavilion inside the former Imperial Palace.

Boosting Vietnam-Russia tourism cooperation

The Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and local leaders of Yaroslavl city met on June 30 in celebration of Vietnam Culture Days in Russia to discuss measures to boost tourism cooperation.

Speaking at the meeting, First Deputy Mayor of Yaroslavl city Alechxandr Netraev said he applauded the achievements in trade relations between Yaroslavl city and Vietnam, noting that trade has expanded 10-fold over the past ten years.

He stressed that since relations between Yaroslavl city and Vietnam were first established in 1999, some Vietnamese cities and provinces including Danang and Da Lat have become partners of Yaroslavl in a host of fields.

In addition, the number of Russian businesses cooperating with their Vietnamese counterparts has been steadily increasing, he said.

Yaroslavl Deputy Mayor in charge of Social Policy Elena Volkova in turn presented areas where Yaroslavl city has strong advantages and wants to cooperate with Vietnam in the future, particularly noting culture and tourism.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh proposed future cooperation areas in the coming time, stating he hopes cooperation between the two sides will develop more in sports activities and tourism.