National Tourism Year 2011 launched in central coastal province

A ceremony was held in Phu Yen Province on March 10 to launch the National Tourism Year 2011 programme in south-central eight cities and provinces, starting from Danang City to Binh Thuan Province. The event was part of activities marking the 400th founding anniversary of Phu Yen Province.

Various cultural, sporting and tourism events including an Asian music festival, an international choir festival, a film festival and a yacht race will be held within the framework of the programme themed “Beach and Island”.

This is a good opportunity for south-central coastal cities and provinces to introduce their tourism potential and promote maritime-based economy.

Vietnam aims to welcome 5.3 million foreign tourists in 2011 and earn a total revenue of VND110 trillion.

(Source: VOV)

Various events to celebrate Hung Kings’ death anniversary

A wide range of activities will take place as from April 7 (the 5th day of the 3rd lunar month) in the northern province of Phu Tho to commemorate the death anniversary of Hung Kings and celebrate the Hung Temple Festival in 2011.
The activities will be jointly held by Phu Tho and five other provinces, namely Tuyen Quang, Hoa Binh, Nam Dinh, Quang Ngai and Dong Thap.

Incense offering ceremonies to the first rulers of Vietnam – the Hung Kings and the legendary ancestors of the nation will be held on April 7, 8 and 12 with the main ceremony to be hosted by Phu Tho on April 12 (the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month).

The festival that will last from April 8-12 will include a lion dance, a Xoan singing (ancestor worship singing) festival, an exhibition of offerings to the Hung Kings and a contest on making the traditional “banh chung” (square glutinous rice cake) and “banh day” (rice cake).

Phu Tho Province will also host an international seminar on “The worship of Hung Kings” as part of efforts to bid for UNESCO’s recognition of as an intangible cultural heritage.

Legend has it that Lac Long Quan, who was a dragon, met and married fairy Au Co, who later gave birth to 100 eggs from which 100 children sprang forth. The couple then parted due to their different origins. The man went seawards with 50 of their children, while his wife went to the mountains with the other half of the clan. The eldest son, who followed his father, later installed himself as Vietnam's first Hung King and today's Vietnamese people are said to be descendants of those children.

(Source: VNA)

Dak Lak ready for coffee festival

The Central Highlands province of Dak Lak is ready for the third coffee festival scheduled for March 10-15, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Hieu affirmed.

“All preparations for the third Buon Ma Thuot coffee festival have completed,” he said at a press briefing on March 1.

An opening ceremony will take place at Buon Ma Thuot City’s square. It will be followed by street festivals, including lion dance, elephant march and gong performance.

During the festival, an exhibition with 600 booths will be held to introduce Vietnam’s coffee products.

An international workshop on sustainable development for Buon Ma Thuot coffee will also be held with the participation of representatives from coffee exporting and importing countries like Brazil, Columbia, Indonesia and Ethiopia.

Futures transaction is expected to be launched for the first time in the province’s coffee trading floor.

Besides, the festival includes a series of cultural and art activities, making it an unique attraction.

The festival has freshly been bolstered to the national level under a decision by the Prime Minister in an attempt to turn Buon Ma Thuot City into a global hub of coffee.

(Source: VNA)

“Return to the Roots” tourism programme kicks off

A ceremony to launch the “Return to the Roots” tourism programme 2011 was held in Nghia Lo, Yen Bai Province on February 26. This is a tourism cooperative programme between the northern provinces of Yen Bai, Phu Tho and Lao Cai.

At the opening ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan praised the three provinces’ efforts in promoting tourism and said their cooperation provides a good example for others to follow. He said he hopes the programme will create more tourism products and give all three provinces a facelift for developing tourism.

Over the six years of the programme, Phu Tho, Yen Bai and Lao Cai provinces have invested thousands of billions of VND in tourism infrastructure. With nearly 1,000 accommodation facilities, including at least one four – star hotels, more than 500 hotels and 260 restaurants, the three provinces have met the increasing demands of both domestic and foreign tourists, even in the high season.

Since the programme’s implementation, the three provinces have received more than 25 million tourists, including 2 million in 2010, and earned more than VND1,000 billion. They aim to receive more than 5.5 million visitors in 2011, including about 400,000 foreigners and earn more than VND1,200 billion. The programme attracted over 60 travel agents to conduct tours.

Now that the 2011 programme has been officially launched, the provinces will host a wide range of activities, such as the Hung Temple Festival in Phu Tho, a cultural week to promote Thac Ba Lake in Yen Bai, the Thuong Temple Festival, on the cloud festival in Sapa, and a horse race in Bac Ha, Lao Cai Province.

(Source: VOV)

Vietnam aims to receive 5.3 million international visitors in 2011

Vietnam’s tourism industry has set a target to welcome 5.3 million international visitors, serve 30 million domestic tourists and earn VND110,000 billion by the end of 2011.

The culture, sports and tourism industry focused on these goals at a conference on deploying work this year that was held in Hanoi on February 25-26.

The industry will concentrate on developing human resources in the sector and gradually make tourism into a key industry. It also presented the tourism development project for 2011-2020 to the Prime Minister for approval.

The tourism sector will increase domestic and foreign cultural exchanges, introduce Vietnamese culture to the world, strengthen advertising of the national image and promote voting for Halong Bay to become one of the new natural wonders of the world.

(Source: VOV)

Halong Bay seeks New 7 Wonders of World status

The campaign to collect votes for Halong Bay to be recognised as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World in November this year is entering the final stages, said an official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST).

At a meeting to discuss the country’s efforts to reach this goal held on February 23, Director of International Cooperation Department under the MCST Nguyen Van Tinh said that Halong Bay is among the 28 finalists. The official declaration of the New 7 Wonders of the World will be made on November 11, 2011, he added.

The Director General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), Nguyen Van Tuan, emphasized the need to mobilize people to vote for Halong Bay and win the support of international friends.

The VNAT will also launch its own campaign to vote for the bay, he revealed.

Meanwhile, the department has come up with a plan to promote the image of Halong Bay to international tourists and friends. The plan includes a photographic contest and a painting competition on Halong Bay for children as well as an art performance.

The department will also organise activities to collect votes at major schools, tourist sites and through the Internet.

To vote for Halong Bay, twice recognised by the UNESCO for its landscape and geological values, in northern Quang Ninh Province, please visit the website

http://www.new7wonders.com/community/en/new7wonders/new7wonders_of_nature/voting

(Source: VNA)

Vietnam tourism promoted in Dubai

A conference to promote Vietnamese tourism was jointly held by the Vietnamese Embassy in UAE, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the Vietnam Airlines and the Sharaf Travel in Dubai on February 23.

Speaking at the conference, the Vietnamese Ambassador, Nguyen Quang Khai, reviewed the industry’s achievements over the past years.

Despite the global financial crisis, the number of tourists coming to Vietnam reached 5.1 million in 2010, an increase of 20% over 2009, bringing US$ 4.5 billion of revenue to the country.

The ambassador encouraged UAE travel agencies to operate tours in Vietnam and pledged that the embassy will cooperate with Vietnamese travel companies to offer preferential conditions for UAE tourists.

Participants at the conference praised the country’s fast development in the industry and expressed their wishes to strengthen their cooperation with Vietnam.

(Source: VOV)

Vietnam joins in world’s largest travel trade show in Germany

International Tourism Bourse (ITB), one of the world’s largest travel trade shows, will be held in Berlin, Germany from March 9-13. During the event, there will be a seminar on protecting tourists, consumers and travel agencies, which will be organised for the first time by the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

The seminar will focus on the rapid growth rate of international tourism, the rights and responsibilities of tourists and travel agencies. Also, other issues such as package tours, contracts in hotels, transportation and information provided to consumers and the management of contracts.

Participants will emphasise discussions for legal documents in the future to protect both tourists and travel agencies during the financial crisis and Vietnam’s representatives will take part in this discussion.

(Source: VOV)