Hue welcomes the two millionth visitor

Hue welcomes the two millionth visitor

This morning, Dec 30, the Hue Citadel Monuments Conservation Centre held a ceremony to welcome the two millionth visitor in the accompanying delegation who visited Hue relics.

Ms. Sandra, British, in the union tour of Vido has become the tourist number two million visiting the Hue in 2012.

Ms. Sandra was presented by the Conservation relics Center in Hue many valuable prizes.

The number of sea travelers to Hue has also risen sharply. This year, Thua Thien-Hue plans to welcome 25 cruise ships, bringing 40,000 new arrivals, mainly from China, Spain, the UK, the US and Canada

The central province of Thua Thien-Hue has hosted almost 2.4 million tourists so far in 2012, up 25 percent against the same period last year.

There have been 803,000 foreign nationals from China, Thailand, Italy, Spain, the UK, the US, Canada and Australia alone, showing a year-on-year increase of 26 percent.

Since the beginning of the year, the province has launched more than 30 major programs as part of the 2012 National Tourism Year for the North Central region to attract tourists, 11 of which are culture, sports and tourism specific programs at both national and international levels.

The tours focus on traditional festivals, such as the Hue Festival 2012 and Buddhist Festival, as well as beach tours around Tam Giang lagoon, Thuan An beach and Lang Co bay.

The recent Hue Festival 2012 attracted 180,000 visitors, including 80,000 foreign nationals, about 50 percent more than in 2010.

~News courtesy of SGGP~

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Saigontourist breaks ground for highland 4-star resort

Saigontourist breaks ground for highland four-star resort

Saigontourist Travel Service Company, an affiliate of Saigontourist Holding Company, one of Vietnam’s leading travel management companies, held a ground breaking ceremony for the Saigon-Ban Gioc Resort on December 8, in Dam Thuy Commune in the northern province of Cao Bang.

Ban Gioc Waterfall is famous for its beautiful nature

The resort will be a four-star complex over an area of 31.15 hectares, to be constructed in two zones--one next to Street 206 and the other in front of Ban Gioc waterfall.

The resort will include a 60-room hotel, a 29 bed bungalow complex, a 200 seat restaurant, sports and entertainment complex, and a conference area to welcome about 200 guests. A health spa and area for camping and outdoor activities will also be included.

The first phase of construction is expected to complete by late 2013. The investment for the project is about VND170 billion (US$7.9 million).

Tran Hung Viet, general manger of Saigontourist, spoke about the resort--“The design of the resort will encompass the natural surroundings of the area with enough open spaces for the guests to enjoy the view. The building material used will be bamboo, wood, thatch and stone and will merge well with the local culture of the border area.”

In the last 40 years, Saigontourist has invested in hotels and tourism sites in 30 provinces in Vietnam.

~News courtesy of SGGP~

Four star Novotel Saigon Center opens in HCMC

Four star Novotel Saigon Center opens in HCMC

The four star Novotel Saigon Center was officially opened on December 13 at 167 Hai Ba Trung Street in District 3 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Rex hotel is one of five-star hotels in HCMC (Photo: U. Phuong) 

The hotel has 18 floors, 247 rooms, three basements, a conference room, swimming pool and a state-of-the-art Spa, designed by Accord Corporation. The total investment for the Center was more than VND1.2 trillion.

The investor, Que Huong Liberty Company, an affiliate of Saigon Tourist Travel Service Company, said it is continuing investments in other restaurants and hotels and planning the four-star Liberty Center Saigon Riverside and five-star Pullman Saigon Center in HCMC in the third quarter of 2013.

Tran Hung Viet, director-general of Saigon Tourist, said as part of its development strategy for the period 2011-2015 with vision for 2020, the company will become a leading travel agency in Vietnam, that will provide accommodation and travel services with the hope of pushing up tourism to become one of the key economic sectors of the City and the country.

The cooperation between Saigon Tourist and Accord Corporation will help increase international holidaymakers to Vietnam as well as improve tourism quality, services and management as per international standards.

The country has currently around 13,500 hotels with more than 285,000 rooms, of which 55 are five-star hotels, 142 are four-star hotels, and 314 are three-star hotels. HCMC has around 1,100 ranked hotels of which 90 are from three to five-star.

~News courtesy of SGGP~

Saigon Railway Station to use different modes to sell tickets

Saigon Railway Station to use different modes to sell tickets

Saigon Railway Station will be using different modes to sell train tickets for Tet Lunar New Year holiday season such as direct purchase from the train station, through its agencies, online bookings and home delivery, said Nguyen Van Thanh, head of the station.

Online purchase of tickets can be made via website www.vetau.com.vn and customers can pay at the station counter or via ATM of the Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade. Tickets can be collected two hours prior to departure.

Train tickets for travel dates before January 31, 2013 or day 20 of the 12th Lunar month will be sold at the station or through its agencies or online. Customers can also order free home delivery on (08)38 436 528.

Tickets to travel after January 31 or peak Tet season will be sold in different phases.

Organizations and individuals under State preferential policies can collect their registered tickets from December 1.

People can buy Tet tickets at the station or online from December 10. Passengers need to present their identity cards to get tickets.

Tickets can be returned 10 hours before departure and will be refunded after deduction of 30 percent on the ticket.

Saigon Railway Station currently has 20 agencies that are listed at the station and on website www.gasaigon.com.vn. Because these agencies receive a commission, they must sell the tickets at the price printed on the ticket. If they charge a higher amount, customers can inform the station who will then examine and penalize the agency accordingly.

～News courtesy of SGGP～

Phu Quoc Airport opens

Phu Quoc Airport opens with inaugural flight from HCMC

Phu Quoc International Airport in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang received its inaugural flight carrying 68 passengers from Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on December 2.

Phu Quoc International Airport received its inaugural flight on December 2 (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

On the same day, Phu Quoc Airport also organized 11 flights with a total of 1,000 passengers on routes HCMC-Phu Quoc, Can Tho-Phu Quoc and Rach Gia-Phu Quoc.

The International Airport broke ground in November 2008, covering an area of 905 hectares and built at a cost of VND16,206 billion (US$777 million).

After four years of construction, the first phase of the project has been completed at a cost of VND3 trillion ($144 million). An official inauguration ceremony is scheduled to take place on December 15.

In related news, Vietnam Airlines flight VN631 carrying 143 passengers from HCMC landed at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta in Indonesia on December 2.

This is the first direct flight between Vietnam and Indonesia. In all there are now four direct weekly flights, departing on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, leaving HCMC at 10am for a three hour flight to Jakarta. The same flight will return to HCMC on the same day at 1.45pm.

On this occasion, Vietnam Airlines is offering a promotion, in which one round trip ticket from HCMC-Jakarta will cost only VND2,905,000, a discount of 22 percent. The HCMC-Jakarta-Bali route will also be discounted by 11 percent to cost VND7,085,000.

The above discounted fares do not include taxes and other fees, and are applicable on tickets purchased from October 22 to December 31, for flights departing between December 2 and March 30, 2013.

～News courtesy of SGGP～

VietJet Air announces HCM - Bangkok route

VietJet Air announces incredible promotion for Ho Chi Minh City - Bangkok route

To celebrate the opening of VietJet Air’s first international route Ho Chi Minh City – Bangkok, Vietnam’s largest low-cost carrier is launching an unbelievable promotion on December 12 with tickets for only VND12,000 up for grabs—that’s just over half a dollar or for customers in Thailand about 17 baht, the carrier announced on December 5.

VietJet Air has also completed its Thai website VietJet Air Thai to further boost tourism and trade between Thailand and Vietnam. The website is now geared for English, Vietnamese and Thai speakers—customers can simply select their preferred language before proceeding to book a flight.

This incredible promotion for Ho Chi Minh City- Bangkok will run from 9pm to 11.59pm only on December 12. But should you miss out there will be a second sale at the same time on December 20 with tickets for just VND99,000 ($4.5).

Bookings of promotional tickets are applicable for travelling from 10 February to 31 December 2013 and must be paid for online with a Visa or Mastercard.

VietJet Air’s inaugural flight connecting Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok will take off on February 10, 2013. The route will start off with one round trip per day initially with VietJet Air’s newly acquired Airbus 320. The one hour and 30 minute flight will depart from Ho Chi Minh City at 11am and return from Suvarnabhumi Airport at 1:30pm.

This auspicious date is the first day of the New Lunar Year, so perfect timing for Vietnamese, Thai and foreign travelers planning to celebrate the festive season by travelling abroad.

The carrier has already launched normal ticket sales for this route—as always just click on www.vietjetair.com, or visit VietJet Air’s booking offices and ticket agencies nationwide or call the Vietjet Air’s hotline +84 19001886.

Desmond Lin, VietJet Air’s Business Development Director, said “We’re looking forward to introducing our outstanding services to residents and travelers in Thailand. We are confident that our “five-star” customer service team will be vital to the success of our international operation as they know the world’s businesses better than anyone.”

VietJet Air now has nine domestic routes on a network that links Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Nha Trang, Danang, Vinh and Hai Phong, Hue, Da Lat and Phu Quoc. More international routes linking the country’s largest cities of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to major destinations in Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia will be launched in 2013.

~News courtesy of SGGP~

Viet, Laos, Camb to focus on development

Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia focus on development triangle

A conference on trade, investment and tourism for the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam development triangle took place in the central highland province of Kon Tum yesterday, December 5.

More than 400 domestic and foreign businesses participated in the conference.

Conference on trade, investment and tourism for the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam development triangle in Kon Tum.

Two-way trade between Vietnam and Laos, and Vietnam and Cambodia is estimated to reach a combined total of more than US$4 billion this year.

Vietnam is investing in 50 projects worth close to $1.7 billion in Laos, and 25 projects valued at $1.5 billion in Cambodia.

At the conference, Pham Thi Hong Thanh, deputy head of the Department of Asia-Pacific Market under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, pointed out the obstacles faced by business circles of the three countries such as transport, lending requirements and low consumer demand.

Youn Heng, director of the Department of Evaluation and Incentives under the Cambodian Council for Development, said his country will boost investment in hydropower, thermal power and the power transmission network in the future.

Besides, firms are facing a workforce shortage in Laos and are challenged by the distance between Ho Chi Minh City and Champassak Province. Multinational trade traffic through the south of Laos via northeast Cambodia to the southern provinces of Vietnam is slow.

Cao Viet Sinh, Vietnam’s deputy minister of Planning and Investment, said in future, ministries and agencies of the three countries need to accelerate the construction and completion of the investment and business law; policies relating to taxes, customs, labor; administrative procedures relating to licenses, investment, business--ensuring transparency, the coherence from the central to local levels in order to reduce the time, costs for investors, improve the competitiveness of enterprises.

Cao Viet Sinh, deputy minister of Planning and Investment, stressed that to exploit the regions potential one needs to improve infrastructure, offer incentives to encourage the participation of all economic sectors, and accelerate the implementation of the triangle’s development master plan approved by leaders of the three governments.

The countries also need to complete the investment and business legal framework, policies on tax, customs and labor, and administrative procedures to ensure transparency and synchronicity at all levels of governance from central to grassroots level, Sinh added.

The Cambodia–Laos–Vietnam development triangle comprises of 13 border provinces of the three countries. Initiated by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in Vientiane in 1999, the area was established to enhance solidarity and cooperation for socio-economic development, poverty reduction and security in the region.

Meanwhile a trade fair was organized in the central highland province of Kon Tum where handmade crafts by artisans from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were on exhibit.

The fair opened on December 4 and brought together 700 businesses that are displaying their high-quality products in 360 stalls.

The fair is part of a series of events to herald the 8th Conference of the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Triangle Development Coordinating Committee and the 100th anniversary of Kon Tum Province (February 9, 1913).

~News courtesy of SGGP~