Ca Mau Cape National Park as Ramsar site

Ca Mau Cape National Park to be recognized as Ramsar site

Ca Mau Cape National Park in Ca Mau Province in the southernmost tip of Vietnam will be recognized as a Ramsar site on December 13, the fifth such site in Vietnam, announced the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Ca Mau Province.

A corner of Ca Mau Cape National Park

The World Environment Organization will announce the official recognition of Ca Mau Cape National Park as a Ramsar Site on December 13.

Mui Ca Mau or Ca Mau Cape National Park in Ca Mau Province has an area of 41,860 hectares, which includes 15,262 hectares of land and 26,600 hectares of coastal area in low lying saline land.

This site is home to 93 species of birds, 26 species of mammals, 43 species of reptiles, 9 species of amphibians and 233 fish species. The park is also home to some very rare species such as the gray-foot pelican, rare otters and the black-back box turtle.

On May 26, 2009, UNESCO officially recognized some parts of Ca Mau Province as a Biosphere Reserve of the world, a large natural habitat of more than 371,000 hectares and the Mui Ca Mau National Park as one of three important areas of the Biosphere Reserve.

Currently, Vietnam has four Ramsar sites including two in the northern region and two in the south.

The Ramsar sites in the north are Xuan Thuy Natural Wetland Reserve in Nam Dinh Province and Ba Be Lake in the mountainous province of Bac Kan which were recognized in 1988 and 2011, respectively.

The Ramsar sites in the southern region are Bau Sau (Crocodile Lake) Wetlands and Seasonal Floodplains in Cat Tien National Park in Dong Nai Province and Tram Chim National Park in the southern province of Dong Thap, which were recognized in 2005 and 2012, respectively.

The 7,588 hectare Tram Chim National Park-- home to 130 species of plants, 100 species of vertebrate animals, 40 species of fish, and 147 types of water birds--was recognized by the Ramsar Convention as the 2000th Ramsar site as a Wetland of International Importance in the world.

~News courtesy of SGGP~

VietJet Air adds new fight route to Hue

VietJet Air adds new fight route to Hue

Vietnam’s leading low-cost carrier VietJet Air has launched a new route from Ho Chi Minh City to the former Imperial City of Hue.

Dinh Viet Phuong, deputy head of VietJet Air gives 300 health insurance cards to the Poor Patient Sponsor Association of Thua Thien - Hue Province (Photo: Courtesy of VietJet Air)

With this new route, VietJet Air is now offering more than 30 flights a day on seven domestic routes.

The HCMC-Hue route will operate one round trip a day on an Airbus A320 aircraft. The one hour and 20 minute flight will depart from HCMC at 7.40am and return at 9.40pm.

VietJet Air marked this special occasion by launching a corporate social responsibility program that will provide 300 health insurance cards to residents of the central province of Thua Thien-Hue from disadvantaged households.

VietJet Air will also expand further before year end with more routes from HCMC-Phu Quoc and Hanoi-Da Lat.

The airline’s first international flight will be launched early next year.

~News courtesy of SGGP~

Vietnam arrests 11 on hijacked Malaysian ship

Vietnam arrests 11 on hijacked Malaysian ship

Vietnamese authorities have arrested 11 suspected pirates aboard a chemical tanker after the first such hijacking in the waters around Malaysia in years, the International Maritime Bureau said on Friday.

The Malaysian-owned vessel lost communication on Saturday while on its way from the country's southern Johor state to Sarawak state on Borneo island, said Noel Choong, head of the bureau's Kuala Lumpur-based piracy reporting centre.

After the centre sent out an alert, Vietnamese marine authorities managed to intercept the tanker on Thursday, arresting 11 suspects. The pirates had changed the ship's name and were flying a Honduran flag.

The tanker's nine crew members had been released at sea on Wednesday by the pirates, said Choong, adding that the crew were all safe after being rescued by local fishermen.

Choong said it was the first such case of a tanker with cargo being hijacked on its way to Sarawak in several years.

The maritime bureau praised the Vietnamese and Malaysian authorities for their efforts.

"IMB hopes that the authorities will take action and investigate the incident to contain and stop this type of menace," Choong said.

"Ships sailing in the region should maintain anti-piracy watches especially at night in Asian waters."

In October, four Indonesian suspected pirates were arrested for trying to hijack a tugboat and barge, also off Sarawak state. Choong said authorities were still investigating that case.

Pirate attacks in Malaysian waters have dropped in recent years following stepped up patrols and co-operation with neighbouring countries to secure waterways.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

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Cave tours in Quang Binh

Oxalis Company promotes cave tours in Quang Binh Province

Nguyen Chau A, director of Oxalis Company, said on Sunday that his company had invited two foreign cave experts to train guides for conducting cave exploration tours in the central province of Quang Binh.

A newly discovered cave in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Quang Binh Province Howard Limbert and his wife are the two foreign cave experts hired by the Oxalis Company to train adventure tour guides and plan specific tourist itineraries for the company.

The two experts are already present in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and will plan the cave tours in consultation with the company to ensure safety for visitors and provide skills to guides to run tours in the tropical forest to explore caves and to trek and climb mountains.

They will help promote cave tourism by guiding American and European companies to make films on the caves in Quang Binh Province.

Mr and Mrs. Limbert and their team have explored caves in Vietnam for the last 20 years and discovered several caves across a stretch of 200 kilometers in Quang Binh Province. They are credited with making Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park a world natural heritage site.

They have also brought world attention to the Son Dong cave--the largest cave in the world. Son Dong is one of the many caves in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.

The Oxalis Company has its headquarters in Quang Binh Province and specializes in adventure and eco tours in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Bo Trach District as well as other cave areas in the vicinity of the district.

~News courtesy of SGGP~

Mekong Delta offers unique tourism opportunities

Mekong Delta offers unique tourism opportunities

In context of the current economic woes in the world, the tourism sector is still striving to attract more people to visit the Mekong Delta area in Vietnam, which is offering unique, stress free and exotic tours.

A tourist guide is introducing story and structure of Huynh Thuy Le ancient house in the Mekong delta province of Dong Thap ( Photo: SGGP)

Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, the four countries strategically located in the lower Mekong sub-region, will jointly work towards boosting tourism potential in this area, as discussed in a recent meeting themed ‘Four Countries-One Destination’.

Discussions were held in the meeting on how to attract more investments for tourism projects in the Mekong Delta sub region, Vietnam’s rice basket, and a current target for tourism promotion by Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has approved a plan to develop tourism as a key economic sector in the Mekong Delta. The plan, which extends till 2020, will aid the country's economic transformation and help reduce hunger and poverty, according to the ministry.

Thanks to its cultural diversity and the range of tourism it offers, such as eco, community-based, sea and islands, and diverse culture, the Mekong Delta attracts millions of visitors each year.

According to the Mekong Delta Tourism Association, around 12.8 million holidaymakers have visited the region since the beginning of the year, a year-on-year increase of 6 percent and a turnover of more than VND2.6 trillion ($125 million), an increase of 25 percent compared to last year.

In provinces like An Giang, in October alone, the province has welcomed around 28,000 tourists, an increase of 2.6 percent compared to September. Among them were around 2,300 international travelers, an increase of 6.7 percent compared to September. October turnover alone was VND17 billion ($815,662), an increase of 3.9 percent compared to last month.

There was a hike in holidaymakers from North Vietnam to the Mekong Delta and Cambodia, said Nguyen Dai Ho, director of the Phuong Nam Travel Company in Kien Giang. Accordingly, the company in coordination with the Hon Gai Tourism Company launched a new route Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh-Tay Ninh-Ha Tien-Phu Quoc-Hanoi.

Kim Trang from the Hanoi Tourism Company shared that every month her company organizes a tour for six groups of 30 tourists who want to go to the Mekong delta city of Can Tho to listen to amateur music on a boat along the river, visit orchards in the Mekong delta province of Tien Giang, and the Mac Cuu mausoleum in the town of Ha Tien, in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang.

Tommy, a representative of Fantasy Tour Company, said Vietnam has the magnificent Mekong River which foreigners love as it flows through six countries. His customers are interested in culture of the region, the natives and the natural beauty, rather than luxury hotels and sea bathing.

Foreign tourists have a good eye for the Mekong River and 40 percent of tourists here are Japanese, said Nguyen Duc Tho, a tourist guide of HCMC-based Le Phong Travel Company.

‘Work as a Farmer’ day tour in the Mekong Delta has attracted many young tourists (Photo: SGGP)

Recently, Dien Quan Media Company led a world famous Chinese American chef Martin Yan for a sightseeing tour of the Mekong Delta for a 26 episode show titled ‘Martin-Taste of Vietnam’ to promote Vietnamese cuisine across the globe. The organizers are aiming to broadcast the show on several US channels in addition to domestic TV networks.

Le Van Hien, chairman of Cuu Long Tourism Company, said the Mekong Delta Tourism Association and local tourism associations should train more tourist guides, waiters, and restore traditional festivals of ethnic minority groups like Khmer, Chinese, and Cham.

More important was how to link the uniqueness of each province and build an alluring image of the whole region and offering specific tourism packages .

There is also need to attract more investments and improve the basic infrastructure and accommodation since the region has the lowest rates of five-star hotels and resorts in Vietnam, said Hai Dang, Director of Vietravel Tourism Company.

~News courtesy of SGGP~

Luxury cruise ship brings foreign tourists

Luxury cruise ship brings 2,100 foreign tourists to Vietnam

The Saigon Tourist Travel Company welcomed 2,100 foreign passengers and crew members from Italy, Spain, the UK and Germany from aboard the five-star cruise ship Costa Victoria on November 14.

The tourists visited Ho Chi Minh City, the Cu Chi tunnels and My Tho City in Tien Giang Province, where they enjoyed water puppetry performances, shopped at Ben Thanh market, and tasted tropical fruits at local orchards.

The ship had cruised along the Vietnam coast for the last five days, from November 10 to November 14, with the foreign visitors seeing the sites of Ha Long Bay, Da Nang City, the Champa relics at the My Son sanctuary, the imperial capital of Hue and Hoi An ancient town.

They continued onto their final destination in Ho Chi Minh City with the Costa Victoria finishing its five-day tour of Vietnam.

The ship plans to return to Vietnam on January 7, 2013 and follow the Halong-Da Nang-Ho Chi Minh City route.

The Costa Victoria has a capacity to carry a maximum of 2,394 passengers and 790 crew members. It is a floating luxury resort with five restaurants, ten bars, and three swimming pools, as well as inhouse entertainment and large shopping areas.

On this occasion Saigon Tourist informed that in the first ten months of the year, the company has received passengers and crew of many international cruise ships, including the Costa Classica, SuperStar Aquarius, Voyages of Discovery, Columbus, Spirit of Adventure, Europa, Saga Ruby and Princess Danae.

~News courtesy of SGGP~