Comprising of an ecological site, an ancient capital city and a scenic limestone reserve, the Trang An Tourism Complex is now in the tentative list to be considered for Viet Nam’s world heritage site.
Trang An ecological site is one of the most diverse fauna and flora area in Northern Viet Nam, with about 600 species of plants and 200 species of animals. Besides the terrestrial ecosystem, Trang An also houses an aquatic one of important value with many rare zoo-plankton and zoohenthic recorded in Viet Nam’s red book. The ecological site is one of the three pillars that Trang An Tourism Complex is seeking to promote.
A landmark of historical significance, Hoa Lu was Viet Nam’s ancient capital in the late 10th century, before King Ly Cong Uan made a strategic move to Thang Long (Hanoi) and set the place as new capital of Dai Viet (ancient name of Viet Nam). At that time, Hoa Lu was the capital as well as the economic, political and cultural center of Dai Co Viet, an independent Vietnamese polity founded in 968 A.D. Though only few vestiges of the 10th century remain out of 300 ha (30km2) of the ancient citadel, visitors can still get a good view of the scale of the old city. Located in a flat valley, Hoa Lu is protected by a natural wall with surrounding Trang An limestone mountains and Hoang Long rivers. The combination between mountains and rivers gives Hoa Lu a unique landscape.
Tam Coc – Bich Dong, considered “Ha Long Bay on land”, is characterised by picturesque limestone mountains-amid emerald water-body. Visitors have enjoyed following the canals and springs on sampan boats to explore caves and karst formation here for years. Past tours to the region have been scattering and short-termed due to a lack of service quality and quantity. The world heritage title is thus expected to help the site attract more investment from tour companies and public attention in preserving its natural beauty.
Several other sites of historical or natural importance in Viet Nam have set a great example how the UNESCO and other world organizations’ recognitions can benefit a destination. Ha Long Bay, for example, has seen more cruise companies offering tours (refer to halongbaytours.com), foreign tourists sightseeing the caves and grottos and public programs implemented to protect and retain the beauty of the attraction. The title presented by UNESCO has been seen as both a motivation for more tourists to visit these regions, bringing economic advantages; and an effort to mobilize more effort to protect these heritage sites, generating environmental awareness. With this in mind, local tourism authority has been organizing many activities to promote Trang An Tourism Complex’s image and waiting for UNESCO’s final decision.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
All Leisure Holidays launches Cruise Mekong
UK travel firm All Leisure Holidays has announced that it is to launch a new brand, Cruise Mekong, concentrating on the lesser known areas of the Mekong River.
All Leisure Holidays currently operates a range of firms, focusing on different regions, including Discover Egypt, Voyages of Discovery, Swan Hellenic and Hebridean Island Cruise – this will be its first venture into the emerging Mekong market.
“We wanted to offer a different cruise experience to the UK market and the Upper Mekong River in Laos and northern Thailand is not heavily featured by operators,” explained All Leisure Holidays director Philip Breckner. “We saw this as a great opportunity for an established operator like ourselves to offer the trade something new, exciting and very sellable – as this region is fast becoming a very popular part of the world for long-haul adventure travellers.”
The firm will be using specially adapted ships for the voyages – which will need to cope with the notoriously wild waters of the Mekong – from Lao-German joint venture, Mekong River Cruises.
“The cruises are voyages of discovery in this little known part of the Mekong River in Laos and are combined with pre and post visits to some of the more well-known places in SE Asia such as Siem Reap in Cambodia for the chance to visit the incredible temples of Angkor Wat and the UNESCO World Heritage Listed Laung Prabang in Laos. Travellers can also add on Hanoi and a cruise in Halong Bay in Vietnam to their itinerary,” he added.
All Leisure Holidays currently operates a range of firms, focusing on different regions, including Discover Egypt, Voyages of Discovery, Swan Hellenic and Hebridean Island Cruise – this will be its first venture into the emerging Mekong market.
“We wanted to offer a different cruise experience to the UK market and the Upper Mekong River in Laos and northern Thailand is not heavily featured by operators,” explained All Leisure Holidays director Philip Breckner. “We saw this as a great opportunity for an established operator like ourselves to offer the trade something new, exciting and very sellable – as this region is fast becoming a very popular part of the world for long-haul adventure travellers.”
The firm will be using specially adapted ships for the voyages – which will need to cope with the notoriously wild waters of the Mekong – from Lao-German joint venture, Mekong River Cruises.
“The cruises are voyages of discovery in this little known part of the Mekong River in Laos and are combined with pre and post visits to some of the more well-known places in SE Asia such as Siem Reap in Cambodia for the chance to visit the incredible temples of Angkor Wat and the UNESCO World Heritage Listed Laung Prabang in Laos. Travellers can also add on Hanoi and a cruise in Halong Bay in Vietnam to their itinerary,” he added.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Nha Trang offers ideal destination for Russian tourists
Together with Da Nang and Phan Thiet, Nha Trang is considered an attractive destination that foreign tourists cannot ignore, especially for visitors from Russia.
With a long and clean coastline as well as lots of famous places such as Hon Mun Marine Protected Area, Hon Mot Island, Hon Tam Island, the Cham Po Nagar Towers, Institute of Oceanography, Hon Nhi Island, Hoa Lan Stream Tourist Site, Yangbay Waterfall, and Vinpearl Land, the city of Nha Trang and Khanh Hoa Province in general have increasingly brought into play its advantages to promote tourism development. The image of Nha Trang has become increasingly familiar to foreign tourists, especially Russian tourists.
In late October 2011, Russia's OrenAir Airlines began to offer direct flights between the city of Krasnoyarsk to Cam Ranh International Airport in Khanh Hoa, serving tourists from the Far East Region of Russia who toured the Vietnamese cities of Nha Trang and Phan Thiet during their winter vacation. Currently, OrenAir Airlines offers one round-trip flight to Cam Ranh International Airport everyday and in the future, it will expand this service to serve tourists from nine cities in the Far East Region of Russia such as Khabarovsk, Vladivostoks, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo. Pegas Turistik, a Russian travel company, currently arranges nine flights from the Far East Region of Russia to the Cam Ranh International Airport every week, 70 percent of whom stay in Nha Trang.
Truong Dang Tuyen, the director of the Khanh Hoa Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, said that in the first six months of 2012, the province received more than 1.12 million tourists, up 8.14 percent compared with the same period last year, including 266,000 foreign tourists, up 36 percent, with their stay in the locality totaling about 2.6 million days, up 18.67 percent. Total revenue from tourism reached an estimated VND1.24 trillion, up 15.6 percent. This year, Khanh Hoa expects to welcome about 2.35 million tourists, including 500,000 foreign tourists; and revenue of the provincial tourism sector is projected to reach VND2.5 trillion. Satisfactory results of the first six months have made Khanh Hoa's tourism sector confident of its ability to realize the targets set for the whole year. In the first half of 2012, the number of foreign tourists to the province increased and most of them were Russian tourists with a long stay. In the first six months of 2012, Khanh Hoa received about 35,000 Russian tourists, and in June alone, more than 2,500 Russian tourists came to Nha Trang. The Kemerovo Airport of Russia has launched a new flight route to Cam Ranh. Last year, Khanh Hoa was visited by more than 60,000 Russian tourists.
Russian tourist Sergei Udovichenko said that Vietnam remained an attractive destination for Russian tourists. The cost of tours to Vietnam and prices while in the country remain reasonable and security in Vietnam is ensured; Vietnam has lots of beautiful tourist sites; Russian tourists enjoy the sea in Nha Trang and highly appreciate the hotels and restaurants for their quality services. Exhibitions and tourism promotion activities in Russia have made Vietnam and Nha Trang known to a growing number of Russian tourists. Most Russian tourists like swimming in sea, sunbathing and enjoying seafood.
Survey results show that Russian tourists account for a considerable percentage of tourists staying in Nha Trang's hotels such as Michelia, Sunrise and Yasaka Saigon. At Yasaka Saigon for example, Russian tourists account for 40 percent. Natasha, a Russian person who works in the field of tourism, said that Russian tourists like the weather and the sea in Nha Trang as well as tourist sites in the city such as Nha Phu Lagoon, Hon Mun Island, Hon Nhi Island and the Cham Po Nagar Towers. Russian tourists highly appreciate security and service quality in Nha Trang and they are willing to introduce it to their friends and relatives. Russian tourists are generous and this is a favorable condition for Nha Trang to increase revenue from tourism.
Many tourist sites as well as hotels and restaurants in Nha Trang provide tourists with information in Russian about things such as tour-guides, services and menu. The demand of the Vietnamese tourism sector in general and that of Khanh Hoa Province for tour-guides who can speak Russian is increasing as Russia emerges as one of the top ten markets in terms of the number of tourists to Vietnam.
(Source: VEN)
With a long and clean coastline as well as lots of famous places such as Hon Mun Marine Protected Area, Hon Mot Island, Hon Tam Island, the Cham Po Nagar Towers, Institute of Oceanography, Hon Nhi Island, Hoa Lan Stream Tourist Site, Yangbay Waterfall, and Vinpearl Land, the city of Nha Trang and Khanh Hoa Province in general have increasingly brought into play its advantages to promote tourism development. The image of Nha Trang has become increasingly familiar to foreign tourists, especially Russian tourists.
In late October 2011, Russia's OrenAir Airlines began to offer direct flights between the city of Krasnoyarsk to Cam Ranh International Airport in Khanh Hoa, serving tourists from the Far East Region of Russia who toured the Vietnamese cities of Nha Trang and Phan Thiet during their winter vacation. Currently, OrenAir Airlines offers one round-trip flight to Cam Ranh International Airport everyday and in the future, it will expand this service to serve tourists from nine cities in the Far East Region of Russia such as Khabarovsk, Vladivostoks, Novosibirsk and Kemerovo. Pegas Turistik, a Russian travel company, currently arranges nine flights from the Far East Region of Russia to the Cam Ranh International Airport every week, 70 percent of whom stay in Nha Trang.
Truong Dang Tuyen, the director of the Khanh Hoa Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, said that in the first six months of 2012, the province received more than 1.12 million tourists, up 8.14 percent compared with the same period last year, including 266,000 foreign tourists, up 36 percent, with their stay in the locality totaling about 2.6 million days, up 18.67 percent. Total revenue from tourism reached an estimated VND1.24 trillion, up 15.6 percent. This year, Khanh Hoa expects to welcome about 2.35 million tourists, including 500,000 foreign tourists; and revenue of the provincial tourism sector is projected to reach VND2.5 trillion. Satisfactory results of the first six months have made Khanh Hoa's tourism sector confident of its ability to realize the targets set for the whole year. In the first half of 2012, the number of foreign tourists to the province increased and most of them were Russian tourists with a long stay. In the first six months of 2012, Khanh Hoa received about 35,000 Russian tourists, and in June alone, more than 2,500 Russian tourists came to Nha Trang. The Kemerovo Airport of Russia has launched a new flight route to Cam Ranh. Last year, Khanh Hoa was visited by more than 60,000 Russian tourists.
Russian tourist Sergei Udovichenko said that Vietnam remained an attractive destination for Russian tourists. The cost of tours to Vietnam and prices while in the country remain reasonable and security in Vietnam is ensured; Vietnam has lots of beautiful tourist sites; Russian tourists enjoy the sea in Nha Trang and highly appreciate the hotels and restaurants for their quality services. Exhibitions and tourism promotion activities in Russia have made Vietnam and Nha Trang known to a growing number of Russian tourists. Most Russian tourists like swimming in sea, sunbathing and enjoying seafood.
Survey results show that Russian tourists account for a considerable percentage of tourists staying in Nha Trang's hotels such as Michelia, Sunrise and Yasaka Saigon. At Yasaka Saigon for example, Russian tourists account for 40 percent. Natasha, a Russian person who works in the field of tourism, said that Russian tourists like the weather and the sea in Nha Trang as well as tourist sites in the city such as Nha Phu Lagoon, Hon Mun Island, Hon Nhi Island and the Cham Po Nagar Towers. Russian tourists highly appreciate security and service quality in Nha Trang and they are willing to introduce it to their friends and relatives. Russian tourists are generous and this is a favorable condition for Nha Trang to increase revenue from tourism.
Many tourist sites as well as hotels and restaurants in Nha Trang provide tourists with information in Russian about things such as tour-guides, services and menu. The demand of the Vietnamese tourism sector in general and that of Khanh Hoa Province for tour-guides who can speak Russian is increasing as Russia emerges as one of the top ten markets in terms of the number of tourists to Vietnam.
(Source: VEN)
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Workshop on Vietnam Tourism Marketing and Tourism Branding
(TITC) – On August 7, in Hanoi, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme (ESRT) organized a workshop on Vietnam Tourism Marketing and Tourism Branding.
It was a part of ESRT’s activities supporting in the development of Vietnam Tourism Marketing Plan period 2013 – 2015, vision 2030. The event attracted the presence of VNAT’s leaders, directors and staff of VNAT’s departments and ESRT programme’s professionals.
Speaking at the workshop, General Director of VNAT Nguyen Van Tuan said that National Tourism Development Strategy 2011-2020, vision 2030 has been approved by Prime Minister and VNAT has been deploying activities to realize the strategy objectives, in which building and implementing marketing plan plays an importance role.
In the workshop, ESRT international professionals presented issues on tourism marketing and branding for Vietnam. They stressed that in current changing situation, Vietnam’s tourism sector should re-organize marketing and promotional plans, researching market, focuse investment, increasing promotion via internet… Based on the core message of “Vietnam – Timeless charm”, the sector should develop various branch – messages to promote different tourist products…
Deputy General Director of VNAT Hoang Thi Diep said in order to have good tourism brand, it is necessary to build good tourism products that satisfy customers. Provided limited budget, VNAT should select and implement different marketing methods effectively, paying attention to the role of the internet, renovating VNAT’s website to enhance promotion effectiveness; focusing on human resources training.
It was a part of ESRT’s activities supporting in the development of Vietnam Tourism Marketing Plan period 2013 – 2015, vision 2030. The event attracted the presence of VNAT’s leaders, directors and staff of VNAT’s departments and ESRT programme’s professionals.
Speaking at the workshop, General Director of VNAT Nguyen Van Tuan said that National Tourism Development Strategy 2011-2020, vision 2030 has been approved by Prime Minister and VNAT has been deploying activities to realize the strategy objectives, in which building and implementing marketing plan plays an importance role.
In the workshop, ESRT international professionals presented issues on tourism marketing and branding for Vietnam. They stressed that in current changing situation, Vietnam’s tourism sector should re-organize marketing and promotional plans, researching market, focuse investment, increasing promotion via internet… Based on the core message of “Vietnam – Timeless charm”, the sector should develop various branch – messages to promote different tourist products…
Deputy General Director of VNAT Hoang Thi Diep said in order to have good tourism brand, it is necessary to build good tourism products that satisfy customers. Provided limited budget, VNAT should select and implement different marketing methods effectively, paying attention to the role of the internet, renovating VNAT’s website to enhance promotion effectiveness; focusing on human resources training.
Mekong Delta attracts nearly 13 million visitors
The Mekong River Delta drew 1.8 million foreign arrivals in July, raising the total number of visitors since the beginning of the year to 12.8 million, up 6 percent from a year ago.
The tourism industry brought VND2.6 trillion to the region, a year-on-year increase of 25 percent.
According to the Mekong River Delta Tourism Association, regional provinces have collaborated with each other to upgrade infrastructure, produce new tourism products and attract more investment for developing tourism in the 2010-2015 period.
Each province focuses on promoting specific key tourism products, for instance waterway tourism and festivals in Can Tho and An Giang, convalescence in Kien Giang, tours of Vietnam’s southern tip and eco-tourism in Ca Mau and cultural festivals of the Khmer ethnic group in Soc Trang.
Along with upgrading tourism infrastructure, these localities also develop particular specialty products such as fine arts and handicrafts, fruit, fish sauce and confectioneries.
(Source: VOV)
The tourism industry brought VND2.6 trillion to the region, a year-on-year increase of 25 percent.
According to the Mekong River Delta Tourism Association, regional provinces have collaborated with each other to upgrade infrastructure, produce new tourism products and attract more investment for developing tourism in the 2010-2015 period.
Each province focuses on promoting specific key tourism products, for instance waterway tourism and festivals in Can Tho and An Giang, convalescence in Kien Giang, tours of Vietnam’s southern tip and eco-tourism in Ca Mau and cultural festivals of the Khmer ethnic group in Soc Trang.
Along with upgrading tourism infrastructure, these localities also develop particular specialty products such as fine arts and handicrafts, fruit, fish sauce and confectioneries.
(Source: VOV)
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Life along the Mekong to be on TV
A filmmaking team from Thailand recently began to shot the first
scenes of a documentary featuring the daily life of Vietnamese people
living on the banks of the Mekong River .
The footage will be aired in mid-June on Thai PBS Television in a programme entitled The Rivers of Life.
"The programme aims to capture the most lively scenes of people's daily lives in Southeast Asia and the Mekong River as a means to encourage more knowledge of the river," said Peeyada Prasutsaengchan, head of the filmmaking team. "They will have then the responsibility to preserve the river's resources and develop its values," she added.
The one-hour programme has been shown every Friday at 10pm since April
13 of this year. It can be watched on the internet at
program.thaipbs.or.th/documentary or www.facebook.com/Theriveroflife.The footage will be aired in mid-June on Thai PBS Television in a programme entitled The Rivers of Life.
"The programme aims to capture the most lively scenes of people's daily lives in Southeast Asia and the Mekong River as a means to encourage more knowledge of the river," said Peeyada Prasutsaengchan, head of the filmmaking team. "They will have then the responsibility to preserve the river's resources and develop its values," she added.
This filmmaking team had visited Vietnam several times before to make documentary films all over the country. But this is the first time that Prasutsaengchan has come to Vietnam. "I am very impressed by the floating market in Soc Trang Province on the Mekong River . It offers many occasions for people from different regions to meet and exchange their goods," she said.
In her eyes, the Mekong Delta is like a "green dragon" full of vitality in the rainy season.
"With its potentialities, the delta could soon become an attractive tourist destination," she affirms.
Source: VNA
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