Yen Bai prepares to show off terraced fields to tourists

Yen Bai province in the north will organise a cultural and tourism event to promote its Mu Cang Chai terraced fields as a tourism destination.

The Sac Mau Tay Bac (The Northwest Colour) festival will be held from September 26 to 29 under the framework of the Culture, Sports and Tourism week highlighting the fields, which have been recognised a national landscape.

Organisers have asked several communes in the areas to prepare to display traditional local products like musical instrument, violet glutinous rice, folk remedy, wines, and “banh day” (a kind of glutinous rice cake).

Local ethnic communities will also showcase their traditional brocade, embroidery, honey, tea traditional herbal medicines, and others.

The event is expected to be held from September 27 to 30.

Mu Cang Chai’s 2,300ha of terraced fields have been cultivated by the H’Mong people for hundreds of years.

In recent years it has become a popular tourist destination.-

Travel companies offer discount tours at Int’l Travel Expo

At the ‘International Travel Expo Ho Chi Minh City 2013’, currently on at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in District 7 in Ho Chi Minh City from September 12-14, travel agents are offering many attractive promotional packages.

At the three day event themed ‘Five Countries-One Destination’, the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines sold 31 international flight routes from Hanoi, HCMC, Da Nang and Nha Trang to 28 destinations in the world.

The round trip flights will cost from VND199,000 to VND8.36 million (from US$9.5 to $397). Upto 30 percent discounts were also offered on many domestic routes.

Saigontourist has launched special promotional autumn-winter domestic tours on international and domestic routes, with discounts of almost VND6 million ($285).

Ben Thanh Travel Company is offering tours to the North and Central Vietnam and the Mekong Delta during the flood season, with discounts of 20-30 percent. Viettravel too is offered discounts on tours across the country.

More Russian tourists flock to Vietnam

A conference on Vietnam-Russia tourism development cooperation was held in Ho Chi Minh City on September 12.

The event aimed to deploy the tourism development cooperation agreement signed in May 2013 between the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Russian National Tourist Office.

Participants were introduced to Russia’s tourism market, Vietnam’s destinations and tourism policies to attract Russian tourists.

Russia has topped the list of countries having largest numbers of tourists to Vietnam. Last year saw as many as 174,000 Russian arrivals in Vietnam, up 71% on the previous year. In the first seven months of this year, the figure rose 57% to 170,000 compared to the same period last year.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ho Anh Tuan said tourism promotion requires closer ties between management agencies, local authorities, diplomatic missions, business community and people in the two countries.

Both sides should create favorable conditions for travel agencies to boost the exchange of tourists under new cooperation programmes, he said.

For its part, Tuan added, Vietnam will create favourable conditions for them to do business effectively.

Tourism businesses struggle to compete

Trademark building is an important lever for the development for tourism industry, but many local tourism businesses find themselves in a weak position to have a leg up on international competition.

It was not until 2006 that the tourism sector began realizing the importance of building brands and trademarks. Most domestic tourism businesses have made no mention of branding in their own development strategies and many still equate “branding” with the simplistic name, logo, and advertising conception. Only some successful companies like Saigontourist and Vietravel are industry outliers.

Saigontourist Vice Director Nguyen The Vinh says every brand is based on the quality of customer service. The company has tried its best to protect its reputation as a leader in serving customers. Saigontourist regularly sponsors its guides, drivers, and marketing staff to further their individual qualifications. Defending one’s reputation is all the more important than building it up in the first place.

Institute for Tourism Development Research Vice Director Pham Trung Luong says only a few businesses perceive investment in trademark promotion as a decisive factor behind their success.

Among them Danang’s Furama resort is widely known to be on par with Quang Binh province’s Sun Spa and Nha Trang’s Vinpearland in this connection.

Vietnam’s marine tourism managers are taking the lead in developing brand names with assistance from experienced foreign partners.

However, Luong says current policies and regulations remain a stumbling block to many other tourism businesses as they are allowed to spend just 5 percent of their revenue on promotion and advertising. And most of them are small and medium-sized businesses

Vietravel Director Nguyen Quoc Ky suggests that they should join hands to bring into full play the huge potential of local tourism industry based on strategic roadmap to build their own brand names and trademarks.

Viet Nam appeals to Aus investors

Viet Nam, with a population of around 90 million, strong economic growth and close proximity to China, is one of the most appealing markets in Asia, according to the Australian Financial Review, a leading daily newspaper in Australia.

Australia's assistance with the construction of MyThuan Bridge in the south of Viet Nam still positively affects commercial dealings in the rapidly developing country, according to the Financial Review.

The bridge over the Mekong River links Tien Giang and Vinh Long provinces and was completed more than a decade ago as a joint venture between the Australian and Vietnamese governments.

According to the article, it boosted Australia's reputation in Viet Nam and helped Australian companies gain a foothold in the growing market.

Thailand hopes for tourism link-up

Tourism officials from Thailand are taking steps to increase tourism between the country and Viet Nam through a number of measures, including visa agreements between regional countries.

Thai officials, speaking to the Vietnamese media after opening their booth at the International Travel Expo HCM City 2013 yesterday, said such measures would promote infrastructure development and cultural exchange between Viet Nam and Thailand.

"Thailand will help bring Vietnamese tourists to Thailand and more Thai tourists to Viet Nam as well, because the country has several beautiful tourist destinations, such as Ha Long Bay in the northern region," said Sombat Kuruphan, vice minister for Tourism and Sports of Thailand.

Thailand has signed an agreement with Cambodia known as the ACMECS Single Visa that enables tourists from 35 countries and territories to use a single visa when entering the two countries.

"Right now, we are in the pilot period for the cooperation project to have single visa with Cambodia," said Urairatana Naothaworn, director of Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sports international affairs division.

"We are waiting for Viet Nam to join this. In a recent meeting, Thailand urged other remaining countries including Laos, Viet Nam, and Myanmar to join the scheme," she added.

She said such a visa scheme, whether joint visas or visa exemptions, would increase international visitors to Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Viet Nam.

Regarding the rise of tourists to Thailand, she said the country no longer focuses on the number of tourists but rather on the kind of tourist who visits.

"We need quality," she added. Thailand has set an annual revenue target of 2.2 trillion baht (US$70 billion) from its tourism industry.

Because Viet Nam and Thailand are members of ASEAN, it is simple for tourists from either country to visit.

"I hope in the future that tourists from third countries will be able to travel through the countries easier," she said.

According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand in HCM City, in the first seven months of the year, Thailand received 443,131 Vietnamese visitors, a rise of 16.31 per cent over the same period last year.

The economic slowdown in Viet Nam in the last several years has increased short-haul holidays, especially to Thailand.

Five commercial airlines and two low-cost carriers operate 112 flights per week with a capacity of 30,247 seats between Viet Nam and Thailand.

Apart from better flight connections, overland travel is becoming a favourable option because many roads cross from Viet Nam into Cambodia, Laos and end in Thailand.

Caravan travelling has become more popular as incomes have risen, with more people owning luxury cars and motorbikes.

Recently, Viet Nam and Thailand signed a memorandum of understanding to target 1 million Thai and Vietnamese tourists by 2015 and increase cooperation between the tourism industries of both countries

Vietnam Airlines opens Hong Kong-Cam Ranh route

The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Khanh Hoa Province has agreed to open a direct air route from Hong Kong to Cam Ranh International Airport from November.

The numbers of tourists from Hong Kong (China) to Khanh Hoa Province have seen a phenomenal rise and to meet a surging demand, Vietnam Airlines will open direct air flights from Hong Kong to Cam Ranh International Airport.

Khanh Hoa Province is expecting to welcome thousands of visitors from Hong Kong in 2013.