IPU delegates share their views on Vietnam

The participants also enjoyed a stage performance named “Colours of Vietnamese Ethnic Groups” introducing a number of traditional arts. Viet Nam News took the opportunity to ask some of the international guests about their impressions of Viet Nam.

Juan Pablo, Chile

“I have great impressions of Viet Nam. The country combines the old and the new. It has thousands of years of history but it is also a new nation of independence. Recent development has brought tremendous changes. I think this country has a lot of history, but is still a young nation.

“I’ve had a great time and feel a sense of expectation.

“This is my second visit to Viet Nam. Compared to my last time four years ago, I can see more buildings now. It’s a growing Viet Nam. Vietnamese are very proud of their culture, and they say it with pride.”

Stella Chungong, Switzerlands

“When I first landed in HCM City, my first impression was that the people here are very nice. Everybody is very helpful, very polite and very positive.

“Then I came to Ha Noi and learnt about the different seasons here and how it moves from spring to summer.

“Before my trip, I knew that the food here is great because near my house in Geneva, there is a Vietnamese restaurant and I used to go to sometimes. The food there is very nice, but the food here is even better than Geneva.

“Today we went to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and learnt about the history of his life. I was so touched because it’s very rare to find a great man like that. And he gave so much for the people.

“When I return to Geneva, I will tell my friends that they should visit Viet Nam where the people are warm and the food is good. There are also a lot of things to learn and to see from the history and culture.”

Mwaula Solopi, Zambia

“Before coming here, I knew a very little thing about this country. I want to learn more about the culture. There is a lot of development that I want to know about.

“I can feel the warm atmosphere from how people treat me here. You can’t get this from a book. You have to really come and experience it yourself.

“When I get back to my country, I will tell people that Viet Nam is a place you much visit. It is a long journey from my country, but it’s worth it.”

Batzandan Jalbasuren, Mongolia

“Viet Nam has become a destination for many official events such as this Inter-Parliamentary Union General Assembly and I think the country has a great future.

“The food here is delicious. In Mongolia, people really like pho, which is quite similar to Mongolian traditional soup. I see that Vietnamese people are like Mongolians. There are many similarities between us.

Iman Altarawneh, Jordan

“I like the culture here. Vietnamese people are helpful and friendly. Viet Nam also has a very nice nature. I like the food here.

“If I want something special in my country, I will try Vietnamese food. There are some Vietnamese restaurants in the Middle East, especially in Dubai.”

Petra Osarsson, Sweden

“This is the first time I have been to Viet Nam. We are staying in a hotel in central Ha Noi. I have had a chance to see the daily life of people around my hotel. I feel Vietnamese people are very hospitable. It is interesting to find that Vietnamese people often live in big families.”

IPU delegates share their views on Vietnam

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Hanoi 4th in top travel destinations 2015

Vietnam’s capital city Hanoi came fourth on the list, based on millions of reviews and opinions from travellers.

Hanoiis described on TripAdvisor as a place with long-standing charm andbeauty with its preserved Old Quarter and assorted monuments andcolonial architecture with mixed modern designs.

The city also features lakes, parks, shady boulevards and more than 600 temples and pagodas.

Morocco’sMarrakech topped the list, followed by Cambodia’s Siem Reap andTurkey’s Istanbul. Also included in the top 10 are the Czech Republic’sPrague, Britain’s London, Italy’s Rome, Argentina’s Buenos Aires,France’s Paris, and South Africa’s Cape Town.

Hanoi 4th in top travel destinations 2015

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Cua Lo readies for a summer tourism festival

Chairman of the Cua Lo Town People’s Committee, Doan Tien Dung, confirmed this when announcing a tourism festival would open in the town on April 30, the day that marks the 40th anniversary of the country’s reunification (April 30, 1975). The festival will feature various activities including a dragon boat race on May 1.

Dung said the town has organised various tours including Cua Lo-Nam Dan (the motherland of former President Ho Chi Minh), Cua Lo-Lam River-Cui Temple and Cua Lo-Vinh City-Kim Lien Village-Pu Mat Primitive Forest tours, and a cruise to Lan Chau Island, Tortoise Cave and Fairy Island.

He said the town has added 500 more rooms to accommodate 19,000 guests per night. Its first four-star hotel, Muong Thanh, will open during the festival. The hotel has 249 sea-facing rooms, and is located 10km from the Vinh airport and 15km from the Vinh railway station.

Cua Lo readies for a summer tourism festival

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Vietnam province justifies controversial cable car project at world’s largest cave

Son Doong Cave in Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park, the central province of Quang Binh. Photo credit: phongnhatourism

Tourism authorities in the central province of Quang Binh have again defended a controversial plan to build a US$212-million cable car at Son Doong Cave, saying the media has misunderstood it.

A province tourism official told a meeting last week that the nearly 11-kilometer cable car system to be built by Da Nang-based real estate and resort developer Sun Group would be above the trees in the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park and end 300-600 meters from the cave and not right at the entrance as the media reported.

The telpher would allow tourists to admire the landscapes from above, he added.

A plan first unveiled by Quang Binh authorities in last October envisaged the cable system ending inside Son Doong.

But a few weeks later authorities changed their description, saying it would link the cave with another cave called Tien Son.

But critics were not mollified and said it would still harm the environment.

Sun Group has not made any comment.

Quang Binh vice chairman Tran Tien Dung said at the meeting, held to promote the province’s tourism in Ho Chi Minh City, that the investor has done little except sending some foreign experts to do the environmental impact assessment for the project.

Sun Group is supposed to do many things to get approvals from government agencies and international organizations like UNESCO in order to undertake such a large project in a national park, he said.

The plan’s supporters have said the cable car would encourage more tourists to explore the cave.

Amid the controversy, the tourism ministry last November called on provincial authorities and the investor to do further research before embarking on the project.

Cave sells

Son Doong is now a big attraction with global media agencies and film studios taking interest in it, Dung said at the meeting, adding that though a tour there lasting just a few days costs up to US$3,000, it is fully booked until year end.

Nearly 2.75 million tourists visited the province last year, double the number from the year before.

Low-cost carrier VietJet Air plans to launch daily flights between Ho Chi Minh City and the Quang Binh’s capital Dong Hoi starting April 29, Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon Online reported, adding that the carrier is also planning to fly to the town from Hanoi.

State-owned Vietnam Airlines and another no-frills carrier, Jetstar Pacific are increasing their flights between HCMC and Dong Hoi, it said.

There is also a growing interest in Quang Binh among Hollywood filmmakers, according to the province’s tourism authorities and tour operator.

Nguyen A, chairman of Oxalis, the sole tour operator for Son Doong, said part of a new King Kong movie will be shot in Minh Hoa District and Tan Hoa Commune this year end.

Located in the UNESCO-recognized Phong Nha – Ke Bang, Son Doong was opened to tourists in 2013, four years after members of the British Cave Research Association finished their exploration and named it the world’s largest cave.

The five kilometer-long cave, which is 150 meters high and 200 meters wide, has at least 150 individual caves, a dense subterranean jungle and several underground rivers.

Vietnam province justifies controversial cable car project at world’s largest cave

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Saigon cruise operators sail to new dock in worries

A file photo of hydrofoil is seen anchored at Bach Dang Wharf, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo credit: Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon Online

After a two-and-half-month delay, the operators of tourist cruises and hydrofoils in Ho Chi Minh City announced that they are finally moving from a downtown wharf to a nearby dock on Tuesday.

The operators are worried that the forced relocation, to facilitate the renovation of the old wharf, will affect their business.

The new station is located at the Saigon Port in District 4, just more than one kilometer away from Bach Dang Wharf in District 1, news website Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon Online reported on Monday.

The city’s authorities initially ordered the operators to move out of the main tourist wharf by January 1 so they could close it for an upgrade.

But the deadline was later pushed to January 15 and then to the end of March, after the businesses complained that they had trouble in finding alternative docks.

The boat operators were quoted as saying in the news website that even though they have found the new home, they are worried that the adjustment will affect their business, because the dock’s location is not convenient.

Before the closure, Bach Dang was possibly the only place in the city where cruisers provided city river tours and river dining services. It was home to around 40 boats which served thousands of tourists a day.

Some service providers said they had operated at the wharf for more than 20 years.

Saigon cruise operators sail to new dock in worries

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Sigh of relief among travelers as Vietnam scraps plan for airport maintenance

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam said it will not approve a proposal for the maintenance of Tan Son Nhat International Airport in a two-month period which may lead to thousands of passengers being grounded during the peak season.

Previously, the Airports Corporation of Vietnam submitted to the aviation authority a plan to fix the airport’s runways between April 10 and June 25.

The plan received negative reviews from some air carriers, which claimed huge losses caused by the cut of flights during the maintenance period, which falls in the peak season due to the summer vacation and a six-day holiday.

Nguoi Lao Dong (Laborer) newspaper reported on Tuesday that Vietnam will not go ahead with the plan.

This year Vietnamese will have a six-day holiday from April 28 to May 3 to celebrate Hung Kings’ Festival and pay tribute to the mythical founders of the nation, Reunification Day on April 30, and Labor Day.

According to the aviation authority, Tan Son Nhat International Airport would see around 80 flights cut and 10,000 passengers unable to fly each day if the repair was made.

Sigh of relief among travelers as Vietnam scraps plan for airport maintenance

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TrspanvelPlus shortlists VNA"s spanmenity bspang for spanwspanrd

A business class kit of Vietnam Airlines. — Photo courtesy of VNA

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — National carrier Vietnam Airlines’ (VNA) business class amenity bag has been shortlisted for the 2014 Airline Amenity Bag Awards by TravelPlus, a prestigious global luxury travel magazine.

The VNA is one of five airlines from Asia and Australia to be shortlisted. The other four are Sri Lankan Airlines, Virgin Australia, EVA Airlines and Malaysian Airlines.

The winners of the highly coverted Airline Amenity Bag Awards will be announced at an awards reception, to be held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Hamburg on April 14, 2015, alongside the annual Worldwide Travel and Catering Expo. The awards ceremony itself is considered to be one of the best networking opportunities in the industry.

The business class amenity bag is a small part of the VNA’s itinerary for improving passenger services, and becoming an airline offering four-star quality services. — VNS

Nguồn: bizhub

TrspanvelPlus shortlists VNA"s spanmenity bspang for spanwspanrd

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