Binh Dinh: Intact beaches appeal to foreign visitors

Bai Xep, a small fishing village 10 km south of Quy Nhon, has been onthe radar for around five years, as it is endowed with a dazzling goldenbeach, clean water and little offshore islands. Living with locals isthe most popular choice of accommodation in the town.

Steve Knight, a former English tourist who owns a hostel in Bai Xep, said 70 percent of his guests were foreigners.

J.D. Knox, a 22-year-old Canadian, considered his trip to Bai Xep, wherehe tried paddling a local basket fishing boat for the first time,unforgettable.

Many independent travellers now put the intact and imposing Eo Gio Beachin Quy Nhon’s Nhon Ly commune on their lists. Eo Gio Beach is renownedfor its blue sea and uneven landscape as a must-go destination. There isno commercial accommodation at the site, so it is ideal for pitchingtents and spending the night on the beach.

According to Nguyen Thi Xuan Lan, Vice Chairwoman of the provincialtourism association, an estimated 171,500 foreign tourist arrivals wererecorded in 2014. This was an annual increase of 24 percent.

In response to the growing trend, members of her agency are creatingadditional tourism packages to discover nature, local craft villages andmartial art clubs, among other things.

Binh Dinh: Intact beaches appeal to foreign visitors

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Cultural centre opens at Hue royal office site

VietNamNet Bridge – The Hue Monuments Conservation Centre has opened a new culture centre for tourists at a historic site that had been an office during the Hue royal dynasty.

Iconic headwear: A woman demonstrates traditional way to make a bamboo conical hat. — Photo dantri.vn

The site is located at 79 Nguyen Chi Dieu Street, Hue City.

The complex had once housed offices of six governing agencies of the Nguyen dynasty, similar to the present ministries of home affairs, education, culture, defence, transportation and law.

Also at the location, a school was built in 1879 by King Tu Duc (1829-83), and was called Chanh Mong Duong, for his adopted son Dong Khanh’s (1864-89).

In 1881, King Tu Duc built another school building in the complex called Duc Duc Duong for another adopted son, Duc Duc (1853-83).

King Thanh Thai (1879-1954) later changed the name of the complex to Ton Hoc. At that time the area was used as an office for mandarins in charge of education and training.

In 1968, the complex was used as the office for the local department of War Invalids and Social Affaires. Over the years, many structures within the complex had fallen into disrepair and were repeatedly renovated. In 2005, the complex was handed over to the Hue Monuments Conservations Centre.

Earlier this year, the complex was again renovated and is now a cultural centre for local residents and tourists.

Among the new activities to take place at the complex, the centre will host tea processing ceremonies using traditional ingredients, as prescribed by the Nguyen dynasty’s doctors, as well as offer delicacies from the dynasty, such as royal wine and royal medicines.

Handicraft demonstrations will also be held to display bamboo conical hats, Hue rice cakes, bamboo wares, paper flowers, lotus-scented tea, and pet birds.

VNS

Cultural centre opens at Hue royal office site

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Culture Week commemorates poet

VietNamNet Bridge – A special performance has opened Culture Tourism Week to commemorate Vietnamese celebrated poet Nguyen Du (1766-1820) in his homeland in the central province of Ha Tinh’s Nghi Xuan District.

Nguyen Du’s legacy: People visit an outdoor exhibition showcasing 150 oil paintings illustrating of The Tale of Kieu by Nguyen Du. The exhibition is part several activities held during the Culture Tourism Week to commemorate Vietnamese celebrated poet Nguyen Du in his homeland in the central province of Ha Tinh’s Nghi Xuan District. — VNA/VNS Photo

Staged by 100 artists, the performance highlighted significant cultural and historical values of the region, but also honoured the legacy of Nguyen Du, who was honoured as a World Cultural Figure by the UN cultural agency UNICEF.

The Culture Tourism Week is part of a series of cultural activities aiming to celebrate and cherish his life and works on the occasion of his 250th birthday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony on Saturday night Chairman of Nghi Xuan District’s People Committee Nguyen Hai Nam expressed his pride of the sacred region, which was home to many great figures of the nation, including Nguyen Du and Nguyen Cong Tru (1778-1858) – a general, economist and poet.

Also on Saturday night, generous donors contributed nearly VND1.3 billion (about US$57,700) for the Nguyen Du Study Encouragement Fund to support outstanding students as well as poor children living in Ha Tinh Province.

An exhibition on the theme of Nguyen Du’ literature legacy and his classical epic poem The Tale of Kieu has also been opened to the public.

In addition, 150 oil paintings illustrating of The Tale of Kieu are on display, and the exhibition showcases a collection of versions of The Tale of Kieu printed in different languages such as English, French, German, Russian and Japanese.

A stamp collection commemorating the anniversary will be released during the event, and the agenda also includes a folk music festival gathering art troupes from the Red River Delta and the northern-central region.

VNS

Culture Week commemorates poet

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Granting certificate of Green Lotus Label for 33 accommodations

Deputy General Director of VNAT, Mr. Ngo Hoai Chung spoke at the conference

The sustainable tourism Green Lotus Label (Green Lotus Label), issued by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MOCST) in 2012, is a set of 81 criteria, 5 levels from one to five green lotuses which was piloted applying for tourist accommodations in Viet Nam in past 3 years.

The accommodations granted Green Lotus Label have to meet standards on environmental protection in professional ways such as applying new technology and using renewable energy efficiently to reduce negative impacts on the environment; in addition to providing training courses, popularizing documents for staffs, setting up websites to update information and regulations on environmental conservation.

Overview of the conference

However, most of accommodations granted the certificate are located in large cities and provinces namely Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Thua Thien Hue, Khanh Hoa or Binh Thuan. Therefore in the coming time, other localities should be more active to popularize benefits of the Green Lotus Label to tourist accommodations, Vice Chairwoman of Hotel Department (VNAT), Ms. Nguyen Thanh Binh said.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy General Director of VNAT, Mr. Ngo Hoai Chung emphasized that applying the Green Lotus Label not only contributes to sustainable development of tourist accommodations, but also adapts to demand of international integration. Due to the conference, VNAT will revise the set of criteria and submit for MOCST’s approval to officially apply for all accommodations nationwide.

Fact-finding trip at Sheraton Hanoi Hotel

On this occasion, representatives of Sheraton Hanoi Hotel, Hue Vilgrimage Village, Grand Hotel Saigon shared their experience on environmental protection and energy saving. The delagates also had a fact-finding trip at Sheraton Hanoi Hotel on the same day.

Thanh Tam

Photo: Thu Thuy

Granting certificate of Green Lotus Label for 33 accommodations

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HCM City boosts tourism cooperation with Japanese region

Visitors at the Japanese Cultural Park in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: VNA)

Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan made the remark while receiving Governor of Hyogo prefecture Ido Toshizo on November 28.

Quan said he hopes more tourists from Kansai region will visit HCM City in the coming time. He invited Japanese businesses to attend the city’s annual international tourism fair in September to boost bilateral cooperation in the field.

Governor Ido Toshizo said a number of programmes have been held in Viet Nam to promote Kansai to Vietnamese people. The region hopes to greet more Vietnamese tourists in the time ahead, he added.

A business delegation from Hyogo prefecture has also conducted a trip to study investment environment in several Vietnamese localities, he noted.

The Governor expressed his delight at the growing economics and tourism ties between the two countries, which has helped increase mutual understanding and friendship.

In 2014, Japan welcomed nearly 130,000 tourists from Viet Nam. The figure is predicted to reach over 180,000 by the end of this year, he said, adding that the same period more than 830,000 Japanese visited Viet Nam and Ho Chi Minh City.

Currently, some 5,000-6,000 Japanese citizens are living and working in HCM City, Quan said, recognising the significant contributions of the Japanese business community, including enterprises from Kansai region, to the development of the city and Viet Nam at large.

HCM City boosts tourism cooperation with Japanese region

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Culture, tourism week honours poet Nguyen Du

A dancing performance at the week"s opening ceremony (Photo: VNA)

The week is part of a series of activities to celebrate the 250th birth anniversary of the great poet (1765 – 1820).

Opening the event, Chairman of Nghi Xuan People’s Committee Nguyen Hai Nam said the district is proud to be the homeland of Nguyen Du, whose outstanding works including “Truyen Kieu” (The Tale of Kieu) have brought fame to the land.

During the culture and tourism week, an exhibition hall on the literary heritage of Nguyen Du and “Truyen Kieu” will be inaugurated, and an amateur folk singing festival of the north central coast and Red River Delta regions will be held.

Notably, a grand ceremony commemorating the poet will be held on December 5 – the last day of the week.

Nguyen Du, also known as To Nhu or Thanh Hien, was recognised by UNESCO as a World Cultural Celebrity at its 37th General Conference session in Paris in 2013.

In 1965, he was also honoured as a world cultural celebrity by the World Peace Council along with eight others for his devotion to Vietnamese literature and the world’s culture.

“Truyen Kieu”, his most influential work, is a 3,254-line classic verse novel written in "luc bat", the form that consists of alternating lines of six and eight syllables, a traditional verse form of Viet Nam"s poetry.

Kieu"s story is vastly popular in Viet Nam; many people know the epic by heart and it has been translated into 20 different languages including French, Chinese, English, Russian and Japanese.

The 250th birth anniversary of Nguyen Du is being observed at the national level as decided by the Party Secretariat in August 2014.

Culture, tourism week honours poet Nguyen Du

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Ha Noi fosters implementation of Resolution on Tourism Development

Being the pioneer in the dissemination and introduction of Resolution, Ha Noi Tourism Association timely deployed activities in the Resolution and required local tourism businesses to focus on enhancing service quality, applying flexible solutions to ensure sustainability and long-term growth.

To effectively implement the Resolution, there should be close coordination between all levels and sectors, especially local governments and media press.

If the Resolution is well carried out, the competitiveness capacity of the “smokeless industry sector” will be enhanced significantly.

Pham Thanh

Ha Noi fosters implementation of Resolution on Tourism Development

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