Intenational visitor arrivals up in low season

Nearly 376,000 international visitors have arrived in the country this month, a 7% rise from last month and a 34.6% year-on-year pickup, though this is a low season, said the National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

The low season of the inbound section is from April to August with visitor arrivals often falling month by month.

According to a report by the General Statistics Office, the country has attracted 2.51 million foreign visitors in the first half of this year, up 32.6% year-on-year.

The tourism sector has posted double-digit growth in visitors from key Asian markets such as China, South Korea and Japan. China has remained the biggest market for the tourism sector, with 437,000 Chinese coming to the country in the year to date, up 92.5%.

Far-away markets like the U.S. and France have registered lower growth. Nearly 231,000 Americans have toured Vietnam, up 3.5% year-on-year, while French tourists have numbered 101,000, a 10.4% improvement.

As the country’s biggest tourism center, HCMC says it has received around 1.5 million foreign visitors in the six months, up 12% from a year ago.

Vo Anh Tai, director of Saigontourist Travel Service Co., told the Daily that the company had served about 71,000 foreign tourists so far this year, with growth ranging from 10% to 15% depending on markets.

“This is the good growth rate compared to the same period of 2009 but it is still far from the levels recorded in 2007-2008,” he said.

He noted his company had seen no recovery in tourist numbers from some source markets like the U.S. and Europe since the financial crisis.

Unlike Tai, Bui Viet Thuy Tien, managing director of Asian Trails Co., said her business this year had yet to get back to normal. “It’s boring. Our guests in May were down 12% from May last year. The MICE segment is a single bright spot,” she said.

Tien said the company had taken orders to serve groups of MICE travelers in the high season this year.

Both Tai and Tien said their companies expected better performance late this year but the market would not be returning to the level of 2007.

Hue Festival closes on a high

The Hue Festival, a themed Cultural Heritage activity with Integration and Development, closed on June 14, with international friends from all over the world saying they were deeply moved by the event.

"This is one of the best times I've had in Vietnam," said Mexican flamenco guitarist Paco Renteria. "I feel a sweet connection between my heart and Vietnamese hearts."

"The people are so beautiful," he said. "It's not only on stage but also at the hotel and in the streets. Everywhere they say hello to me."

US pianist Carol Williams said: "I love the audience here; who else will come out in the rain to see us perform like they did?"

"We love the city too, we really do," she said. "It's wonderful for us to be here to experience this way of life."

Gustav Rasmussen, leader of the prestigious funk band MI22 from Denmark, had this to say: "It was incredible! We could even see the temples from the stages."

The artists were just some of many who felt a profound happiness, as during the nine-day festival they shared their time with locals and tourists during a variety of festivities in both traditional and modern genres.

Major traditional spectacles included the Imperial Night, Voyage to Reclaim the Country's Land and Legends of the Huong (Perfume) River, in addition to Russian ballets, Indian ritual dances, performances with bold tropical scents from the Caribbean Pearl and many other shows.

Ngo Hoa, Vice Chairman of the Thua Thien-Hue Province People's Committee, announced that the festival was a brilliant success, and had seen a true harmonisation of traditional and modern factors.

"Different cultures converged during the festival with their own nuances, but in the end they all demonstrated the spirit of exchanges, solidarity, integration and development," said Hoa.

"For the past 10 years, the festival has become a link between the past, the present and the future of the city," said Nguyen Duy Hien, Deputy Head of the Hue Festival organising board. "It has also helped integrate the city with other parts of the nation, and the world."

This year 70 arts troupes from nearly 30 countries brought hundreds of unique art programmes to the festival. Over 6,500 artists, actors and actresses, along with around 3 million people, attended the event through community and fringe activities.

More than 500 journalists from 80 media and press agencies were also present at the event, and the city hosted roughly 120,400 domestic and nearly 28,600 foreign tourists.

Hoa expressed his gratitude to foreign embassies and artists who helped diversify the festivities during the event. He also gave a special thanks to the French partners who had been with the Hue Festival since the first event.

"It's time to say good-bye but what the festival has brought to us will never fade away," Hoa said. "This is motivation for the province to preserve and promote the country's cultural and artistic values, along with the tourism industry and socio-economic development."

The closing ceremony yesterday was highlighted by an ode to the poetic beauty of the Huong River and a friendly and peaceful Vietnam. Flower garlands, coloured lanterns and fireworks blended into the night sky as a farewell until the 2012 rendezvous.

"I don't want to come here just one time; I want to come back, maybe in the next six to twelve months," said Paco. "I need more connections like the beautiful connections I have had."

French media descends upon Hue

A gaggle of French print and electronic-media journalists have been in the central city of Hue since the beginning of this month to report on culture and tourism in the heritage city.
They are from leading newspapers like Le Monde and L’Express and channels like France Television, TV Matin, and TV Escale.

With the help of Trinh Bach, a researcher of Hue culture, they have been exploring elements of the city’s culture, including popular and royal architecture, and interviewing craftspeople and people who lived when the last feudal dynasty was still ruling in the 1940’s.

Bach himself featured in a show on his work to restore traditional Vietnamese cultural values by the tourism channel TV Escale.

Bach is renowned for reviving lost crafts like palace-style hand embroidery, china-making, and wood and silver carving. He has also successfully restored the elaborate costumes worn by kings and queens of Nguyen Dynasty.

The TV shows on Hue will be broadcast in September.

Photo contest to feature dynamic and friendly Vietnam

The third “Vietnam Today” photo contest themed “Dynamic and friendly Vietnam” was kicked off in Hanoi on June 15.

Editor-in-chief of The gioi Anh (World Photo) magazine Pham Van Hien, who is also head of the contest’s organising board, said that entries would depict the beauties of Vietnamese land and people, business activities and the national economic development in global integration.

Addressing the launching ceremony, President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc said that the contest - a playground for local photographers to show their skills - will help illustrate the capital city’s historic traditions on the occasion of the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The contest is a biennial event held by the World Photo under the sponsorship of the VCCI and the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists with the two previous contests attracting more than 10,000 entries.

Colour and black-and-white photos should be submitted prior to November 30, 2010. An award ceremony and photo exhibition will be held in Hanoi in December 2010.

Navi Oil Port receives 2,100 foreign visitors

Saigontourist has received 2,100 foreign visitors from Italy, Spain, the UK and Germany on board a Costa Romantica Cruise Ship.

After docking at Navi Oil Port in Ho Chi Minh City on June 15, they visited some tourist sites in the city, Cu Chi tunnels, My Tho and Tien Giang. On the same day, the ship left Ho Chi Minh City for Danang to continue a tour of Danang, Hoi An, My Son and Hue.

Earlier on June 14, Saigontourist welcomed a Costa Classica Cruise Ship with 1,500 international passengers on board who visited Halong, Danang, and Hoi An in two days.

Since the beginning of this year, Saigontourist has received more than 40,000 international visitors traveling on luxury ships, such as Costa Classia, Costa Allegra, SuperStar Virogo, Amadea, Columbus and Europa.

Phu Quoc Island becomes world-famous tourist destination

Vietnamese Prime Minister recently released Decision 633/QD-TTg stating that Phu Quoc would become a special economic and administrative center for Vietnam.

Following the prime minister-approved adjusted master plan to develop Phu Quoc Island through 2030, the island would also become the home for domestic and international resorts, urban development, as well as a forest and marine preservation center.

The Phu Quoc Island, also known as Dao Ngoc ( Pearl Island ), for its famous pearls, has the potential to become a major tourist centre within the country. Located in southwestern Kien Giang Province, 45km from the mainland, the 565sq.km island owns 32,000 hectares of pristine forests, beautiful and clean beaches, and undamaged coral reefs. ABC News selected Bai Dai Beach (Long Beach) as one of the five most beautiful and clean beaches in the world, though it is not well known outside Vietnam.

District Phu Quoc party committee secretary Van Ha Phong said the Kien Giang People’s Committee 52 domestic and foreign-invested projects have been licensed so far, with a total capital of VND43 trillion. Seven of these, including Berjaya, Long Beach, Veranda and Miramar have become operational.

Along with appealing to investors to build tourism facilities, the development of Phu Quoc into a financial and banking center for the region, and an international trading hub, district leaders have concentrated on preserving the island’s specialties.

The planting of sim fruit (tomentose rose /myrle), which historically grows naturally on Phu Quoc, is one such preservation project. Sim Son tomentose rose myrtle wine, tea and syrup, invented by Trinh Cong Phat, the director of the Son Phat Co. in Duong To Commune, has become another speciality of the region, attracting tourist interest. Mr. Phat said the arable land for growing sim fruit has shrunk; it needs therefore to expand for tourism, which will raise income for residents.

It is understandable that over 80% tourists decided to visit the Coi Nguon (Root) Museum- a 40,000sq.m outdoor exhibition where curator and owner Huynh Phuoc Hue displays around 2,000 ancient artifacts including a 3,500-year-old stone axe, a flock of over 60 rare sea eagles and a 500kg dugong bone.

One of Hue’s hardest won artifacts was a part of a boat used by national hero Nguyen Trung Truc.

One of Phu Quoc District’s strengths is the production of traditional fish sauce. However, most of fishing boats have small capacity which can work onshore.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Truc, Head of Phu Quoc District’s Office of Economy, said the district would support local fishermen who can catch fish offshore. Vietnamese-made fish sauce has become world famous with over 100 producers making more than 10 million liters a year.

In the future, the district will reserve two areas for producing the special sauce: Ben Tram and Sau Bridge. In addition, the district is determined to spend budget funds to grow pepper.

Many construction projects have been undertaken on the island, such as a 900-hectare International Airport, a roundabout road for sightseeing tours and the An Thoi International Wharf. Pham Vu Hong, chairman of the Phu Quoc district People’s Committee, said many more important projects will be operating by June.

Dynamic Mekong Delta featured in photo exhibition

The Secretariat of the Mekong Delta Economic Cooperation Forum and the Ho Chi Minh City Department for Culture, Sports and Tourism co-launched a photo exhibition at Lam Son Park in HCMC on June 1 to reflect the dynamism of the region.

At the exhibition, more than 120 photos by professional and amateur photographers from 13 provinces and cities in the region and HCMC depicts the life and attractiveness of the Mekong Delta and HCMC.
Its geographical location has given the delta many advantages in aquaculture, agriculture, mechanical engineering, shipping, food processing industries, ecotourism and transport.
The exhibition will last until June 14.

Exhibition of Uncle Ho’s poems in Korean script

An exhibition displaying 50 works of calligraphy in Korean script based on President Ho Chi Minh’s prison diary opened in the central province of Nghe An on June 29.

The week-long event, which has been organised by the Republic of Korea’s Calligraphy Association (RoKCA) and the Nghe An provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is to mark the Vietnamese national hero’s 120 birthday, the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and the 18th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-RoK diplomatic relations. At the opening of the exhibition, the Chairman of Nghe An People’s Committee presented a certificate of merit to RoKCA President Choi Chang Joon and association member Kim Hye Kaeong for their contributions during the hosting of the Lotus Village Festival 2010. Since December 2009, the works, created by 25 eminent calligraphers from the Republic of Korea, have been on display in seven major cities in the Rok and four cities in Vietnam, Hanoi, HCMC, Nghe An and Hue. The collection will be presented as a gift to the Ho Chi Minh Museum after the exhibition closes.

Photo exhibition highlights Vietnam-Japan ties

An exhibition of 50 selected photos taken by Japanese photographer Hagiwara Takeshi and Vietnamese reporter Nguyen Tien Truong opened in Tokyo on April 27.

The exhibition, part of activities marking the 35th anniversary of the liberation of southern Vietnam (April 30) and the upcoming 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi in October, was jointly held by the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan and the ASEAN-Japan Centre. Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Phu Binh and nearly 200 visitors were present at the exhibition entitled “Brothers: Vietnam and Japan”. On the occasion, Binh praised Takeshi and Truong, who reflected Vietnamese and Japanese culture, sentiments and life through their photos, and stressed that the exhibition will be a bridge linking the two peoples, helping build the two countries’ partnership. Takeshi’s photos remind Vietnamese expatriates in Japan of life in Vietnam while photos taken by Truong helped viewers learn about Japanese life and people, said visitors. Junko Suzuki, a visitor, said she sees similarities in the two countries’ cultures through the photos although she has never been to Vietnam.

Vietnam Tourism Award winners honoured

Thirty hotels, 20 travel agencies and 15 tourism service enterprises were presented with the Vietnam Tourism Award 2010 at a ceremony in Hanoi on June 29. Of the 2010 winners, Saigontourist Travel Company remained in the top of the list of domestic and international travel agencies.

Addressing the ceremony, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh said the Vietnam Tourism Award has been given to businesses, which exerted best efforts in their operation and contributed to the success and trust of the country’s tourism sector. The award is a milestone for tourism businesses to work better to improve their service quality and professional skills. On the occasion, 19 hotels, which won the title “Green Hotel” of the ASEAN Environment Organisation, were also honoured at the ceremony. These hotels have been praised for contributions not only to the country’s tourism development, but were to the environmental protection, energy saving and sustainable development in business.