Vietnam travel in brief 01/09
Tourists return to flood-hit Sapa Vietnam
The resort town of Sapa (Sapa tours) in the northern mountains is again attracting local and foreign tourists just a week after flash floods devastated the region.
The Sa Pa Culture and Information Division said tourists started to return last weekend though the number is, admittedly, just 30 to 40 per cent of the pre-flood average.
Foreign tour agencies flock to City
Around 210 exhibitors have registered to take part in the fourth international Travel Expo to be held at the Phu Tho Exhibition Centre in Ho Chi Minh City between September 12 and 14.
They include travel and other service companies from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand.
The Philippines is the special invitee and it will bring programmes featuring food, culture, and tourism. To promote tourism in the three Indochinese countries, the organisers will hold a seminar titled "The Charms of Ethnic Tourism in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam."
Last year the fair attracted 180 local and foreign exhibitors and 101 foreign buyers.
Luxury jet travel eyes Indochina
An agreement in principle to provide luxury jet travel services in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia has been reached between VNPT E-Travel, OrientSkys of Hong Kong, and JetAsia of Macau.
OrientSkys and JetAsia will launch world-class travel service packages on VNPT E-Travel’s website http://e-travel.vn. They include flights on five-star jets to Vietnam for golfers.
VNPT E-Travel said negotiations are set to continue and an official agreement likely soon.
New bus tour rolls out from Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City-based Ben Thanh Tourist and Sai Gon Passenger Transportation Co (Sapaco) have launched a road tour of Cambodia and Thailand. The first trip will be held tomorrow and then on Thursday every week.
The tour, to last seven days and six nights, will take in sights in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in Cambodia – like the royal palace, Angkor Wat, and Banteay Srey temple – before going on to Pattaya and Bangkok in Thailand to see the Nong Nooch Tropical Botanic Gardens, royal snake farm, elephant circus, a Muay Thai boxing performance and other shows.
The tour costs US$398 per person. For further information, call 08 5202020 – 8 290212.
Italian food, wine fest comes to capital
Hanoians and foreign guests to the capital will have a chance to taste a spectacular six course Italian Veneto wine dinner at the InterContinental Ha Noi Westlake next Wednesday.
Each course will be accompanied by one of the fine wines from the famed Veronese wine makers Masi.
Alessandra Boscaini, the second daughter to the famous wine producer Sandro Boscaini, represents the seventh generation to be involved in Masi, and will be present at the dinner to talk a little more about the heritage of Masi wines and the traditions of Veronese food and wines.
She said she considers wines as part of the much wider culture context; as part of hedonism, style, gastronomy and tourism.
AirAsia offers 1 million free seats
AirAsia will be giving away 1 million free seats for all its domestic and international destinations including Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
Some of the hottest international destinations included in this campaign that leave from Kuala Lumpur only via AirAsia are Makassar, Manado, Solo, Krabi, Chiang Mai, the newly launched Guilin, Shenzhen, Haikou, Bandung and Vientiane. Other destinations include Bali, Jakarta, Bangkok, Phuket, Singapore, Macau, Siem Reap, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong and many others.
The free seats are available for booking until Sunday and include travel from April 1 to July 31, 2009.
(Source: Viet Nam News, URL:http://english.vietnamnet.vn/travel/2008/08/801267/)
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