Nha Trang welcomes ‘night beachgoers’

Although there are still safety concerns, Vietnam will zone Nha Trang beach for night swimming.

As reported, the local authorities have just granted permission for a company to zone the beach to serve the locals and tourists who are in favor of swimming at night.

Normally, people are not encouraged to swim at beaches in Vietnam after 6 pm since the lifeguards are not on duty at that time.

The company who applied for the permissions asserted that there would be lights, lifeguards and lifeboats to make sure that the beach was safe for swimming when night falls. And the zone is said to be near the hotels.

Mr. Le Huy Toan, the deputy chairman of Nha Trang, declared that the company would have to go through trial time.

He stated that the company had to hire bodyguards and install lighting systems in order to make sure that beachgoers were safe. The beach area used for trial will be the one near 32 – 34 Tran Phu Hotel.

There are to be no entrance fee and the night beach will be open for both tourists and the locals. It is not sure by which way the company earns profits.

Nha Trang beach, located on the South coast of Vietnam, is a wide known beach.

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Ho Chi Minh City issued law prohibiting pets on walking street

A list of what you can and what you cannot do at Nguyen Hue Street, the street which is for pedestrians only has just been issued by Ho Chi Minh City government. What seems quite strange is that there is also a rule says no pets on the street.

The government also forbids inline skating, selling coffee and having picnic on the walking treet.

This 19.7 million USD walking street is a brand new tourist site in Ho Chi Minh City. The street was open to the public on April 29^th this year as an event to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the end of war.

In order to celebrate the 125^th birthday of President Ho Chi Minh, the most beloved President of Vietnam, a statue of him was placed on the street on May 17^th.

There are 160 wooden benches have been set up along the street. All of the benches were made of the wood from the centuries – old trees in front of Saigon Opera House. Last July, these trees were cut down for the construction of the new subway station.

The city has welcomed more than 2 million international visits in the first half of this year. Most of the tourists are from South Korea,ASEAN countries, Japan, and the USA.

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The need to extend the normal 15 – day visa exemption to Vietnam

Tourism Department in Ho Chi Minh City is about to extend the normal 15 – day visa exemption to the 30 – day one for the five European countries.

According to an unnamed source, Ho Chi Minh City’s Tourism Department is on its way to apply for admission from the the country’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to extend the length of European tourists’ visa – free stay. The countries that are going to be considered for visa extension are Germany, France, UK, Spain and Italy.

Tourists from Europe are in favor of tours across Vietnam and the Indochina tour which is the combination of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Hence, the 15 – day visa free is quite short. Moreover, during their trip, they normally don’t enter the country once but many times so multiple entries should also be allowed.

European visitors have officially been exempt from visa when traveling to Vietnam since July 1st with an aim to increase the number of visits to the country.

However, travel companies in the city stated that the Government still required fee when visitors wanted to extend their stay in Vietnam beyond 15 days.

They expect to have at least 30 days of visa exemption.

Besides, this new visa exemption program will only be available for one year and this means no long – term plans can be made to boost visits from the 5 mentioned countries.

Currently, citizens from South Korea, Finland, Russia, Japan, Norway, Denmark, Belarus, Sweden and ASEAN countries are exempt from visa when visiting Vietnam.

Vietnam has recorded a decrease of 11.3% in the number of international visitors this year.
Tourism companies believe that the rising cost and complicated visa requirements are main causes of this fall.

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Hanoi welcomes Apricot Hotel

A new Apricot Hotel is going to be opened for business in Hanoi (the capital city of Vietnam) in the late of this year.

Two restaurants, luxury rooftop bar, spa, fitness centre, a lobby lounge, café and rooftop swimming pool can all be found at this beautiful five – star hotel.

Executive chef Hugo Barberis 

With over 600 unique artworks ranging from the popular sculptures, masterpieces to watercolors and sketches hung at the rooms, lobby and corridors, you might confuse it with a large scale gallery.
Mr. Steve Tan, the general manager of the hotel, believed that art was the perfect reflection of any culture. He also added that the art collection at the hotel would provide guests with an amazing trip through the development of Vietnam’s art and culture.

This beautiful ten – floor hotel has turned over a new leaf since its recent rebuiltment. The hotel now is the perfect combination of classic and modern architecture. Apricot used to be Phú Gia Hotel, the gather destination for political and business leaders since 1920s.

The leasing price is quite soft starting from 2,400,000 VND (which equals around USD 110).

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Vietnamese travel companies’ licenses need to be renewed

September 15^th is the final day for travel companies in Vietnam to complete their re – registration. Failing to meet the deadlines means that they will be taken away licenses for inbound and outbound tours.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has extended the deadline to September 15^th in order to give the companies more time. The travel companies which are under the local tourism offices’ jurisdiction are struggling with this new obligation.

All the travel companies with no exception have to renew their travel licenses according to the decree No.180/ ND-CP issued on November 14^th.

Mr. Ha Van Sieu, the Deputy Head of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, declared that travel companies with non - renewed licenses after the deadline would not be allowed to manage international tours.

 The decree at first asked travel companies to renew their business license in one year.

However, lots of travel companies have failed to meet the deadline of January. This compelled the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism to extend the deadline.

The amount of money which they are forced to deposit as a guarantee to acquire licenses has been raised from USD 11,462 to USD 23,000.

The tourism law asks every travel company to deposit at bank to solve the case when they fail to comply with the terms of the contracts.

There are almost 400 national travel companies with headquarters in Hanoi city and Ho Chi Minh City have not renewed the licenses yet.

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The collaboration between Vietjet and Boeing Company

A Memorandum of Collaboration between Vietjet and the Boeing Company has been signed this month. This means there are to be further support from Boeing in branding, marketing and training.

Vietjet are about to purchase more Boeing aircrafts and there will be further discussions about financing, commercial terms, flight and maintenance training, marketing, branding and fleet planning.

This Moc requires the cooperative efforts between both sides in order to achieve the target of enhancing the fleet of Vietjet air with the aircraft from Boeing Company.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hung, the vice chairman of Vietjet’s Board of Management , stated that their investment in the modern fleet was needed and essential to the development of the Airline in the Asia-Pacific.

There is also a belief that thanks to this collaboration, more business opportunities will be brought to the Boeing Company and Vietjet.

An incredible growth has been recorded since the plan was launched in 2011. Vietjet’s previous plan of purchasing 107 aircrafts seems to be useless with this rapid increasing demand.

There are now an A320 aircraft and 25 A321 ones in Vietjet’s fleet and this fleet is about to be expanded in the end of 2015 with 4 more aircrafts.

This Airline also ordered 6 more A321 aircrafts in the Paris Air Show 2015.

In the early of this month, Vietjet has also signed  a MoU with JP Morgan Chase so that the US bank would help the Airline with the aircraft purchasing and leasing.

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Remember to wear swimsuit on Danang’s beaches!

“Beachgoers visiting Danang must wear swimsuits” This has become the hottest topic at a meeting held in Danang, a beautiful coastal city in Vietnam.

Many complaints about the local visitors dressing unsuitably when bathing in the beach have been raised at the 14th session of the People’s Council of the city.

Mr. Ngo Quang Vinh, the head of Danang Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism said that the clarity of beach was highly praised by tourists but there was the problem in the dress code of the locals when swimming. They tend to wear more clothes and even sleep clothes in order to avoid the sun. This is completely strange to the foreigners who are the sun lovers.

 A controversial discussion has been triggered off between those who thought that there should a law compelling visitors to wear swimsuit and those who believed that the idea would violate Vietnamese culture.

There was also an opinion that sleep clothes for sea bathing was a huge progress since Vietnamese used to swim with full clothes in the past.

Zoned beaches for bikini lovers are recommended by Danang’s tourism Department.

The head of Tourism Department said that there would be a separate area for visitors wearing bikini or a bikini show on the beach to acquaint Vietnamese with this two – piece swimsuits.

Nothing about male dress code on beach was mentioned and the discussion on bikini was assumed to concentrate mainly on what female beachgoers dress.

Those who are against the idea assert that people should be allowed to wear what they feel comfortable in without zoning. They also believe that concentrating on the matter is better than compelling.

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The urge of visa exemption

Cambodia’s tourism industry believes that offering visa exemption is the easiest way to be more competitive and attract more tourists.

The subject is now becoming more and more urgent, especially after Vietnam’s decision to exempt visa for travelers coming from 5 countries which are Spain, France, Germany, UK and Italy.

A new regulation on visa exemption for 45 nations has been enacted by Indonesia’s Government this June in order to enhance diplomatic relations and boost tourism.

 There were also opinions recommending visa discounts and visa exemption for ASEAN region.

The chairman also added that the online Visa program which was operated 2 years ago did not function well and was uncomfortable.

However, Mr. Ang Kim Eang, the President of Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, believed that visa exemption was not the best idea and that more researches needed to be done about that. There are also concerns about the national security when entry is made simpler.

According to statics released by the Ministry of Tourism’s Statistics and Tourist Information Department, there has been an increase of 7 % in the number of international visitors coming to Cambodia recorded last year. Cambodia’s top tourist suppliers were South Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, France, USA, China,  Japan, Australia and Malaysia.

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Vietnam suffers dramatic decline in tourism

According to Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in this June, 529,445 international visitors had been attracted to Vietnam, which indicated a slight fall of 1.9% against the same month last year.

13,430 visits from Thailand were recorded this month. This number showed a fall of 34.4% compared to the same period last year.

Even though there was a drop of 16.7% in the number of visits, China was still the leading supplier with 113,906 visits. The other leading suppliers were Malaysia, South Korea, the United States and Japan.

Cambodia slipped out of top 10 suppliers with 11,739 visits, representing a significant fall of 63.2%.

 The majority of Vietnam’s leading suppliers come from the Asia/Pacific region. The fourth and eighth positions belong to US and Russia, a trend that has remained unchanged for more than 5 years.

Most of the visits in this June arrived at the two key aviation gateways, which are Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

3,804,636 international visitors have been welcomed in Vietnam from January to June this year. In comparison with the same period last year, there was a dramatic decrease of 11.3%.

For more than a year, there has been a decline in the number of visitors in every month. The latest fall is the smallest decrease in percentage terms. This means that Vietnam’s trade can be optimistic about their future if more promotions are launched. The Government also believes that with easier visa issues and visa – free travel, the trend will sure to be reversed.

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Free wi – fi for festival in Nha Trang

Until the end of July, free wi-fi are accessible for every visitor coming to Nha Trang.

A branch in Khanh Hoa of VNPT, the Vietnam Vietnam Post and Telecommunication Group is in charge of providing this service.

Tourists are able to use free wi-fi along the way from Nha Trang Airport to the LaoDong Cultural House.

The service is sure to help tourists make the most out of Nha Trang Sea Festival, which will take place from July 11th to 14th. Visitors can communicate with their friends on social network and upload images of this amazing event at the same time.

Tourists attending the festival may enjoy sport, tourism and cultural activities including the semi-final round of a beauty contest called Miss Universe Vietnam, an exhibition of maritime heritage and a document display of Truong Sa and Hoang Sa archipelagos.

Concerts performed by local and foreign art troupes and a street festival are also the highlights of the event.

This biennial festival, one of the largest festivals of the city, is a part of an effort to promote the cultural values of the sea. More than 100,000 visitors are expected to attend the event. Touists coming to Vietnam may enjoy free wi – fi in Da Nang, Cat Ba, Can Tho, Tam Dao, Hue, Hoi An, Ha Long and Da Lat.

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Minions promote Vietjet Air’s image

A collaborative deal between Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment and Vietjet has been signed recently. According to this deal, images of the Minions, the cartoon characters in a cartoon called Despicable Me, will be painted on the body of the brand new aircraft of the Airline.

It is now commonplace to see low – cost carriers selling their advertising space on the bodies of the plane. In this case, the partner is a movie company.

The Airline has previously made a deal with Walt Disney to paint the characters from Planes, a cartoon movie. The famous Mickey and Minnie had also been featured and the Airline sponsored tours for the actors from Mickey’s Magic Show when they visit Vietnam.

The Airline features not only cartoon characters but also slogans and logos symbolizing Vietnam’s images on its own aircrafts.

AirAsia is considered to be the master of advertising with campaigns painted on the bodies of almost every aircraft in the fleet and also inside the crafts ( apart from the WC).

EVA Air is wide known for its long – term collaboration with the brand Hello Kitty. vehicles. This Airline even established flying clubs for the young passengers and painted logos on the ground vehicles.

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A master plan is being built up for Vietnam’s tourism

Foreign and Vietnamese experts are currently discussing a master plan which is described as a more explicit direction for Vietnam’s tourism.

As declared by Dr. Vu Tuan Canh, the assistant professor of the EU-funded Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development Programme, the plan is essential to the development of tourism in Vietnam and it also make sure that tourism does not meet any social or environmental problems and the ineffectiveness in competitiveness.

He found it important to make plans for local destinations to attract more visitors in both rural and urban areas.

However, Professor Martin Fontanari believed in the importance of the market orientation. He also stated that it was the base for planning a tourism strategy. He emphasized that it was the approach not procedure that Vietnam had to adjust in order to build a stable and long –term plan.

He also concentrated on the plan of developing tourism on Son Tra peninsula in Da Nang, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of the area and proposed to build brand new tourism products here.

Mr. Pham Trung Luong, the vice director of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism’s Institute for Tourism Development Research thought that the shortcomings of Vietnam’s tourism also came from the poor collaboration between the leaders when making plans.

He stated that the ones who take responsible for plan assessment were not experts so this resulted in mistakes.

Meanwhile, Vietnam tourism is currently suffering from the significant fall in tourist arrivals in 12 months in a row.

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Vietjet opens new route : Ho Chi Minh City - Seoul

A new daily flight connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Seoul in South Korea is about to be operated on November 7th .

The departure time of the flight will be 00:15 according to the local time and passengers will arrive at Incheon International Airport at 07:25 according to the local time.

The return flight will depart from Incheon International Airport at 11:20 according to the local time and arrive at Tan Son Nhat International Airport at 14:50 according to the local time.

Vietjet is going to operate daily flights from Seoul to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, where passengers may also get transferred to Danang, Phu Quoc island and Nha Trang.

The Airlines currently has a fleet of one A321 and 24 Airbus A320 aircrafts, operating 150 flights per day.

30 air routes have already been operated in Vietnam and between Vietnam and Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, China and South Korea.

Since the day it began its air business, Vietjet has transported over 12 million passengers.

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Vietnam’s Airport privatization

The private sector of Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport is awaiting the Politburo’s approval for the allowance to operate Phu Quoc international Airport, which is located in Kien Giang province.

According to Mr. Dinh La Thang, the Transport Minister, 2 plans about the management of the operations of the airport apart from the supervision of military facilities and flight control.

A detailed plan will be drawn up in order to give Phu Quoc international airport the operational rights right after it gets the approval from the Politburo. This would allow it to attract private investors.

In the beginning of this year, the ministry revealed a plan to give the E hall of Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi the operational rights before Phu Quoc airport was added to the plan.

If approved, the plan is hoped to be able to raise funds for the other infrastructure projects such as Long Thanh International Airport which costs multi billion dollars in Dong Nai province.

Phu Quoc International Airport, which cost USD 190 million, was put into operation in 2012.

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Khanh Hoa is attracting more and more Chinese

KHANH HOA : There has been a dramatic increase in the number of Chinese visitors to Khanh Hoa (Vietnam). The local authority hopes that this will make up for the significant decrease in Russian visits.

Khanh Hoa’s economy depends mainly on tourism and Russian market is the main source of supply.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, the vice chairman of Nha Trang-Khanh Hoa Tourism Association, the number of charter flights from China had offset the fall and this would continue until July.

Almost every Chinese tourist travels on pre – paid tours and charters, Mr. Phan Thanh Truc, the director of Khanh Hoa Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The province will welcome tourists from China all around the year if there are scheduled flights as expected besides charter flights.

While there has been a sharp decline in Chinese visits in the whole country, we are now observing the recovery in bookings with positive growth rate in 2015.

The province has set the goal of 4 million visitors this year with a million foreign holidaymakers.

Khanh Hoa is famous for its amazing and pristine beaches, especially Nhatrang beach – one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. This province is also wide – known thanks to the beautiful and majestic Cam Ranh bay, which is near Cam Ranh International airport.

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Halong introduces new electric car service

QUANG NINH: A new electric car service is about to be operated in Halong City next month.

According to Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, this service will be run this June.

Tourists will be carried to the city’s main tourist sites on two routes.

The first one is Bai Chay which connects Bai Chay Tourism Complex, Bai Chay Tourist Boat Wharf, Bai Chay Bridge and Marine Plaza.

The second one named Hon Gai connecting Vincom Halong and Bai Thơ mountain, Quang Ninh Museum and Halong Market 1.

The service uses Japanese – made cars which have a seating capacity for 9 to 12 passengers.

Depend on the destinations, the ticket fares can be from USD 1 to USD 3.

The other four destinations using electric cars in Vietnam are Thanh Hoa province, Dong Hoi, Sam Son town and Hanoi. The statistics published by the Ministry of Transport in November last year shows that the number of electric cars in the central and northern regions is 621 and 50 in Hanoi.

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HCMC airport repairs taxiway

HO CHI MINH CITY: At Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh, maitainance will start 10 April and be accompished by 30 June, according to Airports Corporation of Vietnam chairman, Nguyen Nguyen Hung.

He was replied to unconfirmed reports in travel trade circles that airline services would face delays and disruptions due to airport maintenance work.

He told local media that repair work will upgrade both the apron and taxiway at the country’s largest airport on Wednesday.

The maintenance will happen with the national holiday on 28 April to 3 May , which covers the Reunification Day and International Labour Day and the Hung Kings celebrations. It is a major public holidays with thousands of Vietnamese booking overseas holidays on airline services from the country’s busiest airport.

Lai Xuan Thanh- Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam chief warned that work would disrupt flights. Hence, it was imperative for airlines to minimise passenger inconvenience.

Flights will face delays once the taxiway be closed and this will slow down the transfer of aircraft between the runway and the terminal.

Tan Son Nhat airport urgently needs an upgrade as Vietnamese carriers are expanding their fleets with 50 planes due for delivery this year.

At present, there are about 30 flights depart and land at Tan Son Nhat airport every hour. This number could fall to 25 per hour once work begins. EXO Travel recommended its travel industry clients on Wednesday in a news alert that there were unconfirmed reports that maintenance work would be carried out at some key Vietnamese airport and that would cause flight delays across Vietnam in the coming weeks.

It impressed that the reports had not been confirmed by airlines or authorities.However, it was seeking clarification to minimalise inconvenience for its international guests.

In related news, Pleiku Airport has already been closed for upgrades with an estimated completion date of 25 October.

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Vietnam may outsource airport management.

HANOI : Vietnam may turn over Phu Quoc International Airport to the private sector to manage as part of a project to privatise some of the country’s main airports, this week Saigon Times reported earlier .

besides, there is also a proposal on the table to allow a private company to manage the domestic terminal at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi.

Quoted the Ministry of Transport, Saigon Times saying it was studying a business model that would transfers airport management to private firms. The suggestion for Phu Quoc island airport which is off mainland Kien Giang province and Terminal 1 at Hanoi’s Noi Bai would comply with a government decree that opened the way for public-private partnerships in transport and aviation.

However, it is still a long way off and would require private firms to file tender bids. Althought, it is still not clear if the companies bidding could have foreign investment partners.

An independent consultant will be hired to assess airports and estimate the revenue stream that the government could expect from private firms managing airports.

T&T Group had written to the ministry proposing that it buy Phu Quoc airport, saying it would establish a unit to operate the airport if approved. VietjetAir and Vietnam Airlines have also shown interest in managing Hanoi terminal 1.

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Tokyu backs Vietnam’s bus shuttle project

BINH DUONG: A Vietnamese firm in the southern province of Binh Duong is collaborating with a Japanese corporation to be offered shuttle buses to serve tourist destinations in nearby provinces.

Koshimura Toshiaki-Tokyu president, told local media that his group will back efforts to improve public transportation projects.

Tokyu Group and Becamex IDC Corp, a Vietnamese firm based in Binh Duong jointly carry out the shuttle bus project All the environment-friendly vehicles will use Japan’s latest technology and will be powered by compressed natural gas.

The project is supposed to create a bus route that links Binh Duong’s Integrated Administration Center (Binh Duong New City), an urban-industry-service complex, to Suoi Tien Amusement Park in Ho Chi Minh City.

The total investment of this project which requires government approval, is estimated at USD162 million.

The first Japanese-style,in late 2014, 22.1-km bus route called “Kaze Shuttle” was inaugurated and is now operated by Becamex Tokyu Company that is a joint venture between Tokyu and Becamex, to connect Thu Dau Mot City and Binh Duong New City.

Tokyu is one of Japan’s leading corporations in terms of urban and infrastructure development. The company is developing real estate projects in Binh Duong New City with a total capital of USD1.2 billion.

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Shoestring budget slows Vietnam’s tourism

HANOI : National Administration of Tourism in Vietnam says a shoestring budget is hampering tourism promotion campaigns and ultimately reducing the country’s ability to grow tourist arrivals.

Nguyen Van Tuan- VNAT Chief told local media that the tight budget handed to his agency to promote tourism was used for different activities so channelling more funds to promotions was difficult.

He said that Vietnam tourism revenue is around USD700 million a year, however funds for actual promotions are minimal, well below its neighbors and insufficient to support industry growth.

“It’s hard to launch campaigns with such a modest budget…Vietnam is even lagging behind Cambodia which has a quite young tourist industry.” The chief told: “Cambodia has a very professional tourism industry and Vietnam is way behind Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.”

The entire spend on promoting tourism does not exceed USD2.5 million compared to Thailand USD 86 million and Cambodia with USD3.5 million, according to an assessment from the Hanoi-based Institute for Tourism Development Research.

But the Tourism Authority of Thailand which is responsible for all tourism promotions reported it had an overall USD46 million budget in 2014 to cover all costs including salaries and the upkeep of overseas offices.

Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand gets some funds for promotions that overlap with the TAT, however, nothing on the scale of the TAT’s budget which suggests Vietnam’s assessment of Thailand’s promotional spend on tourism has been over estimated. Singapore and Malaysia also have generous budgets to boost tourism of USD130 million and USD100 million, respectively, the highest in the ASEAN region.

Vietnam welcomed 2,007,884 international tourists for January to March this year, declining 13.7% during the same period last year.

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