TRAVEL NEWS IN BRIEF Binh Duong to host Lai Thieu Fruit Festival The first-ever Lai Thieu Fruit Festival is going to take place on June 8 -12 in Thuan An town in the southern province of Binh Duong. Around 100 booths will showcase handicraft products, traditional foods and assorted fresh fruits of the southeast and southwest region, such as mangosteen, durian, rambutan, pomelo and jackfruit at the festival. The event will also include a fruit arrangement contest, a don ca tai tu (Southern amateur music performance) and a workshop on how to attract visitors to Binh Duong province. The event aims to provide orchard owners and businesses with an opportunity to exchange their experiences in creating ecological tours to Lai Thieu orchard and develop the agricultural economy in Binh Duong province. Around 20 kilometres northeast far from Ho Chi Minh city, Lai Thieu orchard is a famous tourist site for its diversified fruit trees and is considered the lung of Binh Duong province. Vietnam tourism experts call for marketing push Leaders and experts from the tourism industry met yesterday in Hanoi for an in-depth Tourism Promotion Conference, where they debated how Vietnam can become more successful in the lucrative and fast-growing sector. In his address to the conference,Vietnam National Tourism Administration chairman Nguyen Van Tuan called for the establishment of Vietnamese tourism representative offices in Japan, South Korea and Russia. Such a move would promote the industry in some of Vietnam's key partner markets, said Tuan, who also called for further co-operation with important partners Japan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia and France. He reported to the conference on the marketing initiatives since the year 2000 and submitted a strategy for tourism development until 2020, which he said would be a long and challenging process requiring a methodical strategy. He said that important long-term initiatives included joining tourism fairs, organising culture-tourism weeks and inviting foreign travel agents and media to Vietnam. "In my opinion, Vietnamese tourism is integrating with the region and the world and we should promote it professionally," Tuan said. "We can no longer be vague when advertising Vietnam. We need to focus on our strengths and sufficiently implement all stages of marketing and promotion, including market research, advertising and building a brand name. "As a seller, we need to be proactive. In addition to showing customers what we can offer, we also need to introduce them clearly to the product and offer them special deals if necessary." He pointed out some advantages created in the development of Vietnamese tourism thanks to the support of international partners. These include a project with Luxembourg in developing human resources, a Spanish project for the empowerment for Vietnamese tourism in the period 2011-20, and the European Union (EU)'s Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism (ESRT) Programme. Franz Jessen, head of the EU delegation, at the conference praised the partnership between the EU and Vietnam in the last 10 years. He said tourism was one of the fastest growing and most crucial sectors in the world, and contributed substantially to Vietnam's growth and job creation. However, he warned that some key challenges are putting the potential of the sector at risk. "International tourist numbers are going down, and the competition from neighbours is fierce," he said. "Marketing is one of these key areas where improvements are needed. If there is one single message on tourism marketing I would like to convey, it's that it needs funding," he said. Jessen said that the spending on marketing per every arrival in Vietnam is around 1 euro (US$1.3) per year, three times less than Malaysia. "Through the ESRT we have facilitated the development of a Tourism Advisory Board, bringing together some of Vietnam's representatives from the tourism private sector to help provide advice and guidance on the development of tourism in Vietnam," he said. "I truly hope that the work and resources we have invested through the ESRT can become a building block to market Vietnam as an attractive tourist destination in the future. From a European perspective, I know that Vietnam represents great potential." Participants at the conference included representatives from the national and local government, travel companies and international tourism organisations. Representatives of tourism departments from around the country shared their experiences in promoting tourism in their localities. Nguyen Xuan Binh, director of Da Nang City's Tourism Promotion Centre, expressed his ambition to build up a brand name for Da Nang as a city of events. "We have had some success in promoting tourism through organising international events. For example, now when talking about firework competitions, people immediately think of Da Nang," he said. "Through our events we have introduced tourists to an image of a beautiful, friendly and peaceful city." Similar conferences will be organised in other big cities to canvas more opinions from leaders and experts in the tourism industry.   Highland Regions to develop souvenirs for National Tourism Year 2014 Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and the People’s Committee of the central highland province of Lam Dong organized a discussion on producing and developing tourism products for the Central Highlands-Da Lat National Tourism Year 2014. Accordingly, the National Tourism Year 2014 will introduce to visitors various tours on wildlife and nature, beautiful landscapes and cultural characteristics of ethnic groups living in the highland regions. National Tourism Year will include a series of cultural events such as Vietnam-ASEAN UNESCO Heritage Festival 2013, Brocade festival, regional dress fashion show, Highland Wood Statue Festival, and International Gong Festival. Tourism managers and travel enterprises said that central highland provinces should join hands to offer regional products to domestic and international visitors, offer wildlife, nature and landscape destinations, and show the daily activities of the local people. ‘Tourism Promotion Program 2013’ kicked off Vietnam National Administration of Tourism kicked off ‘Tourism Promotion Program 2013’ on May 29. The Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade will cooperate with local authorities, relevant departments and tourist enterprises to promote tourism in 2013. On this occasion, the Vietnamese tourism industry has launched a website presenting ‘Tourism Promotion Program 2013’ via www.timelesscharm.vn in Vietnamese and English. Travel companies, restaurants, hotels and other services can introduce their products on the website free of charge. The national tourism industry expects to receive 7.2 million international visitors and 35 million domestic tourists this year. Vietnam Airlines opens Incheon- Danang route A ceremony was held at the Lotte Hotel in the Republic of Korea (RoK) on May 30 to announce the official opening of direct flights between Incheon and Danang. This was part of Vietnam Airlines’ activities to celebrate the 26th Korea World Travel Fair (KWTF) and the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Among participants were Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Tran Trong Toan, Minister Counselor Nguyen Manh Dong, representatives from the Korea Tourism Association, and other partners of Vietnam Airlines. Cao Anh Son, a representative of Vietnam Airlines in the RoK, said the first direct flight is scheduled for July 1. The airline will operate three flights a week, using Airbus A321 (16C and 168Y) on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Passengers can also book domestic connecting flights to Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Da Lat, and Buon Me Thuot, Son added. Work starts on five-star international hotel project in Sapa The Vietnam Investment Construction And Trading Joint Stock Company (CTX Holdings) began constructing its five-star Sapa Indochina International Hotel, in the northern hill province of Lao Cai, on May 30. Once completed, the hotel will cater to both domestic and international visitors with 156 luxury rooms, meeting facilities, bars, a sauna, a fitness centre, and swimming pools. Provincial Party Committee Deputy Secretary Sung Chung said the hotel is one of the province’s planned green construction projects intended to boost the numbers of tourists visiting Sapa. The project, covering an area of 7,252 sq.m, is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2015. High hopes for Vietnam tourism in 2013 Vietnam hopes to boost domestic tourism growth and attract more foreign visitors, when launching the 2013 tourism stimulation programme in HCM City on May 29. This year the tourism industry aims to serve 7.2 million foreigners and 35 million domestic tourists, developing Vietnam into an attractive and high quality tourist destination. Hoang Thi Diep, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), said the programme will address the challenges the tourism industry faces in order to attract a growing number of tourists and combine tourism with trade and services. It is also intended to boost the consumption of domestic goods and help the national economy overcome difficulties arising from the global economic downturn. At the conference, delegates discussed how to attract foreign visitors through travel agencies and foreign media, and promote Vietnam through the “Vietnam-Endless Beauty” campaign in key and potential markets, including China, India, the Middle East, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, as well as Russia and Eastern Europe, France and Western Europe, the US, Australia, New Zealand and ASEAN member countries.   The tourism industry will also promote domestic tourism on national holidays and during major events this year. It will launch advertising campaigns for places in Vietnam that appeal to international visitors. It also aims to raise awareness among local communities, offer discounts on various travel packages, boost the development of tourism products and improve the quality of services. The same day, the HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism launched its 2013 tourism stimulation programme with the goal of welcoming 4.1 million foreign arrivals, up 8 percent over 2012, and earning VND82,000 billion from its tourism industry, a year-on-year increase of 15 percent.   Two Vietnamese hotels ranked in world's top 100 Sofitel Metropole Hanoi and Park Hyatt Saigon have just been selected by Robb Report Magazine as two of the world's best 100 hotels in 100 cities globally. According to the Vietnam Government Portal (VGP), this list made by Robb Report was published early this month, based on the evaluation by highly experienced editors, tourism reporters, tourism collaborators and experts in field of luxury hotel industry. Trip Advisor (the US), the world famous tourism magazine, has published the list of 25 world's best hotels in 2013. Among them, An Lam resort in An Lam-Ninh Van bay villas ranked 14th in this list. In the list of 25 Asia's best hotels and resorts, An Lam-Ninh Van bay villas ranked 6th. An Lam-Ninh Van bay villas is high quality five-star resort located in Ninh Van commune, Ninh Hoa district, central Khanh Hoa province, which is built as a private resort imbued with Vietnamese style. Travel stimulus programmes launched across the country Many provinces and cities have announced travel stimulus programmes for 2013, offering steep discounts to attract tourists, in particular domestic ones. Under the Travel Stimulus Programme 2013 launched earlier this week, HCM City will co-operate with the national tourism administration and the Vietnam Airlines to lower the price of package tours to boost domestic travel. Mekong Delta provinces introduced similar programmes last week. Around 30 transport and travel companies, restaurants and hotels will offer discounts of 5-50 per cent for tourists when visiting the delta. Quang Ninh, Thua Thien-Hue and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces have also announced their own programmes, and similar ones will be launched by other provinces soon as advised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.- Phu Quoc Island in need of extra beds as visitor numbers swell With the number of visitors to Phu Quoc Island in Kien Giang Province on the rise, the island district will need around 3,000 new hotel rooms in the next 2-3 years, local authorities estimate. Le Minh Hoang, director of the Kien Giang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the number of visitors to Phu Quoc had risen from 38,000 tourists per month in the previous years to around 70,000 per month recently. Currently, the island has about 2,900 hotel rooms, only 600 of which have star ratings. Phu Quoc needed big hotels which could supply 500-600 rooms with good service, he said.- Delta tourism takes nosedive due to high airfares High airfares are making the Mekong Delta less attractive to tourists from northern provinces, experts said at a recent conference introducing the region's new products and travel stimulus programme in Ha Noi. Travel firms informed the conference that airfares currently accounted for two-thirds of the tour price in the region. Dinh Hieu Nghia of the Can Tho Tourist JSC (Canthotourist) said that when the Vietnam Airlines opened the Ha Noi-Can Tho service, the firm welcomed a large number of tourists from northern provinces, accounting for some 30 per cent of the number of local tourists to the province. However, the recent steep increases in airfare of 20-30 per cent had seen a strong decline in the number of passengers flying between Ha Noi and Can Tho, he said. Mekong Delta for a day – Ben Tre tour package unveiled Luxury Travel Ltd, a long established Asian specialist in the art of travel, has launched Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta for a Day – Ben Tre. Ben Tre Province is a nice option for a day trip to the delta from HCM City as it is only two hours away, and a mere 15 minutes from the nearby My Tho City in neighbouring Tien Giang Province. This picturesque and friendly Mekong Delta town has historically seen very few travellers, but the recent opening of a bridge connecting Ben Tre and My Tho has made it far easier for day trippers to visit from HCM City. "While there, you can take a walk along the waterfront, lined with French era shops and houses and you'll see plenty of coconuts being unloaded from boats for dispatch around the country. Then, jump on a boat for a couple of hours of cruising on the Mekong River," advises Pham Ha, founder and CEO of Luxury Travel Ltd. VNA/VOV/SGGP/SGT/VNS/Nhan Dan