Quang Binh to open tours to Phong Nha - Ke Bang by helicopters Quang Binh to open tours to Phong Nha – Ke Bang by helicopters The central province of Quang Binh will trial tours to Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park by helicopter from April 20 to May 5. The Northern Helicopter Company (under the Vietnam Helicopter Company) will provide the helicopters. Each one-hour tour will cost US$3,400 that will be split to 22 tourists. Covering an area of about 200,000 hectares, Phong Nha – Ke Bang is located in Quang Ninh, Bo Trach, Tuyen Hoa and Minh Hoa districts in Quang Binh province. The National Park was first recognised as a world natural heritage site by UNESCO in 2003. The Quang Binh People’s Committee agreed to use helicopters for rescue services on adventure tours to Son Doong, the world’s largest cave. Vung Tau holds water festival Nghinh Co Festival, one of largest water festivals of fishermen in the southern coastal region, will be held on March 10-12 at the Co Temple in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province's Long Hai Town. The event, held annually on February 10-12 of lunar calendar, honours a young girl named Le Thi Hong Thuy, who died two centuries ago. Legends say that the girl from Ninh Thuan Province's Phan Rang City, died after falling into the sea when her boat which was travelling to the town, was hit by a storm. Local people decided to bury her on Co Son Hill and built the Co Temple nearby to honour her. Legends say that after she died, she visited people in dreams to warn them about sea conditions and disasters to protect local people. Every year, thousands of people from the southern and south-central regions attend the festival. The event has several activities, including traditional games like lion dances, a boat race, fish and duck catching contests. Quang Ninh reviews tourism plan The Tuan Chau Group early this week submitted a report on designing proposal of a tourism complex in the provincial Van Don Economic Zone to the People's Committee of northern Quang Ninh Province. Speaking at the meeting early this week, the committee Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Thanh requested the group and relevant sectors to expedite the finalisation of a suitable investment option. The complex, expected to cost US$7 billion, will span a total area of 2,000ha, comprising a residential area, five-star hotels, and a casino.­ Khanh Hoa promotes sights to see The Khanh Hoa Province Tourism Association has certified 38 prestigious, high-quality, friendly destinations this year. They are restaurants, hotels, spa, entertainment sites, travel services and heritage sites. The certified sites include Ponagar Tower, Nha Trang Oceanography Institute, Dr. Alexandre Yersin's Tomb, Vinpearl Resort, Doc Let and Suoi Hoa Lan tourism areas. Last year Khanh Hoa received more than 3 million tourists, up nearly 30 per cent against 2012. Of the figure, foreign tourists accounted for 711,000. The province aims to receive 3.4 million tourists this year, including 840,000 foreign tourists. Bac Ninh event spotlights culture Northern Bac Ninh Province is to hold the Bac Ninh Festival 2014 on March 13-17. At the festival, themed "Bac Ninh-Kinh Bac Spirit", there will be various cultural activities, including an incense offering ceremony at Do Temple, a Quan Ho (love duets) singing contest, an ornamental plant and creature contests, a youth camp, folk music and dance performances. Other activities are exhibitions, fairs, sports, free tours and tourism promotion. The festival expects to attract more than 100,000 people and about 7,000 artisans, professional and amateur artists. Quang Tri attracts more visitors In recent years, Quang Tri Province has been attracting greater numbers of tourists, thanks to the central province's nearly 500 historical sites. The historical sites include Vinh Moc Tunnel, Hien Luong Bridge, Ben Hai River and Quang Tri ancient citadel. The 2km Vinh Moc Tunnel in Vinh Linh District, where the local residents lived and supported soldiers in the war against the US, is one of the province's most famous sites. In last month alone, the tunnel received more than half of a million tourists. Quang Tri is the first locality to offer a tour on "Memories of old battlefields and comrades". On this unique tour, tourists learn about revolution history, visit old battlefields and pay their respect to thousands of war martyrs who died fighting for the country's independence. Pilgrims flock to holy sites It is the peak season for religious tourism as the country's many pilgrim festivals start at the end of Tet (Lunar New Year) Festival and last until the end of the third lunar month. Of all the religious tours in the North, Ninh Binh Province is one of the most favoured destinations for tourists because of its many popular attractions, including Trang An's cave system, Cuc Phuong National Park, Tam Coc – Bich Dong caves, Phap Diem Church and Bai Dinh Pagoda, the country's largest pagoda. The central region is also a popular area for religious tourism. Besides visiting the religious sites, tourists can visit beaches and famous destinations like Hoi An City, which is a UNESCO world heritage site in Quang Nam Province. Travel agencies say that the majority of the tourists who participate in religious tours are over 40, and mostly overseas Vietnamese.  HCMC tourism needs over 21,000 workers each year The tourism industry in HCMC needs over 21,000 workers, especially tour guides, each year between now and 2020, said the HCMC Forecast Center of Manpower and Labor Market Information. Tran Anh Tuan, deputy director of the center, told the Daily that the demand for tourism labor would increase strongly in the coming years, especially after 2015 when an ASEAN agreement on free movement of the tourism workforce within the bloc becomes effective. Tuan also added that the labor quality in the city’s tourism industry remains low, with many people holding managerial positions still not conversant in foreign languages. A survey conducted by the center last year shows some 30% to 45% of tour guides and tour coordinators and some 70-80% of receptionists at restaurants and hotels are not qualified in terms of foreign languages. Tourism is a key industry of the city, but the lack of tour guides with good command of foreign languages is hindering its development. In the city, there are not only 2020 tour guides recognized by the Vietnam National Administration for Tourism, including 1,250 English-fluent VNA’s ticketing agents allowed to decide surcharges As from March 15, ticketing agents of Vietnam Airlines (VNA) will impose their own surcharges for bookings and purchases of domestic tickets but the surcharges and fares exclusive of VAT are limited by the cap set by the Civil Aviation Administration. According to VNA’s announcement released on Monday, the airline will not impose the surcharges of domestic flights, which is VND50,000 per flight for economy class and VND90,000 for business class. Instead, ticketing agents can levy different surcharges but have to ensure that the airfares do not exceed the aviation administration’s fare ceiling. That the surcharges are decided by ticketing agents, according to VNA, is an adjustment suiting market rules. This will create flexibility and increase competitiveness so that agents will increase their service quality. Customers can choose agents providing good services and reasonable surcharges. According to the aviation administration’s fare ceiling of domestic flights in Dispatch 5859/CHK-TC issued on December 7, 2011, the maximum airfare of routes whose lengths are shorter than 500 kilometers is VND1.7 million. For routes of 500-850 kilometers, 850-1,000 kilometers, 1,000-1,280 kilometers and longer than 1,280 kilometers, the highest fares are VND1.94 million, VND2.58 million, VND2.72 million and VND3.43 million per one-way ticket respectively. Source: VNS/Nhandan/SGT/SGGP