Tourism sector sees big increases this year

Vietnam welcomed around 410,000 foreign tourists in July, bringing the total number of foreign visitors to the nation in the first seven months of the country to more than 2.9 million, a year-on-year rise of almost 35%.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said the number of foreigners coming to Vietnam for work increased by 46%, followed by those for vacation, up by more than 44%.

The number of foreign tourists from China recorded an impressive growth of 95.4 percent; followed by Cambodia , up 93%, Thailand , up 32% and the Republic of Korea (RoK), up over 31%.

HCM City was the leading locality in attracting foreign tourists in the first seven months of the year with over 1.6 million, a year-on-year rise of 13%.

The increase in foreign holiday makers to Vietnam was attributable to the world’s economic recovery that helped boost tourism demand, said experts.

Vietnam has organised tourism promotion programmes and cultural exchanges in China , Japan , the RoK and Cambodia in addition to roadshows in Australia , Norway and West European countries, they added.

The nation has targeted 4.5-4.6 million foreign tourists this year, a year-on-year increase of more than 17%.

Travel agencies will continue with tourism promotion and sales discount programmes in August and September in a number of key tourism cities and provinces.

Hanoi plans to organise tours to a number of ancient Vietnamese capitals, museums and homestays to attract more tourists to the city on the celebrations of its 1,000 th birthday.

(Source: VNA)

Culture exchange Festival of Vietnamese different ethnic groups and areas

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has approved the final scenario “Culture exchange Festival of Vietnamese different ethnic groups and areas” to be performed in the 1000th Thang Long – Hanoi anniversary. The festival will take place from the 7th to 10th of June, 2010 in Hanoi. The number of participants is about 1000 people including craftsmen, artists, actors from 34 provinces, cities from different areas over the country.

Vietnam: the cultural destination of different colors

With the main topic: “Vietnam: the cultural destination of different colors”, the festival beginning on October the 7th, 2010 will showcase rich cultural identities of different ethnic groups and areas in Vietnam. The main stage will be at the central square in Thong Nhat Park.

After the first night of the festival, the main stage will see the performances of art and traditional clothes. The smaller ones will be the place for Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to display their local special traditional arts, folk games and festivals.

Hanoi is surely the right place for different colors of culture. Demonstrations on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi are also included in the program.

Colors intergration in the Hanoi streets

The festival is a good opportunity to display, honor and promote the cultural identities of different ethnic groups, to show the 54 ethnic groups’ pride of Thang Long – Hanoi.

The festival is an opportunity to present Hanoians’s specific characteristics like: folk games, specialties, distinct food, etc…

The festival will be marked by a Floral Lanterned Night and the music show “Colors of Vietnam’s rivers” at night on October the 8th, 2010. It is the program for river-based culture to be watched, people’s wish for peace and gratefulness for ancestors to be shown.

(Source: Van Hoa)