The national workshop on Mang Den ecotourism development
written by seo
at Friday, May 24, 2013
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Tourism police to protect foreigners
written by seo
at Thursday, May 23, 2013
The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has been asked by
its department in Ha Noi to establish a tourism police force dedicated
to protecting visitors who are increasingly suffering from tourist scams
in the capital.
Cases are reported daily of foreign tourists being overcharged by
taxi drivers and cheated by hotel employees. This has negatively
affected the image of both the city and the country in the eyes of
international visitors, said the department's deputy director Mai Tien
Dung.
A crackdown on security management has been conducted in
hotels, hostels and resorts, Dung said, adding that despite this,
inspections could only go so far to solve the problems in the absence of
specific regulations.
His department has proposed that as well
as forming a special police force, other measures should be implemented.
They suggested that crimes against tourists, such as overcharging,
stealing and harassment from peddlers should be met with heavy fines.
Colonel
Dao Duy Ngoc, deputy director of the city's police department, agreed
with the proposal for the creation of a tourism police force. "This is a
good idea. We will set up the force as soon as it is approved by a
higher authority".
While the establishment of the force is
considered an effective measure to tackle crime in the tourism sector,
some people have argued that it has limitations.
Such issues
arouse partly due to the lack of authorities' sufficient management in
tourism. Major-General Le Van Cuong, former director of the Institute of
Strategy and Science under the Ministry of Public Service, said that
the force alone would not solve all the problems.
"The tourism
industry should firstly analyse its strength and weakness. Only then
will it know if co-operation from other authorities is necessary," he
said.
"Another important measure is to raise people's awareness so
that tourist businesses are fully conscious of the risks that their
customers face and potential scammers know that their behaviour is
unacceptable," he pointed out.
"However, if the police are needed
whenever a problem occurs, then we will definitely set up a specific
police force in the future," he added.
Souce: Google.com
Tags: Vietnam Tours | Vietnam travel | Laos tours | Cambodia Tours | Indochina ToursDemanding money with menaces, luring travelers to low quality tours
written by seo
VietNamNet
Bridge – Travel firms prove to be very professional in soothing
travelers with sweet words. That explains why many people fell into the
firms’ traps, and they only realized that they were swindled after
experiencing terrible trips.
Xuan Thanh, 30, in Hoang Mai district in Hanoi, is one of the travelers who have experienced a terrible trip to Da Lat.
“I
booked a tour to Da Lat, and I thought I made a good deal. The tour was
dirt cheap, just VND1 million for 3 days and 2 nights. However, I now
feel regret for choosing the tour,” Thanh said.
“I have realized why the tour was so cheap,” he added.
The
travel firm promised to arrange rooms at a 2-star hotel, but it was
just a guest house which proclaimed itself as a hotel. Thanh and his
family members had to stay in cramped and damp rooms.
“The meals
were frugal with just some dishes. The drivers and tour guides were so
unfriendly. I was scolded when I made complaints,” Thanh said. “What do
you expect when you book a low cost tour? You get what you pay for.”
Thuy
in Tan Binh district in HCM City was in the same situation. She booked a
tour to the sea city of Nha Trang at VND1.4 million, which included the
ticket for cable.
“I was so happy because I could book a tour at a reasonable price. However, in fact, this was a miserable one,” Thuy said.
“There
was nothing more except some daily dishes and boiled vegetables. The
tour guide disappeared when we came to the tourist site. We were told
that we could go what we wanted before we had to come back on schedule,”
she added.
The hotel was located near the beach, but it was so
terrible and suffocated. However, Thuy still was asked to pay an extra
sum of VND100,000. The hotel explained that it was in the high season,
where the demand for accommodations was very high, and it needed to
collect surcharges.
Though the surcharge was not mentioned in the
contract signed with the travel firm, Thuy could do nothing except to
pay the extra money, or she would be asked to leave the hotel.
Minh
Long in Tay Ho district booked a tour from Hanoi to Cua Lo Beach which
was design to last 3 days and 2 nights. With the offered discount of 40
percent, Long had to pay VND1,399,000.
However, VND1,399,000 was
not the sum of money Long had to pay for the trip. He was told to pay
VND250,000 per person in surcharge, because the tour was “at the
weekend.”
“I’d rather to pay VND250,000 more to book the tour at
weekend. If I changed my mind and booked the tour on normal days, I
would have to ask the managers for a leave. If so, I would have a part
of my salary cut. The part might be higher than VND250,000,” he said.
However, the problem was that Long was not warned about the surcharge until he came to the travel firm to sign the contract.
However,
even when Long accepted to pay additional money, he still received bad
services. The travel firm advertised that the tour guides were
enthusiastic and friendly. However, in fact, the tour guide who came
together with Long and others did not accompany the tourists to many
points.
Souce: Google.com
Tags: Vietnam Tours | Vietnam travel | Laos tours | Cambodia Tours | Indochina ToursHanoi to set up hotlines to protect tourists
written by seo
VietNamNet
Bridge – The Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will set
up two hotlines and an office to receive information about fraud and
overcharging against tourists.
The department’s Deputy Director – Mr. Mai Tien Dung – has reported to
the Hanoi People's Committee the plans to protect local and foreign
tourists against fraud and overcharging in the city. Accordingly, the
agency will establish an information bureau to receive and handle
complaints of tourists.
The department will also set up two hotlines, which is open 24/7, to
serve tourists. The officers in charge of the hotlines will receive
complaints of visitors and quickly coordinate with the relevant
authorities to solve them.
According to the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism,
although the local authorities have tried to control tourism-related
services at tourist sites but negative phenomena such as overcharging
and fraud have not been handled.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently asked all
provinces and cities to strengthen security and safety for visitors,
including the establishment of a hotline to receive information and
complaints of visitors.
Souce: Google.com
Tags: Vietnam Tours | Vietnam travel | Laos tours | Cambodia Tours | Indochina Tours5-star hotels to take up Hanoi’s market
written by seo
at Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Market survey firms, which believe that more and more high income tourists would come to Hanoi, have all predicted that more 5-star hotels would be available in the city by 2015.
Dau tu has quoted the report of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism
(VNAT) as saying that 1.8 million foreign travelers came to Vietnam in
the first 3 months of the year, a decrease of 6.2 percent in comparison
with the same period of the last year.
Meanwhile, according to CBRE, a real estate service provider, 425,000
foreign tourists came to Hanoi during that time, up by 18.9 percent
over the same period of the last year.
The increase in the number of tourists to the capital city has
brought benefits to local hotels in the context of the economic
recession and less spending on tourism. The hotel occupancy rate has
increased slightly by 0.65 percentage points to 58 percent.
However, the occupancy rates varied for different market segments.
While 5-star hotel room occupancy rate increased by 1.29 percentage
points to 61 percent, the ratio of 4-star hotels decreased by 1
percentage points to 52 percent.
The 5-star occupancy rate improvement has been attributed to the 4.8
percent room rate decrease, now hovering around $103 per night.
Meanwhile, the hotel room rates of 4-star and 3-star hotels decreased by
4.16 percent and 0.74 percent, respectively to $62.3 and $34.47. This
has led to the increase of the RevPar (revenue per available room) of
3-star hotels and the decrease of the index for 4-5 star hotels.
According to Savills, also a real estate consultancy firm, Hanoi had
7,750 hotel rooms from 53 hotels in the first quarter of 2013. The three
hotels Golden Silk Boutique, Lan Vien and Tan Da Spa & Resort have
just been recognized as 3-star hotels. The average revenue per room
available was VND930,000 in the first quarter, down by 5 percent in
comparison with the quarter before, but up by 2 percent if compared with
the same period of the last year.
The yearly occupancy rate remains unchanged at 57 percent, while the
hotel room rate was VND1.64 million per room per night on average, a
slight increase of 0.2 percent over the quarter before and 2.4 percent
over the same period of the last year.
In general, the Hanoi’s hotel market remains stable, while there have
been signs showing the increase in the hotel room supply and the
upgrading in the quality to better satisfy the market demand.
Commenting about the Hanoi’s hotel market in the near future, Do Thu
Hang from Savills said 5-star hotels would dominate the market by 2015.
According to Hang, 8 hotel projects would provide 1,400 more hotel
rooms to the market in 2013. Many hotels would be managed by
international firms like Intercontinental, Marriott, Hilton Hotels &
Resorts and Candeo.
It is expected that by 2015, the Hanoi market would have 1,765 rooms
from the 10 out of the 13 new projects, of which 5-star hotel rooms
would account for 54 percent.
Richard Leech from CBRE believes that the demand in Hanoi
does not change heavily like other markets thanks to the regularly
organized conferences, exhibitions and other entertainment activities.
According to the International Air Transport Association, Vietnam
would become the third fastest growing cargo and passenger transport
market in the world. This has given more reason to investors to pour
money into high end hotels.
Souce: Google.com
Read More...
Vietnam – ideal venue for Russian tourists
written by seo
An increasing number of Russian visitors are
selecting Vietnam’s famous tourist attractions in the central region as
ideal destinations for this year’s holiday season.
More Russian visitors prefer travelling to Vietnam’s central region for the holiday season. (Photo: TTO)
These days, pubs, restaurants and other recreational centres in BinhThuan Province’s Mui Ne resort are crowded with Russian tourists enjoying their holidays on the occasion of Vietnam’s V-day celebrations.
According to the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and
Tourism, more than 130,550 Russian tourists arrived in the province last
year, making up 36.7 percent of the total number of foreign visitors to
the locality.
Meanwhile, many restaurants and shops in Khanh Hoa Province’s Nha
Trang City are advertising their products and services in the Russian
language.
AndreyMolorov, a Russian visitor, says he is interested in beautiful
beaches and nice weather condition in Vietnam’s central region. “If I
have another chance to visit Vietnam again, I will come back to Nha Trang City to enjoy many specialties that cannot be found anywhere else in the world,” he says.
Alexandre, another tourist from Russia, expresses his pleasure at
tasty food, saying that tourism services in Mui Ne are good and cheap.
Ton That Hung from Coco Café tour operator says nearly 30 percent of
his customers come from Russia. After visiting Mui Ne, many Russian
tourists continue their trip to NhaTrang City and the romantic Central Highland resort of Da Lat.
Tran Anh Thi, executive director of Seahorse hotel, says about 45
percent of his guests are Russian tourists who are keen on beach tours.
The Khanh Hoa provincial Department for Culture, Sports and Tourism
reports Russian tourists top the list of international visitors to Nha
Trang, with nearly 100,000 Russians visiting the city in 2012.
To meet the increasing demand from Russian visitors, the national
flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has launched a direct air route from
Moscow to Nha Trang, operating two flights a week.
NhaTrang-based Anh Duong tour operator is cooperating with Pegas
Touristik travel agent to open 19 direct air routes connecting Nha Trang
to 22 cities in Russia.
Le Van Nghia, a representative of Russia’s Transaero Airlines in
Vietnam, says his firm has decided to conduct three flights a week from
Moscow to HCM City right this summer.
The Vietnam Tourism
Administration (VNAT) statistics show Russia was among Vietnam’s top
ten markets last year. The first four months of this year saw a
year-on-year increase of 50 percent in Russian arrivals to Vietnam.
Experts suggest Vietnam
should tap its huge potential, especially beautiful beaches, for
tourism development to attract more foreign visitors, including those
from Russia, each year.
Apart from increasing tourism products and services, they say,
Vietnamese tour guides should improve their Russian language to serve
Russian-speaking tourists in the future.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has agreed to allocate
VND6.3 billion to Khanh Hoa to train local students and tour guides in
Russian.
Source: VOV
Read More...
Co Thach seven-color stone bank
written by seo
at Monday, May 20, 2013
Visiting Bình Thuan province, you should visit Co Thach tourist area, which is famous for the Hang temple, wild nature and the seven-color stone bank.
Co Thach Beach is located in a quiet place in Binh Thanh Commune,
Tuy Phong District, Binh Thuan Province, about 90km from Phan Thiet
City.Like other beaches of Bình Thuận, Co Thach sea is blue, limpid with
quite strong waves. The most special thing of this beach is a bank of
seven-color stones. The characteristics of this stone ground is due to
the impact of tide, sea currents, sea water … stones of different sizes
and different colors are push from the sea to the shore.
This rocky bank had been formed for hundreds of years, with a
length of about 0.9 km and a width of 200-300m and a stone reserve of
243,900m3. The original shapes and colors of stone here attract the eyes
of visitors. Under the waves and sunlight, the stone bank shines and
stones look like jewels.Co Thach is also attractive to visitors by its
huge rocks, which are attached to many legends. The rock bank is
surrounded by a wild yellow sand bank named Bai Tien. According to
legend, this place was the “resort” of fairies. Near the beach is the
Hang (Cave) Pagoda.
(Souce: vietnamnet.vn )
Read More...
