When asked about the response of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) to the complaints by travel firms that the 30-50% Vietnam tour fee reductions are really shocking, VNAT said that the announced 30-50% just the average reductions.
Impressive Vietnam TourVu The Binh, Head of the Travel Department under VNAT said that VNAT does not intend to force any hotel or travel firm to join ‘Impressive Vietnam.’ All enterprises join the program on the voluntary basis, while those which feel they cannot get any benefit from the program can stay the outsiders.
Tour operators set for busiest time of year
Ho Chi Minh City tour operators will be busy as usual during the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays since bookings for domestic and outbound travel have remained strong despite the global economic woes.
Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, head of Fiditourist’s public relations and communications department, said her company’s business has been great this year. She added that there have been many bookings from local travellers. Fiditourist aims to serve some 12,000 travellers over 13 days during Vietnam Tet.
Tour operators in Ho Chi Minh City will be busy as usual during the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays, or Vietnam Tet, since bookings for domestic and outbound travel have remained strong despite the dismal economic outlook.
Vietnam Tet travel demand remains strong
The schedules for tour arrangements during Tet, a traditional time for family reunion, will be tight for travel firms which said the list of registered holidaymakers was continuing to be lengthened as Tet approached.
he national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines, has announced that it is to launch direct flights linking Hanoi and the coastal city of Quy Nhon in central Binh Dinh province, beginning with three flights per week as of January 16.
Vietnam Airlines
The new service is Vietnam Airlines’ 29th domestic route and is expected to boost economic, social and cultural exchanges between Hanoi and provinces in the Central Highland and south-central regions of the country.
Oh yes, we have found our favorite spot. Atleast from a shopping view! It’s so cheep to make clothes here. I have made a pair of trousers in thai silk , 2 tops in thai silk and a skirt.All that was 35 dollars. But then I went to the most expensive tailor and didn’t bargin at all. Linda has made 2 winter coats (20 dollars each), I really wounder how her backpack is going to look when we leave this town:). I have also made a pair of shoes and for 3 dollars you can decide everything on the shoes, how its gonna look and all other details. They took one foot print of both my feet, so the shoes are gonna fit so good. Besides shopping we are really enjoying ourselvs here. We went to the beach for the first time in Vietnam yesterday and today we all look like red crabfishes. One funny thing happened on the way to the beach…we went by bikes (5 kr to rent a bike for the whole day) and when we got close to the beach there was a closed gate and a guard watching it. He said it was forbidden to take the bike to the beach and that we had to leave it in his “bikegarage” and pay 2000 dong (2 kr)……but all vitnames people could just pass the gate. We got angry and didn’t wanted to pay by “princip skal” so we dicided go try to pass him anyway…and so we did ….well at least Cissi and Linda passed him, but he caught me…and wouldn’t let me go….we stood there for 10 min and an american lady passed and asked what the problem was …we told her and she just laught and said but you can come to the beach if you just go a little bit to the left….( 20 m) and so we did(and felt so smart). On the way back the guards waved happily to us. That’s so funny because they never get angry…not even when you try to bargain . Yesterday Cissi and I went to get a massage, a hair wash and facial cleaning (32 kr for everything) it was nice but not at all like home. In the evenings we eat good food and play cards…at 10 pm all places in town close and it’s time to go home and sleep….so strage….but we are always out longer …so we are not so popular in the restaurants(we are often the only ones left) and at our hotel…(they also go to bed aroungd 10-11 pm). Strage town. Take care Natalie
Tours in Vietnam, Upon arrival at our hotel in Hanoi (Vinh Quanh) we were immediately questioned about tours. We knew we wanted to visit Halong Bay and had been told and read that a tour from Hanoi was the most economical way to go. “Go now, weather is good” they said, which we also knew as we had been watching the weather keenly for the past week. Our hotel also told us that we could lock up our stuff while we were at Halong, “lockers in back, no problem,” which would be great. Thinking we were now savvy to the game we declined this initial offer and went around town checking prices and asking questions. We got our low bids and went back to our hotel to see if they would match it. After a “serious” bargaining session, we got our 3 day small group tour, with kayaking and one night on the boat for $38, down from $45. With low expectations but a good price, we were satisfied with our dealings and excited to get out on the water.
We also travelled North East to Sapa which is the hub for trekking in the mountains and visiting Hill tribes. Its an overnight train journey (only 9 hours) and a bus ride to an Alps-like town (minus the snow) with stunning views of the mountains. Sapa is beautiful.
I’d been lucky so far. The extent of my health woes had been limited to food poisoning and a minor head injury up Everest, the bamboo swing impact to the ribs in Laos, and my unfortunate leap into a puddle of steaming sewage to escape a rat in Chiang Mai. I’d even survived India pretty much unscathed. It of course couldn’t last and suddenly it all went very wrong in Sapa, North Vietnam. Moving on from Halong Bay, I was at least able to enjoy a couple of days in the pleasant green mountainous surroundings up north and pottered off on my own for some short treks to avoid all the tourists. I also had enough time to make another new friend, Ho Chi Minh himself, who took me to one side in his restaurant and plied me with his home brewed plum wine before taking 2 excrutiating hours to destroy me piece by piece at chess.
After a few days in Hanoi, we decided to take a break from the hustle and bustle and took a trip to Ha long bay. The bay is basically made up of about 3000 (didn’t have time to count them all) limestone islands, all dotted around the place. We decided to do a two day one night trip, which basically involved going out on a boat into the bay, to a few of the islands and then anchoring for the night, before returning back the following day. There was quite a lot of sea mist around, which reduced visibility quite a bit, but it was still a good trip.
Another early morning start and the weather was still grey and overcast but at least it had stopped raining. The minibus picked us up at 7.45 and we spent the next hour doing a city tour picking up the other 10 people on the tour. Three hours later we boarded our ‘luxury’ boat which would take us to explore Halong bay. There were only 6 of of us on the our 16 berth boat which made things all the more personal with our tour guide ‘Suan’. Suan was a mine of information and we later found out she had studied tourism for 7 years at university.
