After a five hour journey we arrived at Hoi an but this time we just took the normal seated night bus and although the driver was all over the place again it wasn’t as bad.
Archive for January, 2009
2nd Jan 2008:
Ninh Binh - South of Hanoi:
Met our guide named Khoi and a very quiet driver at 7.30am outside Love Planet. We decided to start early as we have planned to go to many places outside Hanoi towards the south. We were delighted to find out that we will be travelling in a very sturdy Land Cruiser and that Khoi spoke understandable English and was able to answer Argi’s many “difficult” questions about Vietnam from the current political situation to the population size of each city to the length of rivers.
Vietnam tours Tet, travel firms have reported an increase of 10% over the previous year, while they have stopped receiving bookings for some tours. The promotion program of slashing tour fees by 30-50% initiated by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has not been implemented yet.
PHu Quoc island VietnamDespite the difficulties caused by the global economic recession, which has affected Vietnam’s tourism, the number of travelers on 2009 Tet will not decrease as was the previous concern. Some travel firms have even said that they have stopped receiving bookings for some tours because of the high number of travelers.
Hoi An ancient quarter extends pedestrians-only days
Hoi An’s ancient quarter in Vietnam
Hoi An’s ancient quarter is now off-limits to motor vehicles for five days a week, instead of the previous four. A regulation recently issued by the city authorities allows motorbikes and other vehicles to enter the area only on Thursdays and Sundays.
The Hoi An authorities first turned the town’s ancient quarter into a walking-only section over 4 years ago.
Tourism companies enlisted as members of the four working groups catering to specific tourism markets made final discussions on detailed incentives in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday so as to announce the exact discounts for foreign travelers visiting the country.
Rex hotel in Ho Chi minh Vietnam
Nguyen Thi Khanh, deputy head of the hotel and travel division of Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism, told the Daily on Tuesday that the meeting was aimed to flesh out the common program agreed upon earlier.
New7Wonders, the organizing board of the campaign to vote seven new world wonders declared the list of 261 nominees that enter the second round on Wednesday, including Vietnam’s Halong Bay, a world natural heritage site.
Halong Bay in Vietnam
The Mekong River, which runs through many countries including Vietnam, also enters the second round.
The Media Director of New7Wonders, Tia Viering, said the second round will run from now to July 7, 2009 to select 77 top nominees.
Tourism officials of Vietnam announced on Jan. 10 a host of solutions in an effort to attract more tourists in the years to come amidst the global economic downturn.
The officials told a press conference that Vietnam ’s tourism industry has set a target of serving 5 million foreign and 21.5 million local tourists this year. The figures are expected to increase to 6 million and 23.5 million in 2010, they said.
Hoi An ancient quarter extends pedestrians-only days
Hoi An’s ancient quarter is now off-limits to motor vehicles for five days a week, instead of the previous four.
Hoi An’s ancient quarter is now off-limits to motor vehicles for five days a week, instead of the previous four. A regulation recently issued by the city authorities allows motorbikes and other vehicles to enter the area only on Thursdays and Sundays.
The Hoi An authorities first turned the town’s ancient quarter into a walking-only section over 4 years ago.
Halong travel in 2008, Over 2.65 million visitors came to Halong Bay in 2008, an increase of 48.8 percent over 2007. Of those 1.71 million were foreign visitors, a 67.6 percent increase, the Bay’s management board has said.
Halong Bay Vietnam
The management board organized a vote to nominate Halong Vietnam as of one the seven natural wonders of the world. The voting took place at Hoang Gia (royal) International Park and Bai Chay Tourist Wharf attracting over 18,000 votes.
Vietnam Travel in Brief Big City hotels slash rates to entice guests
Halong Bay in Vietnam
Thirty leading hotels in Ho Chi Minh City agreed early this week to cut by 30 per cent their room rates in a move to lure visitors to the city. Truong Vinh Tho, head of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Department’s travel division, said the lower room rates launched by three-to five-star hotels would help make it possible for tour operators to launch attractive packages for visitors. Tho said the rates would eventually be even lower because hotels would offer discounts on other special rates for their preferred tour operators.