Da Lat park to plant special trees
Vietnam Travel in Brief. Tuyen Lam Tourist Park in Da Lat has unveiled plans to plant 600,000 mai anh dao, a special tree that has pink blossoms in late winter and early spring, through 2015. The first 11,000 trees were planted on July 27, and they are expected to blossom in four years’ time.
The third Da Lat Flower Festival will be delayed until New Year’s Day 2010 to coincide with activities marking Hanoi’s 1,000-year anniversary as the capital of Vietnam, according to local authorities.
Tourists stroll a flower street at the 2007 Da Lat Flower Festival in the Central Highlands town
The festival, initially scheduled for December 18- 23, will instead be held for four days beginning January 1, 2010 in the famous resort town of Da Lat, said the People’s Committee in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.
Located along the Thu Bon River, the ancient town of Hoi An in Quang Nam province is an ideal destination for both domestic and foreign visitors.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the town was called Faifoo. It was then a port town familiar to merchants from Japan, China and Portugal. Sturdy structures built over the years include wooden houses and bridges, pagodas and others, some hundreds of years old, and they do impresses visitors to the town.
Since last month, tour operators in HCMC have been introducing Vietnam tours to Phu Yen province to stay in the five-star Cendeluxe Hotel or the newly opened Tuy Hoa luxury hotel.
Ben Thanh Tourist is offering a four-day, three-night tour from HCMC to Phu Yen province. According to the tour operator, the price is lower than other tours at VND3.4 million per guest.
From August 10, 2009 to December 31, 2010, Vietnam travel joint ventures are allowed to provide outbound tours for Vietnamese citizens and foreigners who are living and working in Vietnam.
Under the current laws, foreign-invested travel firms can only take foreign tourists around Vietnam, while bringing tourists abroad is the ‘playing field’ of domestic travel firms only.
The Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Ben Tre is seeking VND1.5 trillion (US$84.5 million) in investment funds for seven projects to further develop its tourism potential.
Despite current economic difficulties, the province had allocated VND10 billion for the tourism sector during the first six months of this year, said the provincial Department of Planning and Investment director, Do Minh Duc.
“However, the sum was not enough to solve the internal difficulties in its hospitality industry, Duc said.
Lao Cai to host tourism programme to mark Thang Long – Hanoi celebration
Lao Cai northern mountainous province will host a tourism programme festival named ‘Back to Origin 2010’ which is considered one of the ten important tourism events of north-eastern provinces to mark the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi.
According to Lao Cai People’s Committee chairman Nguyen Huu Van, the opening ceremony and the Fansipan mountain climbing competition will be the focus of the programme. Various activities will be held throughout the year in three provinces.
Musician Hilary Scott to perform at Park Hyatt in HCM City
Hilary Scott, from Missouri will provide live entertainment in the Park lounge of the Park Hyatt Sai Gon Hotel every evening, except Tuesdays, until October 10. Scott tours Asia as a solo artist and had extended engagements at Grand Hyatt in Seoul and Park Hyatt in HCM City.
His fiery performances offers a wide variety of music and original compositions, ranging from jazz and soul classics to contemporary pop.