Danang International Firework Competition 2009 will take place in the central coastal city of Danang on March 27 and 28 with participation of Spain, Australia, China, the Philippines and the home team Vietnam. Saigontourist is offering a three-day tour to the firework festival as well as other attractions in Danang City.

The event is expected to lure many local and international tourists and promises to delight viewers with amazing and talented performances against the backdrop of the poetic Han River. The shows are all around 21 minutes long and are titled as follows: Australia - “The Southern Stars”; Philippines - “Danang-new epoch”; China - “Freedom for love”; Spain – “Happy Melodies”; and Vietnam will express the beauty of the nation as well as the friendliness of Vietnamese people via “Han River’s Echoes”.

Visitors to the fireworks competition will also have a chance to enjoy cultural and artistic activities and sport games including flower garland and flower ship festivals, boat races, water sports, culinary programs, music shows, circus and exhibitions.

The tour also includes splendid destinations in the city such as Son Tra Peninsula, Da (Stone) River, My Khe and Tien Sa ports, Non Nuoc Beach and Ngu Hanh Son (Marble Mountains) as well as two world’s cultural heritage sites. The first is Hue Ancient citadel and the extravagant architecture of the Royal Palace, Thai Hoa Palace and the very famous Thien Mu Pagoda, built during the Nguyen Dynasty and well-known for its unique architecture and elegant style with ancient bronze cast statues and antiques.

The second is Hoi An City, known for outstanding ancient pagodas and temples such as Ong Pagoda and Pagoda Bridge. Tourists will get lost in the illusionary world of shimmering, diverse colored lanterns hanging on the streets and over the Hoai River.

The tour departs on the morning of March 27 and is priced between VND1.780 million and VND2.310 million including flight, or VND1.635 million per person not including flight.

(Source: SGT)

The Nha Trang Sea Festival 2009 will be organised from June 6-12 to attract more domestic and foreign tourists to the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa, said a local official.

The province has now completed all necessary preparations for the biennial event, the fourth of its kind so far, said Le Xuan Than, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee and Head of the organising board, on February 18.

According to the official, this year’s festival will feature a broad range of culture, sports and tourism activities, including street festivals, exhibitions of books, photos and calligraphy, French film screening, art performances and water sports competitions.

Art troupes from France, Ukraine, Japan and the Republic of Korea are expected to participate in the festival.

Organisations and businesses both inside and outside Khanh Hoa have to date pledged to contribute almost VND 10 billion to support the hosting of the festival.

(Source: VNA)

A royal music exchange programme between Vietnam and Japan will be held at Okinawa National Theatre of the latter country from February 12-15, 2009.

Twenty-two dancers and instrumentalists of the Hue Royal Traditional Art Theatre of Vietnam will take part in the performance, introducing the most popular pieces of royal music and folk dances of the former imperial city of Hue, the Hue Relic Preservation Centre announced on February 1.

It added that the performance will help boost cooperation ties between the two theatres.

(Source: VNA)

Thousands of people flocked to the opening ceremony of this year’s Yen Tu Spring Festival in the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh on February 4, the tenth day of the first lunar month.

Among those present at the ceremony were Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan and the Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha’s Executive Council, Most Venerable Thich Thanh Tu, who were joined by thousands of pilgrims.

Buddhist dignitaries, monks, nuns and followers and visitors offered incense to King Tran Nhan Tong, who reigned over the country from 1279 to 1293, and joined the opening prayer.

Yen Tu welcomed 150,000 visitors during the first nine days of this year’s first lunar month.

Yen Tu Mountain is located about 50km from Halong City. The route of the pilgrimage, which winds from the foot of the mountain to its highest peak, is almost 30km.

The area’s beautiful natural landscape and awe-inspiring scenery, along with the ancient pagodas and hermitages that are dotted around, are said to have been the reason that King Tran Nhan Tong passed the throne to his son so that he could devote his life to living as a Buddhist monk at Yen Tu Mountain. Whilst there, he founded the Truc Lam meditation sect, which has led to Yen Tu being recognised as the country’s leading centre for Buddhism.

(Source: VNA)

“This immense area with wonderful features
Makes one wonder whether it is fairyland
Huong Son itself is fairyland
Which is seen in this earthly world”

The beautiful verse describes scenic spot of Huong Pagoda, designated by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site, which makes one can’t help having the feeling that is one were lost in a world of fairies. Huong Son attracts visitors not only with its wonderful landscape, but also with its sense of philosophy embodied inside its splendid caves, of which Huong Tich and Tuyet Son are the most impressive. Visitors are bewitched by the beauty of these cases which look half real and half unreal. That explains the reason why the cold weather cannot keep thousands of pilgrims and tourists away from the Huong Pagoda Festival, the nation’s longest and most elaborate annual festival.

Legend has it that the festival is held to worship a princess named Dieu Thien who incarnated Avalokitasvara and attained enlightenment there. As the princess was born on the 19th day of the second lunar month, that date is now observed by all Vietnamese Buddhists as a saint day. The shrine in which she practised her religion was discovered in the 15th century by three monks. The pilgrimage to Huong Son dwindled to a trickle during the war years and the temples and shrines were left vacant.. In 1770, Lord Trinh Sam wrote five Chinese characters to describe Huong Tich Cavern: Nam Thien De Nhat Dong (the most beautiful cave in Vietnam). The Huong Pagoda Festival started during the Le-Trinh Dynasty. In 1958, after the restoration of peace in North Vietnam, the Government and President Ho Chi Minh personally gave instructions for the repair of the pagodas and temples and the restoration of the festival. Annually, visitors to the festival to enjoy the beauty of the Huong Son limestone mountains at a time when apricot trees are in bloom and pay tribute to Buddha, specifically to Avalokitasvara, one of Buddha’s disciples.

According to the legend, a pilgrimage to Huong Pagoda in the spring will bring health, prosperity, good luck and happiness. And whether you believe in the story or not, there’s no disputing that a trip like this offers a perfect chance to get closer to both nature and Vietnamese tradition.

A meaningful pilgrimage

The festival is a traditional Vietnamese Buddhist celebration, held simultaneously in three locations: Huong Tich, Tuyet Son, and Long Van. The festival is most crowded from the 15th - 20th day of the 2nd month of the lunar calendar as this period marks the the main festival. However, since the first day of the lunar New Year, thousands of tourists and pilgrims have flocked to the sacred land to tour and pray for a prosperous and happy year. Spring is the idea time for bothVietnamese and foreigners come to Huong Son. Heading there, you have chances to live in a boisterous atmosphere of a spring festival amidst beautiful landscape. They seem to be free from all tiredness and sorrow and come to pay respect to the compassionate Buddha.

Unlike many other festivals, the Huong Pagoda Festival does not centre around traditional games, but rather romantic trips to caves, pagodas and temples and participation in ceremonies to beseech favours from Lord Buddha. The Venerable Thich Minh Hien rang the bell to officially open the festival at the Huong Pagoda, on the sixth day of the first lunar month. The opening ceremony began at the Thien Tru Pagoda with pilgrims and tourists invited to take part in the incense offering ceremony. In order to warning up the festival’s lively ambience in the chilly weather, the traditional raditional songs and dances took place before and after the ceremony. Visitors attending Huong pagoda festival usually make some wishes and when they are worshipping Buddha’s in the pagoda, they pray for their wishes to come true. The visitors bring offerings with them from home, including boiled chickens, boiled pigs’ heads and steamed sticky rice. After prayers, each person will take a small portion of the offering (called loc) which is then carried home for their family. Loc is a sacred and precious thing as it is believed to bring good luck to those who eat it. In addition, cultural activities and sporting contests are also held on the occasion of Huong Pagoda Festival: boat racing, climbing, folk song singing, etc. These festive activities take place throughout the festival.

A pilgrimage to the Huong Pagoda Festival cannot only be for religious reasons, but to see the numerous natural shapes that are typical of the landscape and the buildings that are valuable artifacts of the nation. When you make a pilgrimage to Huong Pagoda you are in the middle of nature at its best, with a gorgeous river, caves, and mountains.Therefore, people of different ages all so interested in the Huong Pagoda Festival…

Halong Bay - one of Vietnam’s World Heritage Sites - is officially a contender in the second phase of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

The announcement was made on January 7 on the New 7 Wonders’ (N7W) website. To earn the elusive status, 261 national and international sites will vie to make it into the top 77.

The Mekong River, which flows China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar was nominated by six countries.

Voting will go on until July 7, 2009. Finalists will be chosen by the N7W Panel of Experts for short listing.

Twenty-one sites will be chosen in July 2009 to go forward to the next stage of voting.

The final voting stage will take place between 2010 and 2011. During this time, the N7W World Tour will visit all 21 sites. The N7W of Nature will be unveiled in the summer of 2011.

During the first phase of the campaign, which ran from July 2007 to December 31, 2008, three of Vietnam’s tourist hot spots were nominated, including Halong Bay, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and Fansipan Mountain.

(Source: VNA)

Diverse culture, tourism and sports events are taking place across the country to welcome the upcoming lunar New Year Festival (Tet) - the Year of the Buffalo.

The main streets in Nha Trang City of central coastal Khanh Hoa Province are bedecked with flowers, colorful lanterns, slogans and flags to welcome Tet. The director of the Khanh Hoa provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Truong Dang Tuyen, said many activities will be launched for the occasion, such as a Tet trade fair, a spring flower trade fair, a spring newspaper exhibition, a film week, photo and calligraphy exhibitions, a lion dance contest and a human chess competition.

Apart from film shows in Nha Trang City, two mobile film screening teams will be sent to the two mountainous districts of Khanh Son and Khanh Vinh to serve local ethnic minority people.

During a week-long cultural event in Khanh Hoa, many folk games and traditional ritual festivals will also be held, such as the Cau Ngu Festival, the Thap Ba Ponnaga ritual, a boat racing, a sea swimming competition, a junior football tournament and a sea volleyball competition. Organisations and individuals are encouraged to participate in all these events.

Firework displays will be launched in Nha Trang City and Dien Khanh District with generous sponsorship from local businesses.

To meet the people’s demand for entertainment during the Tet holiday from January 15-31, the central province of Quang Ngai will organise many sports, culture and tourism activities for local residents.

There will be a fireworks show on Lunar New Year’s eve in Quang Ngai City and in the Dung Quat economic zone along with many exciting programmes. Diverse cultural activities will also be held in a number of places in the province, including an exhibition on art and handicrafts, film shows, folk games, and sports games such as volleyball, badminton, Chinese chess, traditional martial arts and boxing. The national music and dance troupe and the provincial cinematographic centre will give performances to entertain local residents in seven mountainous districts and islands.

Local people will enjoy lion dances and performances and celebrate the 79^th anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. An exhibition to display photos of the late Prime Minister Pham Van Dong will also be held.

(Source: VOV)

ASEAN tourism ministers at a meeting in Hanoi on Jan. 8, 2009 agreed on the need for further exploration of the regional market and the involvement of the private sector in the industry.

At the 12th meeting of the tourism ministers of the Association of the Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN), the participants said these measures will help mitigate the impact of the current global economic downturn on tourism.

The ministers suggested tourism officials in the member countries cooperate with private businesses in offering highly competitive package tours to ASEAN customers as well as those from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, which are the region’s major markets.

They also reaffirmed their commitment to accelerating the integration process and enacting the initiative by ASEAN’s top national tourism officers (NTOs) on developing a strategic plan for the industry in the 2011-2015 period.

The meeting adopted a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), which is expected to improve human resources for tourism and facilitate the move of skilled tourism workers in the region.

Further steps are expected after the signing of the agreement to improve the capacity of concerned regional and national agencies within the MRA framework.

In the last year, ASEAN countries held a number of promotional activities to expand their foothold in potential markets, including an agreement to establish an ASEAN-Korea centre in Seoul in early 2009, the ASEAN-India conference in Myanmar last August on Buddhist pilgrimage tours, and the ASEAN Tourism Investment Forum in the Philippines last July.

The regional tourism industry served 54 million foreign visitors in 2008, 7 percent higher than the previous year, despite the ongoing global financial crunch and political turmoil in some member countries.

The 12th meeting of ASEAN tourism ministers was organised as part of the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2009 (ATF), the biggest regional tourism event ever held in Vietnam.

The ATF’s programme includes a tourism fair (TRAVEX) to take place on January 12, 2009 with the expected participation of nearly 600 international travel agencies.

(Source: VNA)

This morning, ASEAN tourism forum (ATF) has been opening ceremony in Hanoi with the participation of Minister of Tourism from 10 countries in the region. The first session discussed about broadcasting the images of ASEAN to the world and agreements of mutual recognition among the countries.

10 countries attended ATF includes Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

First session was chaired by Mr. Tran Chien Thang, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Information and Tourism. The delegates discussed measures to promote a stronger image of ASEAN tourism while the number of international visitors to the area is declining.

According to the discussion, the countries will coordinate with the U.S Agency of International Development to implement project for strengthening ASEAN competitiveness. The MOU will be signed at the tour seminar on January 10.

Particularly, the meeting adopted the final draft Agreements of mutual recognition in tourism so that Ministers can sign on January 9. This text will give favorable conditions for ASEAN citizens when travelling, developing human resource in the region.

The delegates also discussed about the construction of tourism investment corridor, the list of bases in residents’ house, assessing the performance in 2008. The delegates also proposed projects implemented in 2009 on all fields of marketing, human resources, investment, tourism standards, information of tourism crisis and cruise, etc.

In the morning of January 5, 2009, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has announced a discount campaign for 99 tours, from 30% - 50%, that is named “Impressive Vietnam”. 114 travel companies, hotels participate the promotion that is the biggest one to date.

This is the biggest reduction in comparison with most countries in Southeast Asia. 37 international travel companies and 55 three-star or five-star hotels, 2 passenger carriers pledged to reduce the cost by 30%-50%, equivalent to the discount level for ticket of Vietnam Airlines on international and domestic flights. 6 hotels accepted the reduction of 5%-30% for the agreement signed with the travel companies or applied other promotions. In addition, 14 shopping points in HCM City has also registered to join the program, giving priority to passengers who buy the promotional tours.

According to Mr. Tran Chien Thang, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, five market groups – France, Western Europe, Japan, Asean, Australia and New Zealand will be the major partners of the discount programs. General Department of Tourism will establish four market groups more in North America, Russia and Eastern Europe, Northern Europe and South Korea to continue the implementation.

Although international visitors are strongly declining, Mr.Trinh Hong Quang, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Airlines, said that in 2009, they will maintain the direct flights to Russia, Australia, France and expect to increase market share in Laos, Cambodia to help Vietnam’s travel companies in connecting tours for international vvisitors to the two countries. Especially, in January, Vietnam Airlines has decided to test package tour of Seoul - Da Nang - Siemriep with ticket of low price.

General Department of Tourism will coordinate with Vietnam Airlines, travel companies, some embassies to promote in this market and offer promotional products. Moreover, there is also a series of measures such as inviting travel companies, newspapers from major markets to involve in the survey, create international tours to China and ASEAN countries, negotiate with the tourism management of some countries to strengthen tourist exchange.

Center for Tourism News will launch the website of the campaign, continuously updating information and link to promotional tours of travel companies involved. Promotion activities ram expressly in ASEAN Tourism Forum and Travex Fair taking place in Hanoi from January 6 to January 12.

“Tour discount and keeping the quality” is confirmed by Mr. Vu The Binh, Director of Tourism, General Department of Tourism. Each Vietnam’s travel company involves in the program must be potential and have prestige to reduce the cost of tour but remaining service quality. Monitoring the implementation according to the commitment of the business has been assigned to the local offices in collaboration with the Association of Tourism by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

According to Vice Minister Tran Chien Thang, it has been impossible to declare that the campaign will attract many tourists and earn much money, but clearly that it has improved competitiveness in Vietnam’s tourism. It is worthy that in the most difficult context, enterprises has been responsible for creating their own power.

In 2008, Vietnam welcomed about 4.1 million of international tourists, has not achieved the target of 4.8 to 5 million visitors as proposed.