Vietnam Tourism: May 2015

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Streaked Weaver - The first record for Northern Vietnam

Hi All!

With the kindly helps from friends (Sebastien and others), I got some new photos for me just around Hanoi (from end of April to 23 of May 2015). The highlight is the first record of Streaked Weaver for Northern Vietnam. Robson 2009 mentioned this species is locally common resident at central, south Annam and Cochinchina.

Some others includes the other views (from Sebastien's photos) of Fairy Pitta (second time for me in Vietnam) and white morph of Asian Paradise Flycatcher (first time with photos and perfect view) and so on..

Male of Streaked Weaver

Fairy Pitta (first chance for me with the photos)

Asian Paradise Flycatcher

Oriental Pratincole in breeding plumage

Male of Barred Buttonquail in dust bathing.

Please enjoy and thanks you all!

Hung Le

Source : vietnambirdnews[dot]blogspot[dot]com

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Quang Binh invites investment for 34 tourism projects

Central Quang Binh province is calling for investments in 34 local tourism projects between 2015 and 2020 with a combined estimated cost of VND20 trillion (USD921.4 million).

Kayaking in Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park in central Quang Binh province. (Photo: VNA)

The projects, including 12 in Dong Hoi city, are intended to improve infrastructure for the province’s tourism sector by 2020.

They focus on establishing urban residential areas and building centres for entertainment, cuisines and shopping in order to meet the increasing tourism demand. Several aim to preserve and develop the local ecosystem.

Highlights of the list are the 300-hectare Da Nhay–Ba Trai Resort Complex in Bo Trach district requiring 1.5 trillion VND (69.1 million USD) in investment capital, the 200-hectare Hai Ninh Golf Course in Quang Ninh district at a total cost of one trillion VND (46 million USD) and the 500-hectare Bao Ninh–Hai Ninh Luxury Resort with an estimated investment of 2.5 trillion VND (115.2 million USD).

Quang Binh has created various preferential policies to support investors.

Boasting a long coastline riddled with beaches, historic and spiritual sites and a UNESCO World Heritage Site - the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park - Quang Binh has plentiful opportunities to develop tourism into one of its economic pillars.

The Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park with its world-famous caves is said to be as popular as Ha Long Bay with adequate investment.

The province has created a number of tours, without overlapping, at cave systems around the province, as well as seaside eco-tourism and spiritual tours to Vung Chua – Dao Yen, General Vo Nguyen Giap’s final resting place.

One of the province’s weaknesses is the lack of accommodation due to a limited number of hotels and guesthouses.

In 2014, Quang Binh welcomed 2.7 million visitors, up nearly 100 percent, 60 percent of which were international tourists, a 26 percent increase.

Source : dtinews[dot]vn

French Village’ opens to tourists at Ba Na Mountain

Located about 45 kilometres west of Danang – Ba Na Mountain – nearly 1,450 metres above sea level, was once the location of a luxury resort village with 200 French-styled villas, hotels, a market, opera house and stadium.

It was built by French colonialists in 1901 for military officials and high-ranking civil servants but was destroyed during the 1945 August Revolution.

Until recently there wasn’t much left of the resort but the remains of a few French villas with moss covered walls and some well-trodden pathways.

However all that has changed as investors have now completed and opened a US$70-million restoration project, which is destined to become a top travel destination of Vietnam.

The ‘French Village’ spans six-hectares and is replete with 20th-century French-styled castles, houses, a hotel, shopping mall, restaurants and indoor theme park.

Here are some images of the beautiful village we hope you’ll enjoy:

Source : dtinews[dot]vn

Khau Vai love market festival attracts crowds

Thousands of domestic and international tourists gathered for the 2015 Khau Vai Love Market Culture-Tourism Week, which kicked off on May 13 in Meo Vac district of the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang.

A young couple at the love market (Photo: VNA)

The week, which will run through May 16, features a wide variety of activities including the northernmost beauty contest, cow fighting festivals, horse races, traditional dish exhibitions, and incense offerings at two temples in Khau Vai commune.

Vice Chairman of the district People’s Committee Tran Kim Ngoc, who is also head of the organising board, said the week aims to preserve and uphold the traditional ethnic minority culture in the province.

The Khau Vai Love Market has its origins in a legend about a couple who were deeply in love but were forbidden to be together because they hailed from differed ethnic groups. The two promised to meet once every year in Khau Vai on the 27th of the third lunar month.

The “Phong Luu” market of Son Vi commune is also a highlight of the event, drawing crowds of local residents and neighbouring Chinese people to join and enjoy the event’s art performances and games, according to Ngoc.

During the event, tourism service quality, social order and traffic safety have been ensured to serve tourists, he added.
The century-old festival, which is held annually in the third lunar month, is a popular meeting place for ethnic groups in the locality, particularly those in love.

Source : dtinews[dot]vn

Ban Gioc among world’s top 15 amazing waterfalls

Ban Gioc Waterfall in Vietnam’s northern Cao Bang province has been listed among top 15 most amazing waterfalls in the world, according to Thrillist-a leading US food, drink and travel website.

Ban Gioc Waterfall

In the article’s introduction, the author described that waterfalls have been an awe-inspiring sight ever since the first man walked down river, peered over the edge, and then wildly exclaimed to his tribe-bro "I think we can jump off of this!".

“Trickling majestically down the rocks, Ban Gioc waterfall only drops a measly 98ft, but is super awesome looking, so size doesn't really matter” said the Thrillist.

The website also stressed that the waterfall is a treasure that is still being unearthed in the cliff's caves.

Rounding on the list include Victoria Falls on Zambezi River at the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia, Ventisquero Falls of Chile, Pearl Shoal Waterfall of China, Sutherland Falls of New Zealand, Niagara Falls of Canada, Palouse Falls of the US, Angel Falls of Venezuela, Iguazu Falls on Iguazu River at the border of Brazil and Argentina, Kaieteur Falls of Guyana, Taughannock Falls of the US, Gullfoss of Iceland, Yosemite Falls of the US, Large Waterfall of Croatia, and The Faroe Islands- an archipelago between Norway.

Source : dtinews[dot]vn

Admiring starry sky on Bach Moc Luong Tu mountain top

Bach Moc Luong Tu range which is 3,046m above the sea level has become an attraction to many adventurous tourists because of its primary and breathtaking beauty.

It is the fourth tallest mountain in Vietnam, trailed by Fansipan (3,143m), Pu Ta Leng (3,096m), and Pu Si Lung (3,076m). Lying between two northern provinces of Lai Chau and Lao Cai, the mountain with hasty and rocky terrain was discovered by adventurous tourists in 2012.

To climb to the top of the mountain, visitors must travel 30km of forest road and experience different types of terrain like bare hills, wood and bamboo forest and high, adventurous and sheer rock.

Visitors can conquer the Bach Moc Luong Tu’s peak from two ways: Departing from Den Sung hamlet in Sin Suoi Ho village, Phong Tho district, Lai Chau province or from Ki Quan San hamlet in Sang Ma Sao village, Bat Xat district in Lao Cai province.

Source : dtinews[dot]vn

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Ba Vi : Red-headed Trogon encounter

Back to Bavi NP. My main target was the Red-headed Trogon, which I suspected to breed somewhere, not far from the Red-vended Barbet nest. I finally found them and had some poor shots in the foggy condition of the morning. Not so long after, I found the nest. After gathered some food, the female stay all the day in the cavity.

The nest is really in danger. It is too close from the road. At midday, tourists like to stay there, making a lot of noise. I told to some of them I was a snake expert, there were some cobras in the area blablabla… and at the breeding season they can attack without warning... They left immediately!

Le Viet Tuan Hoang

Small Niltava - male and female

Red-headed Trogon

at nest

male Scarlet Minivet

Source : vietnambirdnews[dot]blogspot[dot]com

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Terracotta park opens in Hoi An with mini famous landmarks

HOI AN (VNS) — Thanh Ha Terracotta Park, designed in the shape of a potter's wheel and featuring miniatures of various world wonders, opened earlier this week in Hoi An.

Spread over an area of 6,000sq.m in Thanh Ha Pottery Village, the park cost VND20 billion (US$930,000) to build and features Britain's Stonehenge, the Statue of Liberty National Monument, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Pyramids, and the Sydney Opera House besides old and contemporary terracotta works.

The park is expected to apprise tourists about the famous pottery village. — VNS

Source : vietnamnews[dot]vn

Lang Son all set for summer

LANG SON (VNS) — The northern province of Lang Son will hold the Mau Son Summer Tourism Festival at the eponymous tourism site in Cao Loc and Loc Binh districts on Sunday.

The festival will feature art performances and showcase traditional dishes, special wines, and traditional costumes of ethnic minorities living on Mau Son Mountain. There will also be a bicycle race, a climb up Phat Chi Mountain, and a youth camp.

Located some 30km north-east of Lang Son City, Mau Son has lovely, pristine landscapes, pure air, and cool weather year round. The mountain, which sometimes gets snow in winter, also has many beautiful streams and waterfalls.

Mau Son has many specialities like peach, Tuyet Son tea, wine, and rare cocks with six spurs. It is home to the Tay, Dao, and Nung ethnic minorities. — VNS

Source : vietnamnews[dot]vn

Time to vist ‘Roof of Gia Lai'

GIA LAI (VNS) — Kon Ka Kinh National Park in the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) province of Gia Lai is an ideal destination for tourists with its beautiful forests, picturesque streams and waterfalls, and diverse range of flora and fauna.

The park has a number of endangered primates like the grey-shanked douc and yellow-cheeked crested gibbon.

Located some 50km from Pleiku city, the park covers an area of nearly 42,000ha on the Pleiku Plateau and has 2,000ha of mixed broadleaf and coniferous forests, the only place in Viet Nam to have this.

The national park, one of four in Viet Nam to be recognised as an ASEAN Heritage Park, has begun developing several eco-tourism services like trekking through forests to view beautiful landscapes, climbing the 1,748m Kon Ka Kinh Mountain (the roof of Gia Lai), and wild animal and bird safaris. — VNS

Source : vietnamnews[dot]vn

HCM City gets electric buses

HCM CITY (VNS) — HCM City will launch its first electric bus service going through downtown tourist destinations like Ben Thanh Market, the War Remnants Museum and the Nguyen Hue walking street early next month.

The buses will run between September 23 Park and Sai Gon Zoo and Botanical Garden in District 1 with 27 stops along the way on streets such as Ton Duc Thang, Nguyen Hue, Hai Ba Trung, and Le Duan.

They will operate between 8am and 6pm every day, with a bus departing every 10 minutes. Tickets will cost VND10,000 while a bus can be rented for VND100,000 (US$4.7) per hour. — VNS

Source : vietnamnews[dot]vn

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Ha Long Carnival 2015 kicks off

The annual Ha Long Carnival 2015 kicked off in the northern province of Quang Ninh on May 8, featuring over 2,700 professional and amateur artists.

They sang, danced and paraded on erected stages and along the 1,000m-long Hoang Quoc Viet road on the theme “Convergence of quintessence – Spread of smiles”.

Visitors could watch 10 carriages of flowers and exciting performances by popular singers and art troupes at home and abroad.

Twelve businesses have pledged to sponsor the event with a total of nearly VND10 billion (US$476,000), Vice Chairman of the Ha Long City People’s Committee Tran Trong Trung told a press conference in Hanoi earlier the same day.

The event is expected to attract tourists to the world heritage site Ha Long Bay and other local cultural heritages.

Source: VNA

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Source : news[dot]com[dot]vn

Travel firms bemoan new draft regulations

Local tour operators have decried draft regulations that require them to find drivers able to communicate in English to serve their tourists and use coaches with a maximum registered operation duration of 15 years to transport guests.

Coaches are seen at a port in HCMC waiting for cruise passengers

The circular on tourist transport, jointly drafted by the ministries of transport and culture-sports-tourism, has been forwarded to travel firms for comment since the end of last year.

Under the draft circular, drivers of tourist vehicles should be able to answer simple questions by foreigners about streets, weather, exchange rate, and addresses of post offices, healthcare centers, insurance agencies, sightseeing and shopping destinations, diplomatic corps and representative offices of international organizations.

According to tour operators, to meet the requirements, drivers must have a good command of English, and this is impossible.

Nguyen Thi Hoa Le, general director of Peace Tour Company, which has the biggest number of tourist buses in HCMC, said as English-speaking tour guides always accompany foreign visitors throughout their tours, there is no need for drivers to be fluent in English.

“It is very hard and almost impossible to find drivers who can communicate in English fluently,” Le said.

She described the regulation on limiting the operation duration of tourist buses to 15 years as irrational because the lifespan of a bus may be as long as 20 years if they are well maintained. Many countries allow tourist coaches to operate for up to 25 years.

Transport firms bemoan the rule requiring them to report the itinerary of buses to local departments of transport before they sign and implement contracts with tour operators.

A travel firm in HCMC explained that cars are sometimes rented for a small group of travelers and that it is time-consuming to report the schedule of every trip to competent agencies.

Source: SGT

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Cultural tourism of Cham ethnic minority

Inra Jaya is a Cham ethnic minority who has travelled extensively to many countries around the globe and strongly believes that tourism is the catalyst that will preserve the group’s way of life.

Kate festival held annually each October

The Cham ethnic minority are descendants of the Kingdom of Champa, a country that once blossomed in central and south Vietnam for more than 1800 years from 192 AD-1832.

“Tourists enjoy the rich unique vibrant Cham culture and the revenue generated from tourism results in less poverty and will be the salvation for the group’s unique culture,” Jaya shared.

Jaya, 27, said he avidly promotes the tourism industry of the Cham ethnic minority through photographs on his Facebook page, Incredible Champa.

Some photos:

Vehicle of Cham ethnic people

Women carrying water on their heads

The Ramawan festival in June

The Kate festival is the largest

The elderly teach younger generations to read and write

The elderly also instruct young girls on singing, dancing and etiquette

Chaper Tower in the Phuoc Tan commune of Bac Ai district

Source: VOV

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Local visitors lack etiquette at cultural sites, say experts

Cultural experts and sociologists are worried about the lack of etiquette shown by local tourists at sites of national heritage and say Vietnamese need to be more respectful of their history.

Vietnam, etique, exhibits

A stilt house of Muong people

Many Vietnamese visitors have exhibited bad behaviour while visiting important sites, including writing on the walls of But Thap pagoda and thoughtlessly discarding burning cigarette butts.

Four Vietnamese visitors burned down the last hundred-year-old Lang stilt house of Muong ethnic minority people in northern Hoa Binh Province in October 2013 after they tried to cook corn inside the building.

The incident stirred a public outcry over the lack of awareness by local visitors at tourist and cultural sites.

“It was a great loss when the house burned,” said artist Phan Cam Thuong.

Another artist, Thanh Chuong, said, “I find it hard to understand why visitors to my tourist site throw burning cigarette butts on the roof of my stilt house."

He said tourists throw rubbish everywhere and show little respect for national heritage.

"I gather trash right in front of them in the hope they will change their behavior," Chuong said.

Donations are being collected to rebuild the Lang house, but its original heritage value has been lost because a group of tourists didn't think about what they were doing or where they were.

“Gathering the exhibits on the display inside the house is a great challenge,” said historian Duong Trung Quoc.

Source: Dtinews

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VN jumps five steps in tourism competitiveness

Viet Nam ranked 75th among 141 nations in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI).

In comparison with the rankings in 2013, Viet Nam jumped five steps. Earlier, in 2009 and 2011 the country secured the 89^th and 80^th places.

Regarding prices, the country's tourism stood at 22^ndamong 141 nations. Meanwhile, in term of sustainable development, it was ranked 132^nd.

The TTCI is measured by four different index groups of Legislative Factor, Infrastructure and Human Resources, Culture and Natural Resources.

The TTCI aims to evaluate factors and policies to encourage the development of tourism and travel to contribute to the development and competitiveness of each nation.

Source: VGP News

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