HCM City hotels
add 1,300 rooms, receive 900,000 visitors in Q1

More than 1,300 one-to
four-star hotel rooms were brought into operation in HCM City in the first
quarter of 2011, according to figures from the hotel division of the city’s
Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The city has 596
one-star hotels, 167 two-star hotels, 596 three-star hotels; 13 four-star hotels
and 13 five-star hotels. The five-star hotels will overtake their low-budget
rivals with many projects in the offing to expand and build luxury facilities.
The city received some 900,000 international visitors in Q1, a year-on-year
increase of 6 per cent, the same source said.

Thua Thien-Hue city
Province to host national tourism year 2012

The national tourism
year 2012 will be held in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue. Lying on the
north-south railway and the Trans-Asia Highway linking central Viet Nam with
Laos and northeastern Thailand, Thua Thien-Hue will be a stopover for tourists.

The ancient city of
Hue, the capital city of Viet Nam under the Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945),
preserves the nha nhac (royal court music) that was recognised by UNESCO as a
masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage of humanity.

Thua Thien-Hue is also
well known for its cuisine, craft products and folk festivals, including the Cau
Ngu (Fish Praying) festival, the boat race on the Huong (Perfume) River, and the
biannual Hue Festivals.

The National Tourism
Year 2011 themed “Exotic Beaches and Islands” took place in central coastal Phu
Yen Province on April 1.

Travel
expo to promote tourism among four regional countries

The international
Travel Expo 2011 in HCM City, scheduled for September this year, will expand its
scope of promotion to four countries instead of three Indochina nations as in
previous events.

Nguyen Bao Anh, deputy
head of the Tourism Promotion Division under the HCM City Department of Culture,
Sports and Tourism, said the expo themed “Four Countries-One Destination” is
aimed to promote Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Viet Nam as a single tourism
destination. The organisers are inviting Yunnan Province of China to join this
year’s event.

The travel expo will
focus on promoting World Heritage Sites, the common tourism potential of the
four countries, health tourism and youth tourism, as well as beaches and
islands.

Mekong Delta
snake farm lures thousands of travellers a month

Dong Tam Snake Farm in
the Mekong province of Tien Giang’s Chau Thanh District has attracted thousands
of visitors per month. Located some 10km from My Tho City, the 11-ha farm is
also home to sheep, ostriches, yellow tortoises, crocodiles and, of course,
snakes.

Dong Tam, the
country’s only snake museum and also one of the largest snake-breeding centres
and maker of anti-venom in Viet Nam, has a collection of more than 50 species of
snakes, including the poisonous ones. Most of the snakes raised there are
pythons and cobras. Visiting the farm, tourists can learn how to treat
snakebites and how to remove and use venom in medicine.

Seminar seeks
to increase votes for Ha Long Bay as new world wonder

A seminar was held in
Quang Ninh Province on May 1, seeking more votes for Ha Long Bay to be
recognised as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.

The Deputy Director of
Quang Ninh Television Station, Mai Vu Tuan, proposed increasing broadcasts of Ha
Long Bay’s values on domestic radio and television programmes as well as on
foreign radio and television, such as South Korea’s Kangwon television and
China’s Guangxi television and radio, which have established cooperative ties
with Viet Nam.

The World Heritage
Site Ha Long Bay needs to collect 60 million votes to become one of the new 7
wonders of the world. The New Open World will announce the final list of the new
7 wonders of the world on November 11.

To vote for Ha Long
Bay, one can visit
<.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News