Agencies pick up visa fees; Bull racing for An Giang; Motorised kite flies over Ha Long; Museums restructure entry fees

Twenty travel agencies across the country are exempting visa fees for international tourists who buy package tours under the Impressive Viet Nam promotion programme.

Bull racing for An Giang

The annual Khmer Dolta Festival, which celebrates the planting of the autumn-winter crop, will be held on September 17-19. The highlight is the bull race, open to contestants from An Giang and nearby provinces, as well as Cambodia’s Takeo province. Each race involves two contestants who lead a pair of oxen and compete in muddy paddy fields along a 100m race.

The ox races are also the highlight of a three day/two night package offered at the Victoria Chau Doc Hotel. The package is priced at US$211 per person on a twin-share basis, inclusive of an excursion to nearby Sacred Sam Mountain and a boat tour to the floating fish farm and Cham village, as well as a 45-minute massage.

Motorised kite flies over Ha Long

A new service providing motorised kite flying over Ha Long Bay has been available for visitors from August 3. The kite, which weighs 216 and is 11.5m long, with a 64-hp engine, can carry one driver and one visitor with a maximum loading capacity of 406. The maximum speed is 80km/hour and the kite flies at a maximum 150m above the land. The fee for each flight is US$70 for 15 minutes. Nha Trang has a similar service.

Resort offers beach weddings

Golden Sand Resort and Spa Hoi An has introduced a promotion for the upcoming wedding season, a package price of US$1,950 for a Western style wedding ceremony. The package features two nights in a beach front suite, a romantic dinner and luxurious bathtub. Also included are a professional hairstylist and make-up artist for the bride, a professional photographer for 36 photos, a traditional garland for the bride, a three-story cake and a bottle of champagne.

Museums restructure entry fees

The HCM City People’s Committee has told the local Department of Finance to work with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to set reasonable entrance fees for museums.

The fees for local and foreign visitors should be similar, they said. There will be exemptions and reductions for Vietnamese visitors, especially elderly people, war invalids and disabled.

A decree of the Finance Ministry on October 2006 said the entrance fees to historic sites must be the same for Vietnamese and foreigners. The fees must not exceed VND20,000 for adults and VND10,000 for children. Museums are allowed to keep all of their entrance fees to invest in museum activities, according to the deputy chairman of HCM City People’s Committee, Nguyen Thi Thu Ha.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News