Tourism to ride on back of global recovery

This year more than 5
million foreign tourists and 28 million local travellers are expected in Viet
Nam, according to the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Hoang Tuan Anh.

The Viet Nam National
Administration of Tourism reported that the total number of foreign tourists in
October soared 99.3 per cent against a year ago to over 440,000, raising the
total to nearly 4.2 million visitors in the year’s first 10 months, up 39 per
cent year-on-year.

Many of Viet Nam’s key
travel markets have expanded quickly, such as Cambodia with 97.2 per cent, China
90.3 per cent, Thailand 41.1 per cent, Korea 36.2 per cent, Japan 22.2 per cent,
France 15.4 per cent and the US 7 per cent.

Ice sculptures
displayed in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 11

Vietnamese and Chinese
ice technicians have worked together on a giant at Dam
Sen Tourist Park in HCM City’s District 11. The sculptures of 19 of the world’s
architectural wonders, all neon-lit, are big enough to walk around.

Ice sculptures displayed in Ho Chi Minh City. Hanging Gardens of Babylon. (Photo: VNE)

The display that
covers 2,000sq.m is housed at minus 10oC. It includes large-scale ice models of
One-Pillar Pagoda, Thailand’s Golden Pagoda, Lao Pagoda, the Hanging Gardens of
Babylon, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Some 750 tonnes of ice and 2,000 neon
lights have been used to create the show which will open in September 2011.

HCM City travel
agencies explore US market

The HCM City
Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in coordination with American Tours
will organise a familiarisation (FAM) trip in the US for Vietnamese tour
operators to survey the market, tourist routes and services. Tour operators will
visit Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Washington DC, Philadelphia and New York in
November and December.

Mui Ne to host
Miss Earth beauty pageant event

Some 90 beauties from
around the world are expected to visit Mui Ne today for the second challenge of
the beauty pageant in the Saturday night after the talent challenge in HCM City
on Tuesday.

The contestants will
take part in activities to raise people’s awareness on environmental protection,
including the planting of flowers at the Sea Links Gold & Country Club, a golf
buggy parade on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street and a green-clean-beautiful campaign at
Doi Duong Tourist Park.

Top travel
magazine tips five Vietnamese hotels, resorts

Conde Nast Traveler,
one of the world’s most distinguished travel magazines, has elevated five
Vietnamese hotels and resorts to top spots in its annual Readers’ Choice Awards.

Evason Ana Mandara&Six
Senses Spa in the central beach town of Nha Trang, Life Heritage Resort Hoi An
and the Nam Hai, both in the ancient town of Hoi An, took spots in the
magazine’s top-20 list of the Best Resorts in Asia.

The 2010 Conde Nast
Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards ranked Evason Ana Mandara&Six Senses Spa eighth,
followed by Life Heritage Resort Hoi An while The Nam Hai took the 20th
position.

The Sofitel Legend
Metropole Ha Noi and the Park Hyatt Sai Gon in HCM City each won top spots in
the survey’s top 100 hotels in Asia, listed as 31st and 42nd, respectively.

The Conde Nast
Traveler Readers Choice Awards polled 25,916 readers who rated resorts and
hotels across five categories: cooking/dining, location, overall design, rooms and
service.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News