Travel firm urges visa extensions

APEX Travel Co has
asked authorities to allow Japanese tourists to stay for up to 60 days without
an entry visa instead of the current 15 days.

Nguyen Van Tran,
APEX’s general director, said with Japan still reeling from its worst ever
disaster, the travel industry wants longer stays to woo Japanese visitors back.

Many Japanese
travellers cancelled foreign tours after the earthquake and tsunami struck on
March 11.

According to VNAT,
some 43,500 Japanese visitors visited Viet Nam last month, a year-on-year
increase of 10 per cent but 8.6 per cent down from the previous month.

Tran said VNAT has
backed his recommendation.

European Food
Festival popular

About 1,100 people
attended the fifth European Food Festival organised by the European Chamber of
Commerce (EuroCham) at the German International School in HCM City’s Tan Binh
District last Saturday.

EuroCham chairman
Alain Cany said this year the event drew more Vietnamese families than in the
past to sample authentic specialities like German sausages, Italian lasagne, and
baguettes and pizzas.

Besides cooking and
drinks, participants were treated to live entertainment and a magic show.

Hue city to host
craft festival

The first Hue
Traditional Craft Festival 2011 to be held from April 30 to May 3 will be themed
“Vietnamese Kitchen in Hue Ornamental Garden”.

It will be held at
three venues – Ngo Mon (Noon Gate) Square, Dai Noi (Imperial Citadel), and on
the bank of the Huong (Perfume) River – and showcase Hue’s distinctive
traditional cuisine and ornamental plants.

It will feature
southern amateur music and Khmer dance and folk music.

The “Northern Food and
Recipes” section will offer Ha Noi specialities, folk games, and ca tru
(ceremonial singing) and hat xam (songs of blind buskers) performances.

The “Hue Vegetarian
Food” section will introduce royal dishes, Hue sweet puddings, rice, and cakes
and teach people how to cook Hue food.

VN
seeks Ha Long Bay votes

The Viet Nam National
Administration of Tourism has printed 2 million voting guides to promote Ha Long
Bay during this year’s vote for the seven new natural wonders of the world.

The guides will be
handed out to Vietnamese and foreigners through travel companies, embassies,
foreign agencies and airlines.

New Open World is set
to announce the new list on November 11 and voting for the sites ends on October
31. To vote for the bay, visit
.

HCM City lists
top tourism sites

The HCM City
Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and HCM City Tourism Association have
announced the best travel firms, hotels, travel websites, shopping venues and
tourism service providers in the City.

The usual suspects –
Saigontourist Travel Service, Fiditourist, Ben Thanh Tourist, and Vietravel –
all make it to the lists of 10 best inbound and outbound tour operators.

Except Fiditourist the
others also make it into the top five in the website category along with Viet
Media Travel and TST Tourist.

The five best
five-star and four-star hotels and 10 best three-star hotels were also named.

The top 10 shopping
venues include Tax Plaza, Vincom Centre, Zen Plaza, Miss Aodai, Parkson, XQ Sai
Gon, Khaisilk and PNJ Jewellery shops.

The lists were
compiled to mark HCM City Tourism Day.

Visitors flock
to eco-tourism sites

The Hung Kings
Anniversary holiday saw more people visiting eco-tourist sites in the Mekong
Delta like Cai Rang Floating Market, Bang Lang Bird Sanctuary, and My Khanh
Tourist Village.

My Khach Eco-Tourism
Co Ltd said the village received 2,000 guests each on April 10 and 11, and more
than 3,000 on April 12, 40 per cent higher than on normal days.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News