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Tour operators fret over rising air fares

Tour operators fret over rising air fares
Tour operators fret over rising air fares
The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC – That airlines have lately increased fares and surcharges has exposed tour operators to high risks of losses, as their tour prices were fixed long ago, Tuoi Tre newspaper reports.
Tran Van Long, general director of Viet Media Travel, said air transport costs account for 35-45% of tour tickets. Therefore, a recent rise in air fares has caused a big headache for his company and others.
“Domestic tourism is certain to suffer from increasing tour costs,” he said.
A local air carrier said most airlines only made profits during the Lunar New Year holiday and summer vacation seasons, while in the rest of the year, they either break even or incur losses.
The source said input costs have been on the rise, forcing airlines to hike ticket prices.
Tran The Dung, deputy director of Young Generation Co Ltd, said while stimulus programs launched by airlines for the local tourism industry bring little benefit, the rising air fares would dent their business operations.
According to regulations of air carriers, tour operators wishing to purchase air tickets at competitive prices under the stimulus programs have to register tickets for flights with fixed schedules in advance for each quarter. Meanwhile, arranging tours depends on bookings, meaning flight schedules offered by airlines are not aligned to tourists’ demand.
Dung added airlines often offer tickets which are cheaper than those of tourism stimulus programs, but in fact, tour operators could get five to 10 tickets for each flight no matter how many bookings they get from customers.
Flight tickets, as a result, may come with different prices even for a single tour, putting tourism firms in a disadvantageous position.
He wished airlines would maintain stimulus policy like what was successfully implemented in the 2008-2012 period. That policy allowed tour operators to buy discounted air tickets without being required to register flights long before departures.
He said if the policy is adopted again, prices of inbound tours would fall, encouraging local residents to travel at home; otherwise, they are more inclined to tour abroad.
 
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Tour operators fret over rising air fares

Tour operators fret over rising air fares Tour operators fret over rising air fares The Saigon Times Daily HCMC – That airlines have latel...

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American and Canadian activists hold national meeting of solidarity with Cuba

American and Canadian activists hold national meeting of solidarity with Cuba
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="(VOVworld) - The National Conference for the Full Normalization of Relations between Cuba and the US took place in Manhattan, New York, last weekend." src="http://bit.ly/2ngwHcf" title="(VOVworld) - The National Conference for the Full Normalization of Relations between Cuba and the US took place in Manhattan, New York, last weekend." />
(VOVworld) – The National Conference for the Full Normalization of Relations between Cuba and the US took place in Manhattan, New York, last weekend.
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More than 200 activists attended the 2-day event and discussed ways to overcome obstacles to normalization.
Cuban Ambassador to the UN Anayansi Rodríguez spoke highly of the solidarity American and Canadian activists have with the Cuban people. She said the conference discussed the current situation in Cuba to bilateral relations between Washington and Havana, in particular the end of economic, commercial and financial sanctions and the return of the territory occupied by Guantánamo Naval Base to Cuba.
Attendees suggested multiple plans to lift remaining embargoes and travel restrictions to Cuba and dismantle the disinformation campaign against Cuba.
 
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American and Canadian activists hold national meeting of solidarity with Cuba

American and Canadian activists hold national meeting of solidarity with Cuba (VOVworld) – The National Conference for the Full Normalizati...

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Vietnam, Japan ink MoU to boost tourism

Vietnam, Japan ink MoU to boost tourism
Viet Nam and Japan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday to boost tourism cooperation between the two countries.
 
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="The Japan National Tourism Organisation officially opened its representative office in Viet Nam on Tuesday." src="http://bit.ly/2oa0GHI" title="The Japan National Tourism Organisation officially opened its representative office in Viet Nam on Tuesday." />
The Japan National Tourism Organisation officially opened its representative office in Viet Nam on Tuesday.
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The two sides were represented by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO).
Under the MoU, both nations will work together to promote tourism initiatives, introducing attractive destinations, encouraging visitor exchanges, and sharing experience and information in areas of mutual concern.
On the same day, the JNTO officially opened its representative office in Viet Nam.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, VNAT general director Nguyen Van Tuan said the results of bilateral tourism cooperation have already been positive. In the 2010-16 period, the number of Japanese tourists coming to Viet Nam increased at an average of 9 per cent per year.
In 2016, Viet Nam saw 740,000 visitors from Japan, up 10 per cent from a year earlier. Around 233,000 Vietnamese tourists visited Japan, a year-on-year increase of 26 per cent, Tuan said.
He added that the opening of the JNTO office in Viet Nam would further increase the number of outbound and inbound tourists between the two countries.
The two sides have set a target of one million Japanese visitors to Viet Nam and 500,000 Vietnamese tourists to Japan by 2018.
JNTO president Ryoichi Matsuyama said his organisation plans to launch dozens of tours to Japan so that Vietnamese travellers can experience the different cultural aspects of Japan, such as cuisine, cherry blossoms and the various festivals.
Takahashi Ayumi, chief representative of JNTO office in Viet Nam, said that by opening the office, the JNTO would be able to improve tourist information on websitecamnhannhatban.vn and other channels, stimulate the tourism demand of people living in Viet Nam’s big cities as well as support Vietnamese tour operators in selling tours to Japan.
The JNTO is scheduled to participate in the 2017 Viet Nam International Travel Mart, to be held from April 6 to 9.
Q1 results
Viet Nam welcomed 3.2 million foreign tourists in the first three months of the year, up by 29 per cent against the same period last year.
This was announced by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) on Tuesday.
In term of markets, the highest number of people visiting Viet Nam was from Asia from January to March with 2.3 million people, followed by Europe with nearly 560,000 people.
The American region ranked third with 247,000 visitors.
The number of Asian visitors in the three months was 34 per cent higher than the figure in the corresponding period last year.
If categorised by means of transport, people traveling by air to Viet Nam accounted for 82 per cent. Although the percentage of visitors coming to the country by sea was the least (making up merely 3.5 per cent), the absolute number saw the highest surge of 66 per cent year-on-year.
In March alone, more than one million foreign visitors came to the country, representing a month-on-month decrease of 16 per cent but a year-on-year rise of 21 per cent.
These were good results and were largely thanks to the efforts made by the tourism sector, according to the VNAT.
They will lay a foundation for the tourism sector to realise its target of receiving 11.5 million foreign tourists and serving 66 million domestic visitors, earning total revenue of VND460 trillion (US$20.4 billion) this year.
VNS
 
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Vietnam, Japan ink MoU to boost tourism

Vietnam, Japan ink MoU to boost tourism Viet Nam and Japan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday to boost tourism cooperatio...

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The problem with traveling to Vietnam just because it’s cheap

The problem with traveling to Vietnam just because it’s cheap
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="Foreign tourists taking a rickshaw (cyclo) ride along a street in the old quarter of Hanoi. Photo by AFP/Hoang Dinh Nam" src="http://bit.ly/2o9z9WS" title="Foreign tourists taking a rickshaw (cyclo) ride along a street in the old quarter of Hanoi. Photo by AFP/Hoang Dinh Nam" width="500" />
Foreign tourists taking a rickshaw (cyclo) ride along a street in the old quarter of Hanoi. Photo by AFP/Hoang Dinh Nam
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Let’s not mince words: tourists love the country because it’s one of the cheapest places on earth, but low costs come with risks.
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Yet another travel list has named Vietnam among the must-visit places in the world because it’s cheap.
This time, it’s Emily Zemler, a writer from Refinery29, who describes Vietnam as one of the best “super cheap” destinations in the world.
“Asian destinations like Japan and Singapore can be pricy, but Vietnam is notably budget-friendly. The food, which is just as good from a street cart as it is from a sit-down restaurant, is cheap (usually less than 10 bucks a pop) and hotels are reasonable, with luxury properties averaging around $80 per night…
Don’t be afraid to sample the street food, which includes signature dishes like beef pho and bun cha, and make sure to spring for a countryside bicycle tour from Hoi An, which run $17 and up.”
To be fair, cost-based recommendations like these are what Vietnam, still an emerging travel destination, needs now.
It’s perfectly fine to love something when it doesn’t bankrupt you – it’s even better when that something is also good. “Cheap” is not a dirty word. We don’t need to avoid it and replace it with pretentious phrases like “budget-friendly” or “best value for your buck” when we promote a product or a travel destination.
But “cheap” does come with a connotation: some sort of compromises must be made and accepted.
For cheap travel, the biggest compromises are on quality and safety. In Vietnam, this can mean anything: drinking a beer that tastes like water, sleeping on a hostel bed with a dirty sheet, getting food poisoning after a meal at a delicious sidewalk joint, drinking toxic moonshine, or falling from a waterfall. And the list goes on.
Many travelers will take these risks without blinking an eye. Ask any backpacker in Saigon and they will tell you how happy they are when they only need a few hundred bucks to travel in Vietnam. Diarrhea and those serious <a href="http://bit.ly/2n8yNec">travel safety warnings</a> don’t faze them one bit.
Such carefree attitudes have boded well for Vietnam’s tourism industry so far. If travelers are fully aware of all these risks and they still want to come, let them in by all means. After all, a trip to Vietnam is not complete without at least one story of crazy, unforgettable mishaps.
But a great travel destination should never be associated with risks. Eating street food must not feel like gambling. A night on a Ha Long Bay ship must not end with a quick dive into the cold water to avoid getting burnt alive. Even adventure tourism should be about the illusion and the thrill, not real risks.
Like the economy as a whole, the industry can’t thrive on being cheap forever if being cheap only means low standards and corner-cutting. Vietnam must step up its game to make sure no travel writer will ever have to write this line: “Don’t be afraid to sample the street food.”
* The article does not necessarily reflect the views of VnExpress International or VnExpress.
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The problem with traveling to Vietnam just because it’s cheap

The problem with traveling to Vietnam just because it’s cheap Foreign tourists taking a rickshaw (cyclo) ride along a street in the old qua...

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Việt Nam, Japan ink MoU to boost tourism

Việt Nam, Japan ink MoU to boost tourism
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img src="http://bit.ly/2o68I3L" width="500" />
The Japan National Tourism Organisation officially opened its representative office in Việt Nam on Tuesday. – Photo toptravel.vn
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<div><a href="http://bit.ly/24En4mq">Viet Nam News</a>
HÀ NỘI – Việt Nam and Japan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday to boost tourism cooperation between the two countries.
The two sides were represented by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO).
Under the MoU, both nations will work together to promote tourism initiatives, introducing attractive destinations, encouraging visitor exchanges, and sharing experience and information in areas of mutual concern.
On the same day, the JNTO officially opened its representative office in Việt Nam.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, VNAT general director Nguyễn Văn Tuấn said the results of bilateral tourism cooperation have already been positive. In the 2010-16 period, the number of Japanese tourists coming to Việt Nam increased at an average of 9 per cent per year.
In 2016, Việt Nam saw 740,000 visitors from Japan, up 10 per cent from a year earlier. Around 233,000 Vietnamese tourists visited Japan, a year-on-year increase of 26 per cent, Tuấn said.
He added that the opening of the JNTO office in Việt Nam would further increase the number of outbound and inbound tourists between the two countries.
The two sides have set a target of one million Japanese visitors to Việt Nam and 500,000 Vietnamese tourists to Japan by 2018.
JNTO president Ryoichi Matsuyama said his organisation plans to launch dozens of tours to Japan so that Vietnamese travellers can experience the different cultural aspects of Japan, such as cuisine, cherry blossoms and the various festivals.
Takahashi Ayumi, chief representative of JNTO office in Việt Nam, said that by opening the office, the JNTO would be able to improve tourist information on website camnhannhatban.vn and other channels, stimulate the tourism demand of people living in Việt Nam’s big cities as well as support Vietnamese tour operators in selling tours to Japan.
The JNTO is scheduled to participate in the 2017 Việt Nam International Travel Mart, to be held from April 6 to 9. – VNS
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Việt Nam, Japan ink MoU to boost tourism

Việt Nam, Japan ink MoU to boost tourism The Japan National Tourism Organisation officially opened its representative office in Việt Nam on...

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Giant turtle statue proposal fails to float Hanoi’s boat

Giant turtle statue proposal fails to float Hanoi’s boat
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="Giant turtle statue proposal fails to float Hanoi's boat" src="http://bit.ly/2o67cPk" width="500" />
Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake. Photo by Vietnam News Agency
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It could be Vietnam’s Eiffel Tower or Statue of Liberty, or it could just get in the way – you decide.
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A Hanoian man’s proposal for a bronze and gold statue of a legendary turtle god to be erected in the capital by Hoan Kiem Lake has drawn widepread criticism.
Ta Hong Quan, a local artist, said the city could raise money from private sources to build an 11-foot statue weighing up to 10 tons along the walking area of the iconic lake.
Quan said he first submitted the idea to the city’s People’s Committee in 2011, but has never received a response. Late last year, he sent the proposal directly to city chairman Nguyen Duc Chung.
Chung has not commented on the idea either.
Quan recently approached local media to draw public attention to the plan, which he said is “more suitable” than the culture ministry’s suggestion early this month to build a <a href="http://bit.ly/2ni0WQD">Kong statue</a> in Hanoi, after the “Kong: Skull Island” <a href="http://bit.ly/2o68MQY">blockbuster</a>.
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Proposed locations for the statue around Hoan Kiem Lake.
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The turtle is one of the four holy animals, according to Chinese beliefs, together with the dragon, lion and phoenix.
In Vietnam, the turtle god is worshipped and part of many legends. One says that it helped An Duong Vuong, a Vietnamese ruler during the third century BC, build his spiral, shell-like Co Loa Citadel.
Hoan Kiem (Returned Sword) Lake was thus named after a legend that says a golden turtle god showed up in the lake to take back the sword it had given to King Le Loi in the 15th century to help him fight Chinese invaders.
“Vietnam now lacks a recognizable icon with strong traditional values, like France’s Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty in the U.S.,” Quan said.
He said if the plan is approved, a competition should be launched to find the best design.
Historian Duong Trung Quoc supported the idea but said it must be executed with great caution because it could collide with the city’s urban planning, and also because it has to successfully serve its spiritual purpose.
“Officials should listen to the experts and the public to make the right decision,” Quoc said.
Actually, thousands of members of the public have given their opinions on the idea in a survey conducted by VnExpress.
The survey asked readers if they thought it was a good idea for a statue to be built by Hoan Kiem Lake, and out of more than 13,200 responses received in less than a day, 78 percent said “no.”
Many said it would be a waste of money, and that the “clear and beautiful” space around the central lake should not be obstructed by an artificial project.
The lake and its Turtle Temple are a picturesque symbol of Hanoi. The lake used to be home to a rare giant turtle which was loved by many Hanoians. It died in January last year due to pollution.
Some said the money should be used to clean up the lake and raise another turtle in there.
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<div>Related News:
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/2lui8F2">Big cleanup planned for Hanoi’s Sword Lake</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bit.ly/2mNcHRD">Hanoi beats its chest at plan to build Kong statue near Hoan Kiem Lake</a></li>
</ul>
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Giant turtle statue proposal fails to float Hanoi’s boat

Giant turtle statue proposal fails to float Hanoi’s boat Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake. Photo by Vietnam News Agency It could be Vietnam’s Eiffe...

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23 newly discovered caves in Ha Long Bay to be named

23 newly discovered caves in Ha Long Bay to be named
<div style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img alt="" src="http://bit.ly/2ni1UN0" width="500" />
A newly discovered cave in Ha Long Bay (Photo: the management board of Ha Long Bay)
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Hanoi (VNA) – The management board of Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh is seeking names for 23 caves newly discovered in Ha Long and Bai Tu Long Bays.
The 23 caves have been added to the system of local caves following a field survey at Ha Long and Bai Tu Long Bays in late 2015.
Many of them are highly valued for scientific, archeological and tourism features.
According to Pham Dinh Huynh, Deputy Head of the management board, experts have temporarily named each cave, but the board is still working to find suitable names for the caves based on their outstanding values and characteristics in order to set up scientific profiles for management, exploitation and preservation.
The board has also been studying possibilities of making newly-discovered caves part of tourism products, said Le Thi Thin, an official of the management board.
The caves, together with 30 saltwater lakes, will be soon opened to tourists.
To date, Ha Long and Bai Tu Long Bays are home to 59 caves, including 23 new discoveries, of which 19 are greeting tourists.
Ha Long Bay, which spans 1,553 square kilometres and houses 1,969 islands of various sizes, was twice recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 and 2000.
Together with the neighbouring Bai Tu Long Bay, they form a tourism complex with thousands of islands, considered among the most valuable biological and geographical assets of the country and the world.-VNA
 
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23 newly discovered caves in Ha Long Bay to be named

23 newly discovered caves in Ha Long Bay to be named A newly discovered cave in Ha Long Bay (Photo: the management board of Ha Long Bay) ...

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