A journey to the homeland By Ngoc Minh in HCMC Tet, the lunar new year of Vietnamese people and a long holiday marking the springtime, is welcomed by overseas Vietnamese as a chance to return to their homeland to gather and celebrate the new year with relatives. For this occasion, Ben Thanh Tourist recently launched a new tour named "a journey to the homeland" for locals, expats and especially overseas Vietnamese. The tour will start from HCMC to Phan Thiet to visit Doi Duong and Ca Na beaches and follow the new coastal road, Song Lo - Hon Ro, to reach Cam Ranh and Nha Trang. In Nha Trang, tourists will have a cable tour to Vinpearl Resort, come back to Nha Trang City to spend a night and then go to Tam Islet to bathe, jetski, parasail and dive. Leaving Nha Trang, tourists head to Quy Nhon to visit the historical sites of King Quang Trung and enjoy martial arts. Then tourists will head to Hoi An, Phong Nha - Ke Bang and Hue's former citadel. In Hoi An, visitors should not miss a … [Read more...] about A journey to the homeland
Danang to hanoi bus
Thousands of people back to cities after Tet
Tens of thousands of people are now rushing to return back to the big cities like Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, Danang and Hanoi for work, study or business after a long Lunar New Year break with their families in their hometowns in the northern and central provinces. Hoards of them are finding it difficult to get bus and train tickets to return to the south, especially towards HCMC, according to SGGP newspaper. There are currently about 14 Thong Nhat trains running from the Northern provinces to HCMC every day, bringing in hundreds of people. At the Eastern bus station in HCMC yesterday, a total of 1,500 buses with 45,000 passengers from northern and central provinces arrived in the city. A similar situation prevailed in the other bus stations of HCMC, where passengers from the Mekong delta provinces were returning. Yesterday morning alone saw 20,000 people arriving at one of the stations. Migrant workers in particular flocked to bus and train stations to get tickets to go back to … [Read more...] about Thousands of people back to cities after Tet
VietJetAir refusal to carry disabled passenger sanctioned
VietJetAir refusal to carry disabled passenger sanctioned Le Anh By Le Anh - The Saigon Times Daily HCMC – The civil aviation authority in central Vietnam swiftly took tough sanctions against VietJetAir for its refusal to transport a physically impaired passenger from Danang to Hanoi last week, who later had no trouble flying with Vietnam Airlines. Video footage posted on social media shows there were seven staff at the VietJetAir counter at Danang airport in the central coast city of the same name late in the afternoon but they refused to check in disabled passenger Nguyen Thi Van. The only male staff member among the seven present at the counter did not even look up when a woman who would be flying with Van asked whether or not they would be checked in. In the end two of the staff responsible for the case just handed a minutes stating the official refusal of servicing the disabled passenger even though Van had no problem flying with this carrier from Hanoi to Danang. The … [Read more...] about VietJetAir refusal to carry disabled passenger sanctioned
ASEAN tourism to promote inter-regional market
ASEAN tourism to promote inter-regional market Tourism sector must act more than just discount offers By Le Vuong and Mong Binh - The Saigon Times Daily HANOI, HCMC - ASEAN tourism leaders on Thursday agreed to focus on the inter-ASEAN market as a tourism development strategy for this year given the current difficulties faced by the travel industry. The decision was made at the 12th Tourism Ministerial Meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Hanoi as part the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2009. The event was jointly chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Tran Chien Thang, and Brunei Minister of Energy Pehin Dato Yahya. ASEAN member countries last year received over 54 million international travelers, a 7% year-on-year increase, despite the global economic downturn. With the new target of markets within the ASEAN community, tourism officials have been assigned to work with the private sector to design tours with competitive prices for regional … [Read more...] about ASEAN tourism to promote inter-regional market
Phuong Trang expands bus service to northern region
Phuong Trang expands bus service to northern region Le Anh By Le Anh - The Saigon Times Daily HCMC – Phuong Trang Tourist and Transportation Company will expand its passenger transport service to the northern region with the Danang-Hanoi run to be launched next month. At a briefing held on Monday, Nguyen Cong Dinh, general director of Phuong Trang Co., said that the firm would use 16 buses for the new service. It will take around 13 hours to go from Danang to Hanoi by bus. Final procedures are being completed, and thus the official day for launching the service has not been set, according to Dinh. Together with the opening of the service, Phuong Trang has also developed a rest stop worth VND22 billion and bought 12 new buses. In addition to expanding operation to northern Vietnam, Phuong Trang is boosting the goods express service as the company operates over 1,000 coaches in several provinces. The firm targets to increase revenues earned from goods transport and express … [Read more...] about Phuong Trang expands bus service to northern region