The Ho Chi Minh City tourism department is seeking feedback on a proposal to impose a small ‘tourism tax’ on visitors for each night spent in the city. Money raised from the proposed VND23,000 tax, equivalent to roughly one U.S. dollar, would be spent on improving the local tourism infrastructure, the department said in its proposition to the municipal administration. Inspiration for the tax came from revisions to the law on tourism, effective from January 2018, which will allow localities to create a fund for tourism development with revenues generated from tourists. The proposal has so far received positive feedback from local travel companies, who say the fee will be insignificant to tourists but will have huge upsides for Ho Chi Minh City’s tourism infrastructure and promotional opportunities. Tran The Dung, deputy director of The He Tre Travel, said it is a good idea to have a new source of capital, funded by tourists who enjoy services offered by the city. “The lack of … [Read more...] about Ho Chi Minh City mulls ‘tourism tax’ for overnight visitors
Trips ho chi minh city
Vietnamese doctors help needy Laotians in overseas volunteer trip
For 14 days, 5,000 Laotians received free treatment and medical support from medical practitioners from Vietnam, as part of a volunteer project. The regular volunteering trip involving Vietnamese doctors to Laos was halted for two years following the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that crossing the border is again possible, the young Vietnamese doctors made their way to the people of Attapeu and Champasak Provinces. Besides providing treatment and drugs, the Vietnamese volunteers spent time holding professional talks with their Laotian counterparts. Tiring, yet satisfying The envoy from Vietnam set up 10 diagnosis desks on a given makeshift premise as part of their ‘miniature hospital’ initiative. They provided service in internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, and surgery in the neighboring country. They also coordinated with local authorities to manage the flow of patients and welcomed a large number of them during their two-week visit. At 8:00 am every morning, … [Read more...] about Vietnamese doctors help needy Laotians in overseas volunteer trip
Vietnamese woman devotes heart, soul to saving thousands of cats, dogs from slaughter
Huynh Thi Nhu Quyen has spent the past six years saving thousands of cats and dogs from slaughterhouses in Ho Chi Minh City. About six years ago, Quyen’s dog disappeared. Fearing the worst, she turned the search for her missing dog toward local slaughterhouses. It was during this hunt, when she discovered dozens of cats and dogs locked away in cages waiting to be butchered, that she resolved to save as many cats and dogs as she could. Huynh Thi Nhu Quyen cares for cats and dogs at the rescue center in Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Ngoc Phuong / Tuoi Tre On that trip she wound up buying each and every animal from the slaughterhouse. Now, more than six years later, she has saved nearly a thousand cats and dogs from sure demise. Over the years, Quyen’s rescue operation ballooned in size to the point that she was forced to move her rescues out of her home and into a shelter she built on a 2,000-squre-meter rented lot on Nguyen Thi Se Street … [Read more...] about Vietnamese woman devotes heart, soul to saving thousands of cats, dogs from slaughter
A bumper summer for domestic tourism
Domestic tourism is on a rapid recovery after a two-year hiatus, but this sudden and rapid recovery also makes both tourists and workers feel tired. Tra My, who lives in Hanoi, took a trip to Dak Lak last weekend. My said it took her more than 40 minutes to check in and go to the airport, instead of the usual 15 minutes. “The airport becomes too crowded for the number of passengers that need to be served every day. Congestion occurs as soon as you reach the airport. Luckily, the flight was delayed for 30 minutes, so I was not late,” My said. A bumper summer for domestic tourism The same situation also tends to occur with road and waterway routes to some tourist destinations such as Quang Ninh and Haiphong. Minh Quan from Bac Giang shared that his family had to wait more than four hours to take the ferry from the mainland to Cat Ba island during a trip to Haiphong a few days ago. “Each large ferry can carry nearly 20 cars, and a small ferry can carry nearly 10, but … [Read more...] about A bumper summer for domestic tourism
Sunwah Group Chairman optimistic about Vietnam’s future
Dr Jonathan Choi, Chairman of the Hong Kong-based Sunwah Group. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Dr Jonathan Choi, Chairman of the Hong Kong-based Sunwah Group, has expressed his optimism about Vietnam’s future, saying the country has recovered “very quickly” after the COVID-19 pandemic was controlled and is one of the best performers in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN ) in this regard. In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) in Hanoi on August 5, Choi said Vietnam has made a good decision on the pandemic as the country opened doors right after the situation got better. Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth was one of the best in the region, and many investors from Hong Kong (China) and all over the world would like to come to the Southeast Asian nation. Expressing his belief that the Vietnamese market will grow very fast in the time ahead, Choi emphasised the country’s potential in a range of areas, from finance to smart city … [Read more...] about Sunwah Group Chairman optimistic about Vietnam’s future
Vietnam becoming favourite destination for Indian tourists
In mid-July, a group of 460 Indian business tourists boarded flights to Ho Chi Minh City, officially starting a journey to discover Vietnam in just 3 days. Vietnam becoming favourite destination for Indian tourists The group, which consisted of Indian bus and truck manufacturing representatives, stayed at the 5-star Vinpearl Luxury Landmark 81 and Le Meridien hotels to attend a conference, then went to visit some famous tourist attractions in the city and moved to Tien Giang before returning home. This was the largest Indian delegation to Vietnam for nearly three years. B. Subhash Chandar, managing director of Asia Destination Management JSC (Asia DMC) in Vietnam and the organiser of the trip said, “Indians are used to destinations like Thailand, Singapore, and Dubai, but Vietnam is still a new destination to them. All Indian tourists are very excited to come here and explore.” He aims to bring at least 6,000 Indian tourists to Vietnam through company tours by the … [Read more...] about Vietnam becoming favourite destination for Indian tourists
Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News – August 7
Here are today’s leading news stories: COVID-19 Updates -- The Ministry of Health documented 1,609 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, raising the national tally to 11,346,137, with 9,964,533 recoveries and 43,094 deaths. Society -- Police in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City confirmed on Saturday they had launched an investigation into a case where two university students died and six others were hospitalized due to suspected alcohol poisoning. -- Another doctor at the emergency department of Gia Dinh People’s Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City was attacked by a family member of a patient on Saturday. -- Many Vietnamese people have donated money to a 39-year-old Russian man in south-central Nha Trang City who is unable to afford the surgery for his broken femoral neck fracture. -- A 36-year-old man from north-central Ha Tinh Province has turned himself in after a video clip of him hanging his 11-year-old daughter against the ceiling and beating her was posted on social media. … [Read more...] about Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News – August 7
Oil paintings portray enigmatic beauty of Vietnamese women
The artist’s “Huong Thoi Gian” (Perfume of Time) collection is on display at the “An & Huy” exhibition that opened on August 6-12 in Ho Chi Minh City. “Thi” (Diospyros decandra fruit) is part of the “Huong Thoi Gian” art collection. Oil paintings portray enigmatic beauty of Vietnamese women Nét đẹp thiếu nữ ba miền qua tranh sơn dầu The exhibition “An & Huy” features the works of artist couple Dang Thi Thu An and Nguyen Duc Huy. Video: VnExpress/Mai Nhat Thu An, an artist born in Hue, has painted Vietnamese women for the past 15 years, inspired from a young age by the dignity and grace of female students in the former imperial capital as they attended school wearing the ao dai . Her works has since gone beyond central Vietnam to women across the country, she says. She also insists that despite being invariably dressed in the nation’s traditional … [Read more...] about Oil paintings portray enigmatic beauty of Vietnamese women