While Vietnam has been losing its tourism appeal to holidaymakers worldwide, tourists from the Southeast Asian country are valued customers of many tour organizers in other countries as they are willing to pay for overseas trips. Around five million Vietnamese people spent their holidays outside the country last year, a healthy growth rate of up to 20 percent, according to the Vietnam Travel Association. The figure is expected to continue rising this year and Vietnam has emerged as a potential market for travel firms around the globe, the association said. "If each Vietnamese vacationer spends an average of US$300 per trip, Vietnam loses some $1.5 billion from tourist spending annually," said the association’s deputy chairman Vu The Binh. This is quite contrary to the fact that the number of international tourists choosing to spend their holidays in Vietnam during the first two months of this year dropped 10.6 percent compared to the same period last year, according to … [Read more...] about As Vietnam struggles to attract foreign tourists, more Vietnamese take overseas trips
Vietnam and cambodia itinerary 3 weeks
Social News 29/1
Exhibition praises victory of 1968 Tet OffensiveCommando Ba Mu (whose real name is Do Van Can) disguised himself as a rubber latex collector to fool the enemy. He used a tricycle to transport weapons to serve the South Vietnam liberation forces during the 1968 Tet Offensive.The tricycle is on display at exhibition that has opened in Hanoi.Entitled The Epic of the 1968 Tet Offensive, the exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of the victory of the campaign.The exhibition displays more than 300 images, documents and objects. Ba Mu’s tricycle is one among many objects showcased to the public for the first time.The exhibition is divided into three parts: devotion for the battlefield, the historical turning point and echoes of the epic. They depict the determination of Vietnamese people and soldiers in fighting for peace and liberation.“The Military History Museum of Vietnam organised the exhibition with the aim of asserting the historical magnitude and significance of the … [Read more...] about Social News 29/1
Experts propose upgrading rehab centers in HCMC
Experts propose upgrading rehab centers in HCMC Drug addicts at a rehabilitation center. Many experts have suggested the HCMC government upgrade existing rehabilitation centers instead of building a new hospital to treat drug addicts to save money. The proposal was made amidst controversies over a plan of the city to build a hospital for drug addict rehabilitation. Nguyen Huu Tai, deputy head of the social vices control agency under the HCMC Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the city should establish social facilities to take care of drug addicts, especially homeless ones, besides the current centers to minimize vices caused by drug abuse. Tai said as drug addicts are like patients, doctors need to apply appropriate ways to treat them. Le Truong Giang, head of the HCMC HIV/AIDS Control Committee, said the city needs a center to provide initial detoxification treatment for drug addicts before sending them to concentrated rehab facilities rather than investing … [Read more...] about Experts propose upgrading rehab centers in HCMC
Social News 21/8
HCM City runs summer camps for children A programme titled "Proud of children in HCM City" that ended last week featured a wide range of entertainment, sports, arts, music, health care and communications for children and teenagers from across the city. Teenagers and children who are respectively members of the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union and Union of Vietnamese Children were sent to camps in Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces of Long An, Bến Tre, Trà Vinh, and Vĩnh Long, the northern provinces of Tuyên Quang and Cao Bằng and Hà Nội. Many activities were held to improve their awareness of environmental protection, including tree planting at schools, parks and historical relics as well as forest camps. Museums in the city, including Hồ Chí Minh Museum, Việt Nam History Museum, War Remnants Museum and Southern Việt Nam Women Museum, allowed them free entry tickets. District-level children's houses also organised various music and art performances, traditional games and contests … [Read more...] about Social News 21/8
Ginny Foote and the journey from “a war” to “a country”
VietNamNet Bridge - The process of diplomatic and economic-trade relation normalizations between the U.S and Vietnam has been witnessing the participation of many people in different circumstances and through different ways. Le Van Bang, a student, knew that he would become an officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work in the division in charge of the affairs with the US, right when he was a last-year student of a university in Cuba. Meanwhile, Ginny Foote, a young lady, joined the Vietnam-US story accidentally. Foote said: "On an autumn day of 1988, after receiving the letter of Vietnamese Foreign Affair Minister Nguyen Co Thach, Bill Sullivan, my boss, told me to go with him to the US State Department. Since then, I had been assigned to undertake the works relating to Vietnam in our NGO, and I had become his efficient assistant in making efforts to normalize the relation between the two countries." "Now when remembering that day, I always feel happy. Mr Sullivan … [Read more...] about Ginny Foote and the journey from “a war” to “a country”