VietJet Air announced it would begin domestic flights from December 25, four years after it gained approval to become a privately owned airline in Vietnam.
The low cost operator said it had scheduled daily return flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi at 12.10pm and 5.30pm at a cost of VND900,000 each way.
The airline will also fly Ho Chi Minh City-Da Nang from February with tickets VND455,000 one way.
The airline’s four-year delay in takeoff was due to the global economic crisis.
VietJet Air will be the fifth airline to operate in the domestic market besides Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific, Air Mekong and Vasco.
Vietnam Airlines will be offering a discount to customers making e-payments for tickets on routes to the ASEAN countries, Northeast Asian countries and to countries in Europe.
Passengers can book fares and pay online via the airline website from November 25-27. Online payment of air tickets resulted after a collaboration that includes nine banks, Vietnam Airlines Corporation and the credit card company, Smart-Link.
In addition, customers can avail of the lowest fare rate of VND1.23 million for a return ticket to Bangkok (Thailand), Yangon (Myanmar) and Singapore.
The Lao Cai People’s Committee will organise the “Fansipan: Explore and Conquer” 2011 programme in the middle of December as part of a tourist programme named “Back to the origin – 2011”.
The programme is expected to attract the participation of 60-80 professional climbers, together with some domestic and foreign tourists. During two days and one night, the tour will start from Tram Ton, Sapa, on the top of O Quy Ho Hill and finish at the same place.
In December, in Sapa, there will be various cultural and sport activities and folk games to serve tourists and a meeting to summarise and assess the cooperative programmes for the development of Northwestern provinces in 2011.
The central coastal city of Da Nang will host an International Paramotor Competition on May 30, 2012 at the East Sea Park, said Vice Chairman of the city’s People Committee Phung Tan Viet.
Accordingly, the competition will attract the participation of 50-70 competitors of eight international teams from Japan, Argentina, the UK, France, the US, the Republic of Korea, China and Spain.
The city is seeking competitors with international certificate on paramotor to set up a team to take part in the competition.
The privately funded-budget for the contest is estimated about VND 14 billion.
Vista Vietnam and Melia Hotels International just inked an agreement for the management of a new 5-star Melia Da Nang hotel owed by Vista.
This event marks a new development of Melia Hotels International in Vietnam tourism market – a very potential destination with many beautiful beaches, tourist attractions and world heritages recognized by UNESCO.
Nominated by Forbe magazine as one of the 10 beautiful beaches in the world, the new Melia Hotel is located at the bottom of Ngu Hanh Son mountain, nearby other famous resorts like Furama and Fusion Maia.
Companies of Vietnam tour are currently offering a variety of attractive promotional programs for the upcoming holidays of Christmas, New Year and Tet (Lunar New Year).
Fidi Tourist Company is offering visitors more than 200 local and international tours. The Company is partnering with Vietnam Airlines and offering discounts of VND3.9 million (USD177) to VND6.9 million on tours that cover Hanoi-Bac Ninh-Halong-Trang An-Bai Dinh and Hanoi-Bac Ninh-Lao Cai-Sapa; and of VND8 million on a 7 day tour of London-Stonehenge-Wales, departing Ho Chi Minh City on December 9, 15, and 23.
A food festival themed, “Flavours of Vietnam” opened at Grace Hotel in central Sydney, Australia on Nov. 10.
This is the first festival of this kind organised by the Consulate General of Vietnam in the city, in collaboration with Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and Vietnam Airlines.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Vietnamese Consul-General Mai Phuoc Dung said Vietnam was widely known for its iconic traditional foods.
He said he hopes that Aussies will understand more about the culture and traditions of Vietnam through Vietnamese dishes served during the festival.
Representatives from the Vietnamese embassy along with Vietnamese residents and students in China have participated in the voting for Halong Bay as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.
Au Viet Hung, cultural attache of the Vietnamese embassy in China said that the voting campaign has been conducted through different activities in China over the past two years, such as Vietnam Day in China, Vietnam Day in Shanghai Expo, fashion shows, Vietnam’s National Day celebration, Asia Sports in Guangzhou and Vietnam’s culinary cultural festivals. In the last three months, the Vietnamese embassy has organised visits to Halong Bay for foreign female ambassadors to China to admire and vote for the beautiful landscape.
The Saigontourist Travel Services Co., a subsidiary of Saigontourist Corp will receive about 190,000 tourists aboard the five-star cruise ship SuperStar Aquarius to Vietnam from November, 2011 to March, 2012.
The visitors will come mainly from Asia, including China , Hong Kong , Japan and the Republic of Korea .
At present, Saigontourist cooperates with Star Cruises Travel Agency to promote travel by sea to Vietnam on the SuperStar Aquarius ship.
The SuperStar Aquarius is one of the four high-class cruise ships of Star Cruises ( Malaysia ). With a length of 230 metres and width of 29 metres, the ship includes 765 cabins with maximum capacity of 2,100 visitors.
Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has asked all domestic travel agencies to suspend travel itineraries of Vietnam tour groups to Thailand until floodwaters begin to recede in the country.
Vietnamese tourists in Bangkok can contact the Vietnamese Embassy on phone number 0066 818 460 571 or email tamphamhung@yahoo.com for any information and support.
Earlier, several companies of Vietnam tour had suspended package tours to Bangkok although the Tourism Authority of Thailand insisted that the city was safe for tourists.
Two months of constant flooding has inundated 58 of the 77 Thai provinces, with 28 being severely affected, and the livelihood of millions of people put on hold, according to news reports.
