The low-cost airline Jetstar Pacific will transport apricot and peach blossoms as a special ‘Luggage Consignment Service’ for Tet from now until February 7.

A passenger will be allowed to check in no more than two branches of apricot or peach blossoms, measuring maximum 120cm x 50cm x 50cm to avail the service provided by Jetstar Pacific.

Transportation fees for this will be VND250,000 on flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang, VND350,000 on flights between Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, Hai Phong and Vinh.

Passengers can contact phone number 19001550 and the booking office of Jetstar Pacific for registration.

The Central Highlands resort town of Dalat will celebrate its annual flower festival later this month.

The five-day festival opens December 30 with a “flower hill” at the Dalat Golf Course near the iconic Xuan Huong Lake, and many smaller floral decorations.

For the first time the Dalat Flower Association will join hands with the golf course to create a flower garden that will spread over 3.3 hectares and have 360,000 plants.

Also for the first time in its two-decade existence the golf course will open to the public for sightseeing.

On Dec 24 2011, Son La People’s Committee coordinated with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) to hold a seminar on “Promoting Son La’s Tourism”.

The seminar was held in Hanoi with the attendance of Deputy Head of the Northwest Steering Committee, Mr. Hoang Tri Thuc; Deputy Director General of VNAT, Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong; Deputy Chairman of Son La People’s Committee Mr. Bui Duc Hai; representatives of relevant ministries; ESRT project; JICA organization (Japan); and leaders of Son La’s Departments and travel businesses in Hanoi….

VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Co. (VietJet Air) said on Monday that it will load 2,000 fares from just VND10,000 (less than US$0.5) on www.vietjetair.com for passengers to book from 8 a.m. tomorrow for its flights between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

VietJet Air will accept online payment by Visa or MasterCard for the promotional tickets, which are applicable to the flights from December 25 to April 30. Previously, the low-cost carrier sold more than 2,000 fares from VND100,000 (US$4.8).

Last week, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) issued an air operator certificate (AOC) to VietJet Air, allowing the second low-cost airline in Vietnam after Jetstar Pacific to conduct flights within the country.

A project to build a cultural and tourism village showcasing Vietnam ethnic groups was introduced to overseas Vietnamese and French investors at a roundtable in Paris on December 10.

The project will be built on a total land and water surface area of 1,544 hectares, comprised of the villages of 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups, cultural and entertainment centres, tourism services centres, a World Cultural Heritage area and park surrounding Dong Mo Lake.

This is a national project with top priority given to preserving and developing the cultural identities of 54 ethnic groups, said Lam Van Khang, deputy head of the village management board under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Vietnam’s national air carrier Vietnam Airlines has just announced to raise airfare of domestic air routes as of December 15.

The fare will rise for five distances, with the highest increase by 20 percent for economy tickets and up to 5 percent for business tickets.

Specifically, the fare for the air routes between Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang, the busiest routes, will rise up to 15 percent. It is 20 percent for other routes.

The carrier said it had carefully considered and balance between its business operation and the government’s goal on macro-economic stabilization. This time Vietnam Airlines will only increase airfare from 15-20 percent under the permitted ceiling fare.

In preparation for the 2012 National Tourism Year, the Hue Festival will open on April 7 next year.

All resources mobilized

The former imperial city of Hue in central Vietnam has held the Hue Festival four times, attracting an increasing number of both domestic and foreign tourists every time.

All the sub-festivals under the umbrella of the Hue Festival are organized using social resources, said Ngo Hoa, Vice Chairman of the Thua Thien-Hue Provincial People’s Committee. Private investors have spent several billion Vietnam dong preparing art exhibitions and garden houses for the festival and they will also invest a lot more in 10 other events for the Hue Festival.

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.

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.

Vietnam Airlines has launched a month-long program starting from mid-October named Next Ho Chi Minh City aimed at luring Japanese visitors as arrivals from this country have fallen after the earthquake and tsunami disasters.

Next Ho Chi Minh City includes multiple image promotion activities for Japanese tourists. Incentives include presenting shopping coupons to the first 1,000 tourists booking ticket to Vietnam since the program kickoff, discounting ticket prices for certain travel agencies and inviting Japanese tour operators to Vietnam, said Nguyen Thuong Hoang Hai, sales and marketing manager of Vietnam Airlines.