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.

There is no more colorful gastronomic recipe book in the world than the Mexican one, with ingredients as varied as purple onion, the fresh green of the avocado, red chilies, yellow peppers and the pink of the pine nuts.

On the occasion of the traditional Day of the Dead (November 2), the Embassy of Mexico in Vietnam, in collaboration with the Melia Hanoi Hotel will organize a Gastronomic Week from October 28 to November 3 at El Patio Restaurant (Dinner buffet from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm).

A trade mission comprising 40 Hong Kong travel agencies and the Hong Kong Tourism Association will come to Vietnam next month to look for local partners.

Tran Vinh Loc, director of Lac Hong Voyages, which is arranging the visit, said the delegation would meet with about 100 local travel firms on November 17 and 18 in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

“The Hong Kong enterprises are interested in building business links to spur tourism cooperation,” Loc told the Daily.

The Hoi An Beach Resort at Cua Dai beach, is the only hotel in the Central province of Quang Nam to be selected as one of the best 10 four-star hotels in Vietnam, according to the Vietnam Hotel and Tourism Associations.

Previously, in June, 2011, the resort also gained the title “The Best Four-star Hotel in Vietnam” voted by readers of the tourist magazine “The Guide”.

The Hoi An Beach Resort is the high-class tourist area, a member of the Hoi An Tourist Service Company, with 121 luxury villas. In the first nine months of this year, the resort’s revenue reached more than VND 44 billion.

The national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines, has announced it will arrange an additional 846 flights for the upcoming Lunar New Year festival (Tet). The airline said it will provide 155,600 more seats on seven major air routes. It forecasts that passenger demands over Tet will increase by 11 percent on the Ho Chi Minh City-Hanoi route and by 20 percent on the Ho Chi Minh City-Da Nang route, compared to the same period last year.

Vietnam Airlines will increase the number of flights on five air routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Hai Phong, Buon Ma Thuot, Pleiku, Quy Nhon, and Nha Trang with 13,200 additional seats, up nearly 34% from last year.

Crowne Plaza, the fourth largest upscale brand in the world, today opened its second property in Vietnam at the coastal city of Da Nang.

Located along the picturesque Da Nang Sea coastline, the 535-guestroom Crowne Plaza Da Nang is the largest hotel in Central Vietnam by room count and offers both business and leisure travellers an upscale hotel option in an ideal location. The hotel is 15 minutes away from the Da Nang international airport and only a few kilometers to the heart of the city’s most popular attractions. These include UNESCO World Heritage sites such as the former imperial city, Hue and the scenic Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park.