VNAT wants to outsource a three-day event in Thailand’s Bangkok, and two-day events in Malaysia and Singapore between February 28 and March 6. Each program should attract at least 50 travel buyers and 30 media organizations and tourism officials.

VNAT has also asked event makers to design a pavilion on 200m² at ITB Berlin 2010, the world’s leading travel trade show, from March 10-14 in Germany, and to cooperate with VNAT to invite big travel buyers to the pavilion.

The last event in the list is the Moscow International Travel and Exhibition 2010 to take place in Russia from March 17-20 with a booth of around 75m² and similar promotion activities.

Vu The Binh, Director of Department of Travel under VNAT, said this was the first time VNAT had invited professional companies to organize tourism promotion programs abroad.

“We want to make such programs more professional for a better result,” Binh said

He did not elaborate on the cost for each of the event, but said VNAT would have at least VND40 billion to organize tourism promotion activities at home and abroad this year.

According to VNAT, the country received around 3.8 million foreign visitors in 2009, down nearly 11% compared to 2008.

VNAT is trying to woo visitors from ASEAN countries, Japan, China, North America and Northern and Western Europe.

(Source: SGT)

Of these, 1,800 were from Nissei Electric Company, 1,000 from Viet Vuong Company, 650 from Rohto Company and 350 from Renesas Company.

The all-in-one service offered by Saigontourist included transportation, accommodation, seminar organisation, team-building, gala dinner and sight-seeing tours.

According to Tran Quoc Bao, Head of Saigontourist’s domestic travel division, many visitors decided to choose Saigontourist not because of its brand name, but its competitive fees and professional services.

In November, the Saigontourist will arrange MICE tours for 2,000 travellers to most countries and territories.

The plan, which extends to 2020, will aid in the country’s economic transformation and help reduce hunger and poverty, according to the ministry.

The main goals are to diversify tourism products and fully exploit the country’s tourism potential. The plan calls for linkage among provinces and cities in the region and additional investment in tourism projects of international standards.

Under the plan, the Mekong Delta region would focus on the overseas Vietnamese community and Southeast Asian tourism market, especially Cambodia, while maintaining current markets in Northeast Asia, Western Europe and North America.

Domestically, the area aims to attract more tourists as well, particularly from HCMC and Hanoi, and the southeastern region.

The Delta region hopes to welcome 2.7 million foreign visitors and 5.3 million domestic tourists by 2015, according to the plan.

By 2020, the region expects to receive 3.9 million foreign tourists and 6.5 million local visitors. By 2015, there would be 37,150 hotel rooms and a total of 50,000 by 2020.

The aim is to employ 154,700 people in the Mekong Delta tourism sector by 2015 and 236,600 by 2020.

The Mekong Delta region would focus on developing rural tourism (orchard and river tours combined with home-stays); cultural tourism (exploration of ethnic cultures), eco-tourism (tours of ecological systems in the area), and high-quality spa therapy tourism (including Kien Giang Province’s Phu Quoc Island and Ha Tien Town).

In recent years, the Mekong Delta has attained significant achievements in tourism, according to Huynh Vinh Ai, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

For example, in 2009 the number of foreign visitors to the region reached 1.2 million, three times higher than in 2000, while local tourists were 8 million compared to 3.4 million in 2000, resulting in revenue of 2 trillion VND for the tourism industry.

Tourism in the Mekong Delta region has also created stable jobs and raised the income of local residents, according to Ai.

According to the recently approved plan, the Mekong Delta region would concentrate investment in hotels, high-quality resorts and recreational sites of international standard.

It would also aim to preserve and enhance the environment, develop festivals to diversify tourism products, train more tourism staff, and conduct research on applying technology in the tourism industry.

The Mekong Delta can be reached by air, land, river or sea. The region has airports in Can Tho City, Phu Quoc Island, Rach Gia Town and Ca Mau Province.

Under the ministry’s plan, two international airports will be built.

Located in southwest Vietnam, the Mekong Delta region, with an area of nearly 40,000km² and a population of 18 million, includes 12 provinces and one major city, Can Tho. The region extends from Long An Province in the north to Ca Mau Province in the south.

The tour will take visitors to destinations in Hanoi that have made a significant cultural, humanitarian, architectural or social contribution to the city during the country’s history.

The tour starts at the Royal citadel and then goes on to the old original house at No. 87 Ma May Street, Bach Ma temple - the eastern defender of the former Thang Long citadel, O Quan Chuong - the eastern gate of the citadel, Voi Phuc temple - the western defender of the citadel and Hanoi’s old quarter.

The city tour also will also take tourists to the statue of King Le, the Hanoi Opera House, My Dinh new urban area, the National Conventional Centre and Hanoi ’s Museum.

According to the Deputy Director of Hanoi’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Mai Tien Dung, the tour will enable tourists to get a comprehensive look at Hanoi.

The Deputy Director of the Hanoitourist travel company, Tran Thanh Cong, said that the tour combines both ancient and modern sites and is highly rated by local travel firms as a tourist attraction. In addition, the tour will also help to attract investment in popular tourist spots included in the tour.