Nguyen Viet Anh, Director of the Division of Travel under municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that the selection committee p icked the 100 brands on January 12 from a list of 150 nominated items following a poll among tourists. The committee had earlier sent 14,000 ballots to voters.

Anh said the organizer would announce the list in a ceremony to honor such best tourism brands on February 1.

The “100 Saigon’s Excitement” program is organized by the city government and its tourism department with an aim to develop tourism products in the city and promote the city’s image to tourists.

Given the votes by tourists, the organizer will also select the best Vietnamese boutique services hotels, excellent Vietnamese restaurants, best shopping places for tourists, Vietnamese souvenirs and gifts, exciting entertainment venues, and stylish coffee shops.

Other categories are Vietnamese must-taste and must-see, the most favorite city tour programs, and prominent cultural, sport and tourism events.

Anh said that the department would print brochures, books as well as make DVDs and memory sticks as soon as possible to promote the selected brands to foreign partners at upcoming travel exhibitions and via Vietnamese embassies abroad.

The department is carrying out a similar program to select best brands for domestic travelers. The selection committee will have a meeting soon to choose the brands from votes by local tourists, and the final list will also be honored in the ceremony on February 1.

According to VNAT, all international travel companies and hotels with three-star standard and higher can join the campaign that will travel to some of Vietnam’s key target markets.

VNAT will promote Vietnam as a destination in Germany and Belgium during the Vietnam Culture Week there, and target France during a French event for Overseas Vietnamese.

Marketing activities in Berlin from August 28 to 31 will include exhibitions, a road show, meetings with the tourism sector, media and Overseas Vietnamese entrepreneurs.

In Brussels, VNAT will organize a road show on September 4 then travel to France September 8 to 12.

VNAT said more than 2.9 million international visitors had visited the country as of end-July, up 34.9% year-on-year. Nearly 1.85 million came for travel, up 44.4% compared to the same period last year.

Vietnam’s tourism ranks visitors from long haul destinations of Europe as important source markets because of the higher spending and market size. However, the number of European travelers to Vietnam was still small, excluding France.

The top ten markets in the January-July period included China with 511,800, up 95.4%, followed by South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Cambodia, Thailand, France and Malaysia.

The agreement was reached at a meeting on April 15 between Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh and Myanmar Minister of Culture Khin Aung Myint.

Mr Tuan Anh said he hoped the two countries will also cooperate in the fields of aviation, banking, and post and telecommunications.

Cultural cooperation will focus on cultural exchanges between the two countries, student exchanges, and activities in the fields of museum, heritage, and performing arts.

Mr Aung Myint said he hopes the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will soon set up archaeological teams to work with Myanmar archaeologists.

The “Vietnam Year in Germany – 2010” held on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties, will include an exchange programme for young people from Vietnam and Germany, workshops and business forums, photo exhibitions and a Vietnam Culture-Tourism Week, Vietnamese Ambassador in Germany Do Hoa Binh said at a planning meeting with Germany-based Vietnamese organisations in Berlin on December 26.

The Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival will opens the Vietnam Year with the participation of folk artists travelling from Vietnam.

The second major activity will be the Vietnam culture-tourism week to be held in late August in Berlin, featuring Vietnam’s food, beverage and products, traditional art performances and photos and films on Hanoi -the ancient capital city, he added.

In addition to culture, sport, economy and tourism activities in both countries, next year will witness visits of high-level delegations of the two countries aiming at lifting Vietnam-Germany ties.

As a prelude to the Vietnam Year in Germany 2010, the Berlin Open Tennis 2009 was held on December 25-26, drawing Vietnamese players at different ages from Berlin and other provinces and cities of Germany.