The HM Sky Company coordinated with the Vietnam Trade Promotion, Investment, Culture and Tourism Centre (VIETHaus) in Germany serve up the Vietnamese beer, traditional foods and handicraft products at the festival.

The annual festival drew the participation of 300 beer companies from 86 countries worldwide. This year’s event is the biggest festival of its kind in Germany since 1996.

Among 2,000 kinds of beer displayed at the event, Belgium is considered a stand-out showcasing 12 beer firms in Berlin with high-grade suds such as cherry and St. Louis Kriek.

The International Beer Festival 2009 is held along Karl Marx Avenue in Berlin, divided into 21 areas. It includes open-air stages and a system of restaurants to attract millions of tourists from Germany and around the world.

The festival attracts crowds of Vietnamese living in Germany to taste Saigon Beer and traditional Vietnamese food, buy handicraft products and enjoy music shows performed by Vietnamese artists.

Pichai Raktasinha, Director of the TAT office in HCMC, said that TAT was working on the one million tourist program to make the total number of Vietnamese visitors to Thailand and Thai travelers to Vietnam reach that number by 2015.

TAT officials are expected to meet their counterparts at the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) later this year to discuss this program, he said.

“We have not met each other yet,” Pichai said. “We are in the process of arranging meetings where we will discuss and exchange the ideas about how we can do promotions and marketing activities together to reach the target,” he said.

Pichai said the TAT in Bangkok had acknowledged and agreed to move ahead with the program. He stressed it was important for each side to prepare ideas for exchange at an appointment expected for later this year.

Asked whether TAT or VNAT initiated the program, Pichai said this was cooperation efforts of both tourism authorities of Thailand and Vietnam in a move to increase the number of Vietnamese vistors to Thailand and Thai travelers to Vietnam to one million.

Pichai said that Thailand attracted 337,000 Vietnamese tourists last year, and 165,000 in the first half of this year, or down 6.5% compared to the earlier period.

Pichai said he expected that around 300,000 Vietnamese people would visit Thailand this year, a significant number in a tough time when the global tourism industry was still adversely impacted by the current global economic situation and H1N1 flu.

Pichai said TAT launched some packages taking in the islands south of Thailand at the International Travel Expo in HCMC in early October in the hope that more Vietnamese people would come to explore more destinations in Thailand.

Pichai noted the interest of Thai people in traveling to Vietnam had grown significantly in recent years and many were planning to visit destinations in Vietnam and other parts of Indochina.

“Not only Thais but also people from other nations have been aware that Vietnam has become a destination for tourists,” Pichai said.

Around 180,000 Thai people traveled to Vietnam last year, 20,000 higher than in the previous year, and a large number entered Vietnam through border gates in Central Vietnam, according to the TAT office in HCMC.

The project has been jointly organised by the Lac Hong Voyages Company, the Filipinos airline and a number of five-star hotels in HCMC.

Currently, HCMC is trying hard to attract visitors from Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines as the number of visitors from Europe and America is falling sharply due to the global economic crisis.

Made from 2m tree trunks, the coffins contain bones along with some coins and terracotta jars and dishes.

An official from the Quang Tri Museum said the tombs were possibly buried in the 11th century and the remains may belong to people of the Kinh ethnic group. He said the museum would retain the materials for further research.