Grand Ceremony 35 years after reunificaton of Vietnam

HCMC Today, April 2010
Ho Chi Minh City - Thirty-five years after the reunification of Vietnam, a grand ceremony took place in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday, where the campaign for liberation of the former Saigon ended the 30-year Cold War military conflict in this southeast Asian country.

The event brought together about 50,000 people in performances and parades in the park near the Reunification Palace, where the official handover of power occurred on April 30, 1975 in Saigon, which was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.

In this city that is still referred to by many people as Saigon, the economy is booming as motorcycles roar down the streets next to reminders of a war that lasted for decades.

On this war-torn land in Ho Chi Minh City, construction of a high-tech park went into its second phase just two days before the 35-year anniversary of the reunification.

"A war-torn area then becomes a modern industrial world now," said Le Hoang Quan, chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, on the inauguration of the completion of the first phase of construction of the high-tech park on Wednesday.

The Saigon Hi-Tech Park, located in District 9 by the Hanoi Highway 12 km from the downtown, is one of two national technology parks in Vietnam. The other one, Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park, is on the outskirts of the capital Hanoi in the north.

"Actually, the whole area of the park covers 913 hectares. This morning we announced the completion of the first phase, 300 hectors of land, and we have 95 percent of phase one fully occupied so far," Le Thi Thanh My, vice-president of Saigon Hi-Tech Park's management board, said on Wednesday.

The park now has 17 operational projects, employing more than 10,000 workers.

"Right now in the park we have about 10 companies from various countries," she said, which include Intel, Japan's Nidec, Denmark's Sonion, and Allied Technologies of Singapore.

Vietnamese residing overseas have also returned to the country with various forms of investments, and five overseas Vietnamese are working in the park as experts and research fellows in the research lab, according to Le.

This park is among the ongoing projects aimed at transforming the economic structure of Ho Chi Minh City, which is currently a hub of labor-intensive industries.

Carl Robinson, a former Associated Press correspondent in Vietnam covering the war and now a business owner in the city, witnessed the change over the past 35 years.

"During the war, Saigon had about 3 million people and refugees, but now it's 9 million. Three times the population, but (the city is) not three times bigger. The city is getting crowded and the problem is the infrastructure is not catching up," he said.

Ho Chi Minh City is densely populated, covering 2,095 sq km over 24 districts in the heart of southern Vietnam.

Two new townships are being built to accommodate more residents. One is Cu Chi Northeast New Township, which is to cover 6,000 hectares, and the second one is the Thu Thiem New Township, which will cover 900 hectares.

Nguyen Anh Hgoc, vice-president of the Investment and Trade Promotion Center of Ho Chi Minh City, said the development of the Thu Thiem New Township was inspired by the Pudong New Area in Shanghai. "We will move people to the other side of the Saigon River to develop a new town there," he said.

HCMC earns VND3.2 tril from tourism this month

HCMC earns VND3.2 tril from tourism this month


Last update 23:07, Wednesday, 28/04/2010 (GMT+7)

 The hospitality sector has contributed about VND3.2 trillion to HCMC this month, up 14% year-on-year, bringing the tourism sector’s total revenue in the first four months of this year to VND12.6 trillion, a 19% annual increase, according to a report.
Hotel business positive in first quarter
Nha Trang offers sure bet for building hotels
Indochina Capital builds five-star hotel in Danang

The report by the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that about 230,000 international visitors had come to HCMC this month, up 10% compared to the same period in 2009. The majority of tourists arrived by air. The figure raises the total number of foreign visitors to the city to about 1.08 million, a 9% increase year-on-year.

Foreign cruise passengers arrive at the Navi Oil Port in HCM City.

The city’s tourism department said that about 60,000 local people from HCMC and other provinces traveled to foreign countries via Tan Son Nhat International Airport; however, the report did not show domestic travel figures.

The favorite outbound destinations of Vietnamese people are Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Cambodia, Western Europe, Australia and the U.S.

The Travel Management Division under the city’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Department compiled another report about hotel performance in 2010’s first quarter. Average room occupancy for three- to five-star hotels was 69%, up 8% compared to the same period in 2009 while the average room rate was down 18% at US$85 per night.

The report added that on average room occupancy at five-star hotels was 66%, 76% at four-star hotels and 70% at three-star hotels.

Average rates for a five-star standard room declined 16% to US$123, while four-star rooms cost 20% less at US$76 and three-star rooms were US$43, down 14%.

HCMC currently has 58 three- to five-star hotels with a combined 8,480 rooms, according to the Travel Management Division.

The division is yet to issue this month’s report as it is still collecting information from hotels in the city. Hotels have until mid-May to send their reports to the division.

In related news, Savills Vietnam Ltd just issued a report about hotel performance in the city in this year’s first quarter. The report highlights the different figures compared to the Hotel Management Division’s results.

According to Savills, the average rate for a five-star room was US$124 per night, US$83 for a four-star room, and US$51 for a three-star room.

The company said HCMC has 60 three- to five-star hotels with about 8,800 rooms while the division reported only 58 hotels.

HCM city to have First Subway in 2015

ED NOTE: I'm not waiting until 2015 to explore HCM city again. To be one of the First passengers on the subway and Photograph the journey, is my goal. 
The work begins: HCM City to have first subway in 2015
Last update 04:08, Friday, 30/04/2010 (GMT+7),

Contractors are now being selected for HCM City’s first metro line, a 19.7 kilometer line from the Ben Thanh Market east to Suoi Tien. Construction will start in early 2011, after years of planning.
HCM City readies for building of metro rail
First metro project in Vietnam gets underway
Assistance and responsibilities for Vietnam
The Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien subway.

Two routes first

Le Khac Huynh, chief of the HCM City Urban Railway Management board (URMB), briefed reporters that funds are in hand to build the first two sections of a system that will eventually comprise six lines extending for 167 kilometers. The 19.7 kilometer Line 1 from Ben Thanh Market to Suoi Tien in the eastern suburbs will be funded by Japanese ODA capital. The 19 kilometer Line 2, extending from Thu Thiem New Town across central HCMC to the Tay Ninh bus station west of Tan Son Nhat Airport, will be financed by loans from the German Construction Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Investment Bank.
Work will begin in early 2010 on the elevated section of the 14 station Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien line. Site clearance is already being carried out in HCM City Districts 1, 2, 9, Binh Thanh and Thu Duc (HCM City) and in Di An district of Binh Duong province.

Huynh said that at this pace, Line 1 will enter service as Vietnam’s first metro route in early 2015.

HCM City is building several 25 to 30 hectare depots to serve the project. One depot in Long Binh (District 9) is complete. Ground will be broken soon for another depot in Tham Luong (District 12). Construction plans for a 25 hectare depot in Thanh Xuan (also District 12), another in Hiep Phuoc Industrial Zone (Nha Be) and one in Tan Kien (Binh Chanh) are drafted.
Huynh said the decision to push ahead the construction of the depots represents a decisive commitment to complete all six planned metrorail routes.
The plan for Line 1


According to the URMB, the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien subway will have three underground stations in city centre and 11 elevated stations. Each underground station will be 200 meters long by 60 meters wide.
The first station (Ben Thanh) will be built under 23/9 Park and the current downtown Saigon bus control station. The second (Opera House) will be placed under Le Loi Boulevard in front of the Tax Building Trade Centre, and the third will be located under the Ba Son Shipyard. URMB Chairman Nguyen Do Luong pledged that the construction of these stations and tunnels thirty meters underground will not impede traffic on the surface.

The city is preparing to select its contractor for Line 1.
Planning advances for the rest of the system

Foreign investors are also keen to provide capital for two other routes, Line 3a from the Ben Thanh market to Tan Kien (Binh Chanh district) and Line 3b from Ben Thanh to Hiep Binh Phuoc in Thu Duc district. Austria’s Ostu Stettin and Italy’s CMC Revena want to invest in both routes.
Other investors propose to build the Ben Thanh-Tan Kien subway using the BOT (build-operate-transfer) model.

HCM City has chosen Russia’s Jorbrus group to build Line 4, connecting Ben Cat and Nguyen Van Linh Street.
Line 5, projected to wrap around the center city from Can Giuoc to the Saigon River bridge, is now the subject of a feasibility study using a grant from Spain. Vietnam and Spain have signed a memorandum of understanding that Spain will contribute 550 million Euros to build this route.

A feasibility study of the sixth route, Ba Queo-Phu Lam, is also underway, and also funded by a Spanish grant. The report will be submitted to HCM City authorities this June.
PV

Vietnamese movie stars off to Cannes film festival

A group of Vietnamese actors and movie directors have been invited to participate in the Cannes Film Festival in May.

“Bi, don’t be afraid” sent to Cannes Film Festival 2010

Vietnamese movie to go to Venice and Toronto

Filmmakers go abroad in search of funds

Vietnamese artists who will attend the Cannes Film Festival 2010.

Actress Truong Ngoc Anh, her husband, actor Tran Bao Son, singer-actress Ngan Khanh, actresses Mai Thu Huyen, La Thanh Huyen, and Minh Huong and directors Pham Viet Thanh, Ho Quang Minh and Nguyen Vinh Son will will stay in France from May 9-19 and participate in various activities organized by Chivas Regal, the sponsor of this trip.

It’s the first time that Vietnamese artists will walk on the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival with international stars. The festival’s make-up artists will ensure that they present their best image to the world media.

Director Pham Viet Thanh said that this a big step toward the emergence of Vietnamese movies on the world stage.

Meanwhile, director Nguyen Vinh Son looks forward to seeing famous directors at Cannes and attending talks about movies.

This year Phan Dang Di’s movie, “Bi, Don’t Be Afraid” will be screened, with 13 others, during the Cannes festival’s International Critics Week, which precedes the main festival. Di was able to film the movie with the aid of grants provided after his screenplay won critical acclaim at the 2008 Cannes festival.

Amazon launched its cloud computing service in Asia Pacific

Launches server and storage on demand from Singapore data centres.
Amazon.com has launched its cloud computing services in the Asia Pacific region with services being available from undisclosed data centres in Singapore as of today.

Amazon.com told iTnews the Singapore-based versions of Amazon Web Services (Enterprise Cloud Compute and Simple Storage Service) will provide Australian customers with lower latency times (ie better response times) than connecting to the AWS cloud compute in the United States.
Amazon.com senior vice president of web services Andy Jassy told iTnews that the Singapore facilities are a beachhead on a wider expansion plan (read the full interview with Jassy hereg).

The company has hopes of launching its own presence in Australia in the near future.

Amazon's pricing for the Asia Pacific region [see tables below] is in line with prices the company offers customers in Europe, which in some cases (such as on-demand instances of Windows servers) is actually cheaper than the same service offered from the West Coast of the USA.

The only sting in the tail is the price of data transfer out (sometimes referred to as "egress") - which is 4c per GB higher in the Asia Pacific, some twenty to thirty percent more expensive than Amazon services elsewhere in the world.

The cost of international traffic has been a common deterrent for some Australian enterprises from porting their apps to the Amazon cloud.

An import/export service, via which customers can mail Amazon.com physical disk rather than uploading their data onto the cloud via the network, won't be available from day one. But Jassy said it "will be available eventually."
Better performance
Jassy said many Australian customers that already connect with Amazon's EC2 and S3 services in the United States should enjoy better performance connecting to the Singapore cloud.

"You will see a similar latency [between Australia and Singapore] to what you would experience between the East and West coast of America," Jassy said.

"Remember that EC2 was only available to the East Coast of America for a very long time - but now most of our customers are on the West Coast, in the Bay area. But for a time, there were lots of workloads for which people are happy with that level of latency."
Why Singapore?

The Singapore service will be based in multiple data centres on the island in order to create an "availability zone" between separate facilities.

Salesforce.com and Microsoft (Azure) have also released cloud-based services from data centres in Singapore.

Jassy said the country was chosen on how many places it can serve from its data centre presence (Singapore is close to the big guns of Asia), the cost and robustness of infrastructure (some of the world's largest data centre builders, including Equinix, have built multiple data centres in Singapore), whether the right talent is available and the ease with which Amazon.com can work with the Government.

"We had to pick a country to start because we couldn't do them all at once," he said. "In the fullness of time we intend to have a number of countries.

"We are very interested in Australia - it has some very interesting businesses and we are very hopeful and optimistic about have a data centre presence in Australia in the near future."

Will Australian companies export to a Singapore-based cloud? Read the full interview with Jassy here.

ASIA PACIFIC PRICING

Old French Quarter not slated for UNESCO

Photo: Chuck Kuhn
Strolling down Ma May
(GM One of the Old Quarter’s more tourist friendly streets, Ma May is home to a wide variety of trendy restaurants, hidden cafés, fascinating architecture and historical sites.

Hanoi’s Old Quarter streets not slated for UNESCO

Hanoi - Old streets and traditional trades

Secrets of Hanoi’s two oldest water towers

The name Ma May is an amalgam of two old street names – Hang May and Hang Ma. The latter was where people shopped for worshipping objects while people went to Hang May to buy furniture made from rattan. At the turn of the century, the streets were joined and given one name: Ma May.

However, the French administration gave the street another name, Rue Des Pavillons Noirs (Black Flag Army) because in 1882, this street was the general headquarters of Quan Co Den (Black Flag Army), a group of renegade imperial troops that had terrorised the French when they were attempting to gain military control of Hanoi.

Traditional House, 87 Ma May

Ma May is one of the Old Quarter’s busiest streets for tourism but it’s also one of the most interesting in terms of architecture and is still home to a number of ancient houses. In fact it has more than any other street in modern Hanoi. The house at 87 Ma May is the most evident. Beautifully preserved, this address is a wonderful representation of the Old Quarter’s architectural heritage.

Built at the end of the 19th century, the house is perfectly constructed with a yard in between the front and back rooms – this is how Vietnamese architects wanted to avoid sunlight and keep interiors cool. The outer part of the ground floor was used for trading activities. The inner sanctum was for living and working. The backroom was for the kitchen and the restroom.

On the second floor, the outer room served as the living room and a place for ancestor worship. The back room was used as a bedroom. Renovated in 1999, the house is a must-see for anyone touring around the Old Quarter.

Ma May Temple 64 Ma May

Ma May temple (also known as Huong Tuong temple) was built in 1450 in honour of Nguyen Trung Ngan (1289-1370), a governor of Thang Long citadel. The temple is filled with centuries-old artifacts made under the Le, Tay Son and Nguyen dynasties.

Coffee Break Café Nola, 89 Ma May

Tucked away behind the street front, the very-cool Café Nola revels in its own motley connection of odd, incompatible furniture and artsy décor. There is something reassuringly quirky and random about Café Nola. You can sit on the floor or in a rocking chair. Play piano or use the free WiFi.

Staggered over three levels, there are a number of hidden rooms and alcoves to discover on each visit. The food – simple grub for lunch or breakfast – is only decent but the coffees and juices are excellent.

La Bougie Cafe, 34 Ma May (2nd floor)

Another café hidden down an alley and up a flight of stairs, La Bougie offers a nice chilled out ambience with country style furniture and décor. A small menu offers up coffee, smoothies, cocktails, pizza and snacks.

Align Café, 1B Ma May

With artfully exposed brick walls, wooden furniture, low lighting, and comfy cushions, Align Café is a great place for a quiet rendezvous, an early evening drink or an early morning coffee. It’s also visually stimulating with over 40 3D graphic pictures of Vietnam displayed on the walls. The menu features a number of interesting snacks, such as Takoyaki – a Japanese style dumpling.

Restaurants Madame Anh Tuyet, Ed Note: We had lunch with Madame Anh Tuyet

All Photos: Chuck Kuhn

Madame Anh Tuyet is one of the city’s most highly regarded culinary artisans. She has been lauded by none other than Anthony Bourdain, who featured Anh Tuyet Restaurant’s on his show No Reservation in 2002. Ironically, you do need a reservation to eat at Anh Tuyet. You can’t walk in and expect to be handed a menu! This is a carefully planned traditional Vietnamese meal.

She also runs tours to the local market and teaches guests how to cook authentic Hanoi-style cuisine. Call 04 3825 8705 or 090 326 9969 to find out more.

Studio Lounge/ Restaurant, 32 Ma May

Studio Lounge Restaurant features a comfortable and chic lounge style setting downstairs and a stylish dining area upstairs. You can find plenty of great cocktails and well-crafted contemporary European cuisine at very reasonable prices. There is also a daily lunch set menu.

Big Man Beer , 55 Ma May

Big Man Beer is a microbrewery with two main kinds of beer – black and gold – brewed in the tradition of German ales. You can also eat there with a menu featuring both Vietnamese dishes and European snacks; a great spot for a beer-thirsty tourist.

Accommodation Hanoi Elegance hotel 85 Ma May

Opened in October 2008, the new Hanoi Elegance Hotel provides visitors with a comfortable and relaxing setting with well appointed rooms and modern facilities. In the evening, the hotel also serves authentic Vietnamese cuisine in its stylish restaurant. Room rates go from $35 to $45.

PATA- Mekong Tourism Forum in Seam Reap, Cambodia

Mekong Delta-Chuck Kuhn Photography
Mason calls for Mekong tourism cooperation


Posted: Wed 28 Apr, 2010 12:00 AM

The Mekong Tourism Forum has lined up more speakers for next week’s ‘New Roads, New Opportunities’ conference in Seam Reap, Cambodia. Tourism ministers, travel industry CEOs and leading private sector and development minds will tackle challenges and opportunities facing tourism in the Mekong region.
Speakers include H.E. Dr Thong Khon - Minister of Tourism of Cambodia; Luzi Matzig, Group CEO - Asian Trails; former TAT governor Pradech Phayakvichien; Bill Black, Managing Director, Ativa Hospitality; Tran Trong Kien, CEO of Buffalo Tours Vietnam and Greg Duffell - CEO of PATA. The ‘In conversation with’ slot sees former Singapore Tourism Board chief Lim Neo Chian interviewed by Yeoh Siew Hoon, Editor and Producer of WIT-Web In Travel.
Opportunities and threats will be analysed against a backdrop of growth. "Tourism demand for Mekong region destinations is storming ahead," says Mason Florence, Executive Director of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office in Bangkok. "We need to work together to make sure development is fair and sustainable and that we remove obstacles to growth and poverty alleviation."
Government speakers will update the audience on visa regulations, border crossing changes and airport developments as well as new policies and incentives for the tourism sector.

Luxury Travel Vietnam Group Eyes Adventure Travel

Luxury Travel Vietnam Group Eyes Adventure Travel by launching a new brand "adventuratravel.com"

Hanoi, Vietnam, April 26, 2010 --(PR.com)-- The Conde Nast Traveler report states that in the past year, there has been a spike in educational experiences and adventure as a motivation for travel.

Conde Nast Traveler describes that adventure travel is no longer solely about risky extreme sports, but about culture, learning and experiencing life.

Adventure is defined as going to exotic, far away destinations (84%), exposure to new and different cultures 84%, outdoor/spots activities (54%), safari (49%), not having a planned itinerary (45%) Ecotourism/Poorrism/Voluntourism (25%), extreme sports (20%).

Luxury Travel Company intends to expand its product range by creating three more specialist brands.

The company already has seven niche brands, planned to eventually launch product lines for the adventure, events and gay and lesbian market segments.

The adventure travel division, will most likely be launched at the end of this year. This new brand to launch for niche markets with new niche tourism products.

"We are constantly germinating ideas and looking out for opportunities. We can create a new brand for them and let them behave like small independent businesses as part of our 'string of pearls' strategy," said Dav Nguyen, sales and marketing manager of Luxury Travel
Visit www.luxurytravelvietnam.com or www.adventuratravel.com

Sheraton Hotel Opens in Nha Trang, Vietnam

Sheraton Opens in Nha Trang, Vietnam

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts

One of the world’s most beautiful bays comes on display like never before next month as the Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel & Spa preps for its grand opening in this beach town on the south central coast.

The 30-story property delivers dazzling sea views from each of its 284 rooms and a collection of restaurants and bars that immediately establish Nha Trang as a culinary destination for a host of new reasons.

Three years under construction, the hotel ranks as the first internationally renown, 5-star brand to cultivate a beach destination within the country.

“This hotel is like a standing ovation on one of Vietnam’s most alluring attractions,” said Scott Hodgetts, general manager of the hotel. “I’ve been looking at this bay, and its islands, for the past two years as we fine-tuned this launch, and I’m still not tired of it. I can’t wait to see our guests’ reaction.”

The hotel’s overarching appeal is exemplified, collectively, by its 10 classes of accommodation, from spacious deluxe rooms to 70-square-meter executive suites and one awe-inspiring 182-square-meter presidential suite.

Outside every room, a balcony juts far enough to admit open-air ogling of the bay and a beach that’s been described by many guidebooks as the best in Vietnam. A Sheraton Sweet Sleeper bed is standard in every room.

The hotel’s décor exudes a deliberate, earthy warmth, with an appealing palate of tawny tones inspired by the beach. The beige and yellow hues, and the custom carpets in jute and cotton evoke familiar Asian themes.

One travel industry writer who toured the hotel prior to its Grand Opening said this about her first impression: “This Sheraton certainly sets a new bar for style.”

The Sheraton Nha Trang’s charms reach their zenith in Altitude, a multi-purpose events room on the 28th floor with panoramic views of a bay renowned as one of the world’s most beautiful (www.world-bays.com) and wonderful environs replete with hills, rivers and an array of cultural attractions.

Three floors below, the Sheraton Club Lounge, which Hodgetts describes as an awe-inspiring modern lounge, delivers a sumptuous, multi-dimensional, uplifting guest experience. Business travelers and leisure travelers who crave extra-special treatment and amenities, and who’ll be staying in a room or suite on floors 22 through 26, will check in here.

If Altitude is the hotel’s zenith, then the 6th floor is its heart and soul. The pools include an infinity-edged pool expansive enough to accommodate lap swimmers, a reflecting pool for sun deck sun soaking and a kid’s pool.

Thirsty? Turn to Plunge, where pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris rule the bartop. Tired? Perk up at Sheraton Fitness, featuring Life Fitness equipment and specially tailored regimens by Core Performance. Got the kids? Steer them into the Sheraton Adventure Club.

While the kids explore new horizons, the Cooking School — Vietnam’s first purpose-built cooking school! — beckons older guests keen to explore the culinary heritage of Vietnam.

On the 7th and 8th floors, Shine Spa makes its mainland Asia debut. In nine treatment rooms, therapists practice treatments borne of the Mediterranean, Arabia, India and Asia with a particular emphasis on Vietnamese traditions.

However attractive the Cooking School, most of the hotel’s culinary adventures will take place in a number of singular restaurants and bars. Another first at the Sheraton — this time for the entire Starwood group of hotels — is Steam ‘n Spice, a restaurant that celebrates the best of Asia’s streets with a cheery indoor space.

The hotel’s largest restaurant, Feast, is a tried-and-true culinary concept that taps the culinary heritage of Italy, India and a number of distinct Asian locales and turns out a la carte dishes a la minute.

Outside Feast, a gallery lords over the lobby. On the far side of the open space, the Wine Bar and its glass walls position casual drinkers with opportunities for both bay-watching and people-watching in the lobby below.

This same floor also features the Link@Sheraton experienced with Microsoft, a unique WiFi lounge launched by Sheraton last year. In the Link@Sheraton, guests can surf the Internet, send email, watch TV on a plasma screen or indulge such old-fashioned media as newspapers and magazines.

Down the circular stairway into the lobby, Connexions and Toastina offer additional opportunities to quench a thirst or partake of deli favorites, to-go style.

For less leisurely pursuits, the hotel is shaping up as a magnet for businesses and conferences that require as much as 1,600-square meters of ballroom space. Although Nha Trang can feel like a destination apart, the 24-hour business centre ensures that guests can get right into the thick of it as necessary.

For more information about the Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel & Spa, or to make a reservation, visit www.starwoodhotels.com.

Free Visa for Foreign Vistors to Vietnam (August & September)

Photo:Chuck Kuhn
Foreign visitors to Vietnam in August and September would receive free visa, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

Activities to celebrate 1000th Thang Long – Hanoi anniversary
The authority said they would also receive value added tax refund when they buy goods in Vietnam.
In addition, a promotion campaign with reduction of 10-40 percent on goods prices would be run at the same time in Hanoi, Danang, and Ho Chi Minh City.
A forecast by the authority said that the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi, which will take place on October 10, would attract a large number of visitors to Hanoi and northern provinces.
Hanoitourist Travel director Luu Duc Ke said that during the peak period of the anniversary, the hotel system in Hanoi would be preferentially used to serve invited guests, and delegates from other provinces, and other foreign countries.

So, to prevent a shortage of rooms or the overloaded situation, Hanoitourist and other travel companies have designed suitable routes so that visitors would rest in other neighboring provinces.
It is expected that the number of customers of Hanoitourist will rise to around 10,000 on this occasion, 10 times higher than normal, of which domestic visitors account the most.
Vietnam Airlines will continue to implement the campaign to stimulate domestic tourism demand. The fares from southern and central provinces to the north will be cut by 30-35 percent.