Chinese tour operators push down prices | Look At Vietnam

Chinese tour operators push down prices

June 15, 2012

A number of China-based travel firms that bring Chinese tourists to Vietnam via the Huu Nghi border gate in Lang Son are forcing local partners to pull down prices.

A Chinese tourist shops at a traditional market.

A four-day-three-night tour is priced at only 300 yuan, or VND1 million, so services are poor, affecting the image of Vietnam as a tourism destination.
A senior source from the Travel Department of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said many local tour operators are complaining about this situation. Previously, similar tours are priced at 500 yuan, but now when service prices pick up, the foreign partners push prices down to 300 yuan, leading to low service quality.
“A meal for tourists is suggested at VND30,000, then quality cannot be guaranteed. Price squeeze, quality impairment occur more and more frequently,” said the source.
Tour programs for Chinese visitors coming via the Huu Nghi border gate are usually traditional tours from Lang Son to Hanoi, Haiphong and Quang Ninh. Now, this kind of tour has been expanded to the central region.
Despite expanded tour routes and better conditions for border crossing, the number of tourists is dropping.
“The tourist source is huge, but only tens of thousands of tourists cross the border gate every year, and now the volume is falling. Poor service is one of the reasons,” said the source from the travel department.
China is currently the biggest source market for Vietnam’s tourism with more than 1.4 million arrivals in 2011. Tourists from this neighboring country can enter Vietnam using passports or laissez-passers via the inland border gates in Lang Son and Lao Cai or by sea.
The fact that Chinese partners are pushing down prices and cut down on services not only happens at border gates, but also in other road tours. Several companies accept to lose partners and tourists as they cannot reduce prices further.
SGT

New Vietnam hiking tour features hill tribe villages | Look At Vietnam

New Vietnam hiking tour features hill tribe villages

February 25, 2012

Topas Ecolodge is located on a hill, 18 kilometers from Sa Pa.

A tour operator near Sa Pa is launching a new hiking package through minority villages in the northern highlands.

Topas Ecolodge, 18 kilometers from Sa Pa, will take customers for a trip through the entire Muong Hoa Valley, which many ethnic minority communities have made their home.

Customers will take a night train from Hanoi to Lao Cai, where they will take a Topas bus to Sa Pa for breakfast, before a full-day walk through the town and along a dirt trail through vegetable gardens and rice paddy terraces, as well as along a river at the end of the valley.

The package has been designed to highlight the best of northern Vietnam: the ethnic communities with their unique cultures, the deep valleys covered by terraced rice fields and the breathtaking mountains.

Customers will have dinner and an overnight stay at the Topas bungalows overlooking the valley.

On the third and final day, they will be able to spend some time at an ethnic village to experience daily life there.

The hiking package includes an English/French speaking guide, meals, one night at the Topas Ecolodge and a return train ticket to Hanoi.

Topas also offers a package tour of northern Vietnamese markets, colorful meeting places for the hill tribes of the country.

The package allows customers to visit various tribes in their colorful traditional dress, enjoy fresh items sold at the markets such as exotic herbs and spices, rice wine and local souvenirs.

The four markets included are where nearby hill tribes gather one morning each week not only to shop but also as a social event.

Thanh Nien News

New Vietnam hiking tour features hill tribe villages | Look At Vietnam

Tour de Vietnam

November 2, 2011  about News, Travel

I had done my research before signing up for a four day, three night cycling tour in Lao Cai province with Lotussia Travel. My friends thought I was mad cycling around one of the most mountainous parts of northern Vietnam!
But the trip is well planned, so you’re not always in the saddle, and you’re never on your own. But I didn’t tell my friends that – I liked to think they pictured me huffing and puffing on my father’s rickety old Peugeot up and down the hills under a blazing hot sun.
However, not even riders in the Tour de France go solo – everyone needs a team, a car, and a medic! My friend and I met our team from Lotussia Travel at Lao Cai station after taking the overnight train from Hanoi.
First things first, we headed for a big hearty breakfast. With a long day of riding ahead we needed to ‘feed the engine’. Afterwards, we drove to Phong Hai town, 20km from Lao Cai railway station, where we kick-started our journey on two wheels.
Our destination from there was Coc Ly, a cycle of 18km or so. The landscapes were stunning with rolling mountain ranges, wild forests and the yellow Chay river slowly meandering through the valleys below. We stopped at Coc Ly market, which bustles with hill tribes flocking from all over the area to buy or sell goods, or simply eat, drink and have fun.
Here you can buy handicrafts or simply hang out and watch the world go by as members of Flower H’mong, Phu La and Dao Tuyen hill tribes wander past in colourful costumes. The atmosphere is lively and everyone is smiling. Nearby, I see a photography studio and a dentist’s clinic filled with boys and girls – signs of the changing times we live in.
After an hour exploring the market, we cycled to the nearby village of Sa Koun Ho inhabited by members of both the Flower H’mong and Black Dao ethnic minorities. Next we embark on a motor-boat cruise along the Chay river. This is an exciting boat cruise winding us through breathtaking, out-of-this-world-scenery where the mountains grow out of the water, presenting us with hidden mysteries, including beautiful caves and grottos. There’s an added sense of poignancy as we travel around as I am informed that the market and the area around will be submerged by a manmade lake created for Coc Ly hydroelectricity plant in the future.
We disembark at Trung Do village which is home to members of the Tay hill tribe. We are picked up by car and then transferred to a local restaurant for lunch. Before you start to accuse us of not cycling very much on our so-called cycling tour, we hop back into the saddle after lunch, and this time we’re going uphill! Our destination is Bac Ha town. The road from Coc Ly to Bac Ha is in good shape but the uphill segment is tough going. But we push on, inspired by our awe-inspiring surroundings, and the thought of dinner!
We eat at a Tay family’s house and after a day of cycling, we devour our food. There is nothing more delicious on earth than a hot meal for a hungry soul! Grilled chicken and purple sticky-rice,  stir-fried bamboo shoot with buffalo meat, and boiled wild vegetables with a wonderful dipping sauce -  everything hits the spot.
That night we slept like babies on a mat in the corner of the stilt house after being provided with pillows, a thin blanket and a mosquito net. Not even the grunting of the local buffalos can disturb our slumber!
After breakfast, Lotussisa Travel transfers us by car to Si Ma Cai. Upon arrival we start cycling upstream along the banks of the Chay river. The sky above Si Ma Cai is clear and blue. With a cool breeze on my face I take a deep breath and bask in the glory of the seemingly endless mountain ranges around.
On the road I can see the roof-tops of hamlets down below in the green and yellow valleys and the terraced fields in harvest season. The landscape is the most beautiful and peaceful I have seen on my journey so far. Every now and then a young Flower H’Mong appears with a beautiful smile that further lights up this rural paradise.
Si Ma Cai is not as frequented as much as Bac Ha or Sapa, since it is nestled at the far end of a road near the border with China, but it’s just 40km from Bac Ha and worth the trip.
The town is beautifully quiet and the people here live a simple daily life. The streets and the market are rather deserted except on Sundays when the market draws a crowd of Mong, La Chi, Phu La, and Nung ethnic minorities in colourful costumes from the surrounding area.
Although cycling across some tough terrain in relentless heat may seem pretty hellish to some, what better way is there to experience such awe-inspiring scenery? So don’t delay! Dust off your paddle and prepare to be enchanted by the delights of North Vietnam.
Time-out

lCircus elephant kills 11-year-old girl October 17, 2011

Circus elephant kills 11-year-old girl 

October 17, 2011  about Social

A circus elephant trampled to death a girl in northern Vietnam Sunday afternoon when the girl sneaked into a yard to feed it.
The elephant belongs to a Vietnam Circus Federation troupe that was on a week-long tour in Lao Cai Province.
Eyewitnesses said the elephant was tied to a chain in the fenced backyard of the local cultural center waiting for the troupe’s scheduled last show there in the evening.
They said Nguyen Thao Oanh, a sixth grader of Le Quy Don Secondary School, and several other children sneaked into the backyard.
When Oanh was picking up a sugarcane, the elephant suddenly lifted her up with its trunk, threw her to the ground and trampled her repeatedly until she died, the witnesses said.
The children may have teased the elephant while they were feeding it, the witnesses said.

Pham Ngoc Trien, Thanh Nien News 

Floods devastate Lao Cai, VN

Flash floods devastate Lao Cai province

May 17, 2011 about Features, In depth

VietNamNet Bridge - Heavy rains on May 12-13 triggered flash floods in the mountainous provinces of Yen Bai, Phu Tho, Tuyen Quang and Lao Cai which was the hardest hit.

People in Lao Cai Province cleaning up their homes after the flash floodwaters receded on May 12 (Photo: SGGP)
At least 245 homes were badly inundated with furniture being swept away in Lao Cai Province.
In Lao Cai town, waters from the Ngoi Duong and Dong Ho streams overflowed within one hour of heavy rainfall on Thursday night, forcing people to flee to higher ground, leaving their household belongings. Local residents said that floodwaters flowed about 2-2.5 meters high.
By Friday morning, the floodwaters had receded but left a 0.5-meter high mud debris in Nam Cuong Ward and Binh Minh as well as in Cam Duong and Ta Phoi communes.
The floodwaters also devastated several roads, bridges, health clinics and schools.

Le Duy Ly, police chief of Cam Duong Commune said that the floodwaters and mud debris had destroyed documents and equipment in the Lao Cai Hospital of Traditional Medicines.
In Sa Pa District, the long-lasting heavy rainfall caused a landslide in the Mong Sen Bridge pier on Highway 4D.
Thousands of cubic meters of soil overflowed on to the road, causing traffic to come to a standstill on the Lao Cai town to Sa Pa route. The flash floods also hit over 40 households in Bao Yen District, 70 kilometers from Lao Cai town, where one house was even swept away.
Floodwaters also triggered landslides along the railway route Hanoi-Yen Bai-Lao Cai.

Nguyen Duc Nhue, deputy head of Lao Cai Railway Station said that a landslide blocked a train coming from Hanoi, for almost three hours.
Leaders from the People’s Committee of the province visited the affected area and compensated VND2 million to each household that suffered losses.

Source: SGGP/VNE

Snowfall in Sapa, Vietnam

LookAtVietnam -
A strong cold spell brought rare falls
of snow to hills in northern Lao Cai, Ha Giang and Cao Bang provinces early
yesterday morning, March 16, creating a winter wonderland.

Making snowmen in Viet Nam is a rare event. Snow started falling for the first time in 10 years in Sapa yesterday. Tourists are flocking to enjoy the scene. (Photo: VNS)

In
places the snow was 15cm deep - and it was still falling yesterday afternoon!

Le Minh
Hai, deputy director of Lao Cai’s Hydrometeorology Centre, said it was unusual
for snow to fall at this time of year, which is classed as late spring or early
summer.

“Snowfalls normally occur from December to February,” he said. Lower down the
slopes, the snow was replaced by biting wind and rain.

Viet Nam
News Agency on-the-spot correspondents said the snowflakes stirred excitement
among locals and tourists in Sa Pa town and Dong Van stone plateau, where
covered roofs and trees.

Despite
freezing temperatures, flocks of tourists are heading to the hills to watch the
event, creating congestion on several roads.

A
65-year-old local resident Sung Thi Mai in Ha Giang Province’s Dong Van district
said that although the plateau was 1,600m above sea level, this was the first
time snow had ever fallen.

The last
time snow was recorded in Sa Pa, which is 2,000m above sea level, was in January
2003, but it was only a light fall.

Hai said
as the weather was predicted to warm up in coming days, it was likely that there
would be no more snow.

The
temperature in Ha Noi today may drop to between 9 and 11 degrees Celsius with
highs of 12 to 14 degrees.

Nguyen
Lan Chau, deputy director of the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological
Forecasting, told Viet Nam News that temperatures were expected to rise after
Friday.

This
weekend, Ha Noi expects weather of up to 25 degrees Celsius, followed by a
milder cold spell.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News

Fan Si Pan, Vietnam's highest mountain

Sa Pa District is located in Lao Cai Province, north-west Vietnam, and 350 km north-west of Hanoi, close to the border with China. The Hoang Lien Son range of mountains dominates the district, which is at the eastern extremity of the Himalayas. This range includes Vietnam's highest mountain, Fan Si Pan, at a height of 3142m above sea level. The town of Sa Pa lies at an altitude of about 1600 m. The climate is moderate and rainy in summer (May—August), and foggy and cold with occasional snowfalls in winter

Seductive terraced fields in Lao Cai - Travel

Sapa-Lao Cai
The rice harvesting season has come to terraced fields in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai, creating fascinating pictures.

Playing football in terraced fields

Terraced fields – nature’s gift to northwestern region

Sa Pa, a natural mosaic

Source: Dan Tri

Source: Dan Tri

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Vietnam Tourism will reach 4.2 billion US

A tourist visits Ta Phin village in northern Lao Cai province.
VietNamNet Bridge - Viet Nam plans to welcome 4.2 million international tourists and 27 or 28 million domestic tourist this year, said Nguyen Van Tuan, director of the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism, yesterday in Ha Noi.

Vietnam tourism industry surviving on domestic travelers

Travel firms racing to slash domestic tour prices

Impressive Vietnam: travel firms shocked with tour fee reductions

Tuan was speaking at a press conference to announce the stimulus package and plans for this year under the name 'Your destination Vietnam'. The country received about 900,000 international visitors mostly from Japan, South Korea, China and ASEAN in the first two months of this year, an increase of 27 per cent over the same term last year.

Tuan estimated that tourism turnover will reach VND80 trillion (US$4.2 billion) this year.

He said last year's stimulus package for tourism had brought incredible advantages to the local market with the number of domestic tourists travelling to various destinations around Viet Nam increasing.

Despite the crisis, Viet Nam received 3.8 million international and 25 million domestic tourists with a turnover of VND70 trillion($3.7 billion) last year, a growth of 9 per cent over 2008, added Tuan.

In the international market, Tuan said the administration would focus on large scale promotions in key markets such as France and the US. Tuan told Vieât Nam News that they would open their biggest ever road show in Paris to promote Viet Nam.

Last year, the budget for tourism promotion came too late, which caused a lot of difficulties but this year, we have received money early for our programme.

Tuan predicted that tourism would increase in March and April then reduce in May and June.

Tuan said: 'We are working with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to organise our first ever sale month to attract more visitors to Viet Nam.'

According to Nguyen Minh Tam, head of the Tourism Department, the VNA has co-operated closely with the administration to attract more visitors.

The VNA will run promotions advertising price reductions of more than 50 per cent for local flights from March to December this year.

'We will also work to promote local tourism in other countries with inviting packages to Viet Nam,' said Tam.

Domestic tourists really helped the tourism industry last year and they continue to be our focus this year, Tuan said.

To better serve the tourists, our administration will urge localities to improve their facilities and infrastructure, especially substandard toilet facilities which can discourage tourists.

Tuan said the administration will launch a special cable TV channel on tourism, in co-operation with Vietnamese Television in April on the occasion of the Hung King's Death Anniversary."

Travel to Vietnam Sapa

SEE MY PHOTO GALLERY of SAPA-->> http://www.pbase.com/ckuhn55/sapa_vietnam


Located in the northwestern mountains of the country, Sa Pa is a modest town nestled within the Hoang Lien Son mountain range in Lao Cai province. Sa Pa is an excellent destination to enjoy outdoor activities with stunning landscapes that attract both domestic and foreign tourists.

In the sticks: Locals introduce brocade products made by ethnic Mong and Dao people to foreign tourists.
Travelling in Sa Pa, few tourists miss an opportunity to trek to mountain villages and majestic waterfalls.

Cat Cat village sits atop unspoiled landscapes and is a desirable destination for trekkers seeking to spend full days walking in a world of natural charm and tranquillity.

Visiting the village, tourists will discover various traditional trades of the local people such as weaving, jewellery manipulation, metal work and stone carvings.

The road from Sa Pa winds through hilly terrain, past terraced paddy fields. A sign reads "Welcome to Cat Cat Cultural Village", greeting visitors as they arrive at the entrance of the village.

A leisurely walk within the old village provides visitors with a better understanding of the traditional customs and practices of the ethnic Mong people that live here.

While wandering around the village, I continually asked the locals about their crafts and houses. I was curious about everything and the locals were friendly and ready to help. They also politely asked me to buy some hand-made souvenirs.

Visitors in Cat Cat have an opportunity to admire and watch locals sit with looms and create colourful pieces of brocade. When these pieces of brocade are finished, they are dyed and embroidered with beautiful designs of flowers and birds. Interestingly, Mong women use plants and leaves to dye the fabrics. After dyeing the fabric, they then roll a round, smooth piece of wood, covered with wax, over the material in order to polish. By doing this it helps to make the colours more durable on the fabric.

In addition to their weaving craft, many residents in Cat Cat are good at making gold and silver jewellery. Their products are quite sophisticated, especially the women’s jewellery.

Further into the village are waterfalls along with a stream that weaves its way around boulders, hills and mountains. The pristine stream is spanned by a suspension bridge, which offers a good view of the waterfalls and mountains.

The path after the bridge passes through bamboo forests filled with wild flowers and past tranquil brooks.

Another must-see village is Ta Phin, a remote village located 12km from the centre of Sa Pa, which still retains traditional customs and lifestyles of the Dao, Tay and Mong ethnic groups.

It’s recommended for tourists to catch a local xe om (motorbike taxi) at price of VND180,000 (US$10) in order to get there. Another option is to rent a motorbike for VND100,000 ($5.50) a day, which provides a convenient and interesting way to discover the landscape and villages.

Despite the winding road to the village, tourists can see picturesque rolling hills and terraced fields on the way. Much of the Sa Pa valley has been cultivated into verdant rice paddy fields equipped with irrigation systems.

Capitalise

Sculptured: Terraced rice fields make Sa Pa picturesque.
Ta Phin village seeks to capitalise from tourism and thus causes local children and adults to constantly follow visitors, in an effort to persuade them to buy wallets, hats, bags or fabric. However, these sellers tend to be friendly and hospitable.

The villagers often invite tourists to visit their homes, where they show them how they live and what they have, and tell about their families. Their living standard is still low, but their lives have been improved by the expanding tourism industry.

"We women are so active – not only do we grow vegetables and raise pigs and get wood for the fire, we also try to learn English so we can talk to tourists," said a 25-year-old Dao woman. "Before there were tourists we were very poor, but now we can make handicrafts, make money and meet people."

Ta Phin village is able to win tourists’ hearts thanks to the beautiful sights that surround it. Lavie waterfall is a common destination for trekkers. After trekking through forests, maize fields and mountains, tourists often enjoy soaking in Lavie stream and sunbathing on flat boulders.

After a long day of walking on the curvy roads and hills around Sa Pa, it was pleasant to soak my bones and muscles in a traditional Dao herbal bath at Ta Phin.

The price was reasonable, VND60,000 ($3.30) for a one-hour bath. Soaking in medicinal waters may make you feel a little tipsy. When you start feeling dizzy, it’s time to get out of the wooden bathtub. After the soak, I finally felt relaxed. The herbal bath was good for my health, mind and bones.

I was very happy to have a chance to travel to Sa Pa. I will never forget how it felt to stand in front of imposing, beautiful mountains.

Foreign visitors to Lao Cai increase

- The northern mountainous province of Lao Cai received 58,000 holiday-makers, including 26,000 foreigners, in the past two months, a year-on-year increase of 33 percent.

Of the total, 10,500 came from China’s southwestern region through the Lao Cai border gate.

The figures showed a good sign for the provincial tourism industry amidst forecasts that 2009 would be a difficult year for tourism services due to the impact of the global economic crisis.

However, the number of domestic tourists to Lao Cai and Sa Pa tourist resort plunged by 49.2 percent year on year as it is not the tourism season in Vietnam and many Vietnamese have tightened their belt as a result of the economic difficulties.

In addition, many restaurants and hotels in Sa Pa haven’t yet lowered the prices of their services to stimulate tourism demands in response to the industry’s promotion campaign.

VietNamNet/VOV

100 dead or missing Vietnam flash floods

MORE than 100 people were dead or missing in flash floods and landslides as heavy rains brought by tropical storm Kammuri pounded mountainous northern Vietnam, officials said yesterday.At least 72 people died and 37 were missing since the storm hit the poor and widely deforested region from Friday, having previously lashed Hong Kong and southeastern China, central and provincial emergency officials said.Worst-hit was Lao Cai province near the Chinese border, where at least 36 people died and 32 were missing, hundreds of houses were destroyed or damaged, and transport links were cut, isolating some areas, emergency officials said."Landslides have hit many areas, but flash floods have caused the largest number of deaths," said Pham Van Quang, an official with the provincial flood and storm control committee."It's still raining hard here."At least 800 houses have been destroyed or damaged. We are still trying to get in touch with local authorities to help the people there. Rescue efforts are ongoing but they are being slowed by the severe weather."Quang said that authorities were updating the figures of dead and missing, but that they had no contact with some districts because of cut telephone lines and roads, including the "completely isolated" Bat Xat district.At least 25 people died and four were missing in neighbouring Yen Bai province, said emergency services official Nguyen Thi Hai Yen, who said the Red River that also flows through the capital Hanoi had dangerously swollen."It is still raining heavily and we fear that the number of people killed will continue to grow," an official said. In coastal Quang Ninh, eight people died, including a five-year-old boy whose family home was buried in a landslide, and seven construction workers whose roadside tent was buried under an avalanche of mud and rocks. Three people died in Phu Tho province and one person was missing.Experts from the National Hydrometeorology Forecast Centre predict Vietnam will face more dangerous storms this year due to the La Nina climatological phenomenon. Agencies
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Mt. Fansipan up 12 places in new world wonders vote

Vietnam’s Fansipan mountain has jumped 12 places to the 13th position among 77 candidates in the online voting for seven new world natural wonders launched by the NewOpen World.

Lao Cai Province is preparing for a Fansipan climbing competition to open in Sa Pa town on Nov. 14.According to the Director of the Culture, Sports and Tourism department of the northern mountainous Lao Cai Province Tran Huu Son, the advancement was attributed to a campaign launched by the province from early October to the end of December. Lao Cai Province is preparing for a Fansipan climbing competition to open in Sa Pa town on Nov. 14. The competition expects to attract 300 climbers. Fansipan is the highest peak in Indochina at 3,143 m. It is dubbed “the Roof of Indochina”. The mountain is to be approved as one of the very few ecotourist spots of Vietnam with 2,024 floral varieties and 327 faunal species.
(Source: VNA)