Resorts close to fully booked for Tet

HCM CITY — Hotels in tourist destinations like Vung Tau, Nha Trang, and Phan Thiet are nearly fully booked for the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday week.

Le Thanh Lam, deputy director of the Bien Dong tourism area in Vung Tau, said all 27 rooms at his resort were booked from February 4 to 8 at tariffs prices ranging from VND700,000 (US$35) to VND1.5 million ($75).

Other hotels in Vung Tau like the 118-room Palace and 72-room Buu Dien are also fully booked for February 4-7.

According to the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 70 per cent of rooms at private guesthouses in Vung Tau have been booked in advance.

Nguyen Van Khoa, chairman of the Binh Thuan Province Tourism Association, said luxury resorts in Mui Ne-Ham Tien are 80-90 per cent full during the week, and fully booked from February 4 to 6.

In Nha Trang, hotels are full up on February 4 and 5. Some luxury hotels like Yasaka-Sai Gon-Nha Trang hotel and Novotel only have rooms for February 3.

In Phan Thiet and Hon Rom-Mui Ne, hotels are charging double the normal tariffs for rooms.

Price gouging

Guesthouses and mini hotels have increased rates from an average of VND180,000 ($9) to VND350,000 ($17.5) for a single room and from VND280,000 ($14) to VND550,000 ($27.5) for a double room.

Thanh Dat hotel in Nha Trang is charging VND1.4 million ($70) for a room compared to a mere VND300,000 ($15) on normal days.

Thien An hotel said there are no more double rooms available between February 3 and 6 while a room for four has jumped from VND350,000 ($17.5) to VND800,000 ($40).

To avoid gouging by hotels during Tet, Tran Ba Viet, deputy chairman of the Thang Tam Ward People's Committee in Vung Tau, said authorities would inspect hotels and food establishments to ensure they do not gouge customers.

The Ba Ria-Vung Tau People's Committee said it had ordered local authorities to strengthen inspections.

Khoa of the Binh Thuan Tourism Association said members of his association had promised not to increase room and other tariffs.

Apart from prices, food hygiene and safety is also a major concern.

However, resorts and restaurants in Mui Ne have signed contracts with seafood processors to alleviate visitors' fears during Tet.

The Bien Dong tourism area in Vung Tau has signed contracts with supermarkets to ensure safe foods and vegetable. — VNS

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Host provinces set for tourism year

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has announced the list of provinces that will host the annual National Tourism Year from 2012 to 2017.

Thua Thien-Hue will do the honours in 2012, Hai Phong in 2013, Lam Dong in 2014, Thanh Hoa in 2015, Kien Giang in 2016, and Lao Cai in 2017.

The National Tourism Year is the biggest event on the Viet Nam tourism calendar and is intended to encourage investment in infrastructure facilities and services.

Started in 2003 it has been held in Quang Ninh, Dien Bien, Nghe An, Quang Nam, Can Tho, Thai Nguyen, and Ha Noi. Phu Yen is scheduled to host it next year.

Phan Thiet attracts Russian visitors

The number of Russian tourists visiting Phan Thiet has shot up in the last few years and they now account for 30 per cent of all foreign tourist arrivals.

The number of Russian visitors to Mui Ne in Phan Thiet rose from 17,000 in 2007 to 60,000 in the first nine months of this year.

So far this year, Binh Thuan Province tourism authorities have received delegates from 14 travel agencies in Novosibirsk, Russia who came on fact-finding tours to Phan Thiet.

Viet Nam-Thailand bus link approved

Thailand's Phakbhum Company is set to launch a bus service from Thailand to Viet Nam through Laos enabling travellers to complete the trip in 24 hours.

Fares will cost 1,000-2,000 baht (US$33 - 66), according to Surapong Prasert, the company's CEO.

He said his company will spend 300 million baht ($10 million) to upgrade the 200km Route 12 which runs from Nakhon Phanom province in northeastern Thailand through Kham Muon province in Laos to Quang Binh Province in central Viet Nam.

Surapong said the plan has been accepted in principle by Lao and Vietnamese authorities.

Vinpearl offers half-price promotion

Vinpearlland Tourism JSC has launched a special half-price offer for entry to its theme park for residents of Khanh Hoa Province and people over 40 years old.

The special offer, valid until December, will cut ticket price to VND160,000.

Visitors to the park will get free two-way transport by cable car or ferry to the island and unlimited access to indoor and outdoor games and entertainment at Vinpearl Water Park and Vinpearl Underwater World besides a visit to Truc Lam Tinh Vien monastery.

Visitors can also see musical fountain shows, a circus, and other shows.

Cham celebrate Kate festival

Thousands of Cham people in the central province of Ninh Thuan celebrated Kate, their biggest festival, at the Poklong Gia Rai tower complex last week.

Poklong Gia Rai is a group of Cham temple towers built in honour of the legendary King Po Klaung Garai, who ruled the Champa kingdom from 1285 to 1307. Ninh Thuan has nearly 70,000 Cham people. — VNS

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Phan Thiet’s youngest kitesurfer lives out his passion

Spectacular aerial flips over the blue sea lent 26 years old Nguyen Thanh Trung –aka Can or Can Chocolate-- popularity among local youth and foreign visitors to Mui Ne in the central city of Phan Thiet and the status of youngest local kiteboarding coach.

Kiteboarding, introduced in Vietnam in recent years thanks to its unexploited beautiful beaches, is a surface water sport using the wind to propel the rider across the water while standing on a board with or without foot-straps and holding a large controllable kite.

Trung started his career in 2004 as assistant to foreign kiteboarding trainers in Phan Thiet. He quickly mastered the advanced techniques and after barely two years of training, thanks to his hard work and dedication, he began the performances which eventually made him a local celebrity among the sports’ enthusiasts.

In 2007 the International Kiteboarding Organization officially recognized him as an international coach.

“I love it when foreign visitors watch me perform, jump and propel my small-sized body into the air to the rhythm of the waves with just a flying kite and a surfing board”, Can told Tuoi Tre.

Trung mastered several riding styles from wave-riding, freestyle, free-riding, jumping and cruising.

Of the US$50 tourists pay for an hour of kiteboarding, he gets $16 the remainder going to the resorts’ club. It is much more than his previous assistant wage of just VND 1 – 1.5 million ($53 - $79) a month.

Since 2008, he left Windchimes water sport club in Mui Ne and moved to the kiteboarding club of the five-star resort Princess d’Annam in Ham Tien District of the central Binh Thuan Province, just 30km from Mui Ne.

Kiteboarding techniques

A beginner to the sport is first introduced to the most basic techniques such as kite launching and handling of the string bar, lines and safety devices, and then begins practicing advanced skills such as flying and landing on the water surface.

Balancing on the board is also an important basic step to master.

Most riders can’t wait to jump the waves though it is a very risky advanced step requiring much preparation, Can said.

Before jumping, the surfer builds up tension in the lines by strongly edging the board. Then the kite is quickly flown to an overhead position, sometimes just as the surfer goes over a wave, he explained.

As the kite begins to lift, the board edge is “released” and the rider becomes airborne. The kite is then piloted from overhead to the direction of travel. A large variety of maneuvers and tricks can be performed while jumping.

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Phan Thiet set for charming Kate festival

Traditional Kate festival originated in Cham people

Photo: Tuoi Tre

The Cham people will organize their biggest and most important festival, Kate, next month with processions, rituals, and cultural activities at the Po Sah Inu Tower in Phan Thiet.

The highlights will include colorful traditional rituals like a palanquin procession carrying the costumes of Goddess Po Sah Inu and the Tong On ceremony to keep away “poisonous” winds. The Cham believe these winds can cause diseases and bring bad luck to families.

Then there will be a ceremony to bathe the lingam-yoni altar and make an offering of wine. The lingam is a phallic symbol of the Hindu god Shiva and the yoni represents the female.

The festival will also feature the paranung drum dance, other ethnic music and dance, and folk games.

For the benefit of tourists and other visitors, Champa artisans will demonstrate traditional brocade and ceramic production.

There will be a contest to make cakes like banh tet (cylindrical glutinous rice cake filled with green bean paste and fatty pork) and banh gung (ginger cake).

The Kate festival falls on the first day of the seventh month in the Cham calendar (September-October in the solar calendar). It is celebrated in honor of Po Sah Inu, who according to legend helped the Cham grow wet rice.

It also marks harvest and is an occasion for childless couples to entreat Po Sah Inu to bless them with children.

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Online learning makes links in Vietnam

Vietnam is gradually developing a range of quality online university courses, a Vietnamese ICT expert told the Sixth International Conference on Information Technology for Education 2010 (IT@EDU 2010) on Thursday.

The development of e- Universities was essential for Vietnam to keep up globally in the era of  integration and globalization, Do Phuc, Dean of Faculty of Information Systems and director of Center of E-learning Technology and Education said at the conference at Reunification Palace, 35 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street, HCMC’s District 1.

In developed countries, e-university learning was well established such as at UK e-University, Korea Cyber University, University of Southern Queensland in Australia and MIT University in the U.S., the conference heard.

In Vietnam, some universities are in the early stages with this model but University of Information Technology has been the pioneer of online courses.

Phuc said, “The e-university model contributes to change and growth of higher education in Vietnam as it improves teaching, intensifies the training through the use of IT and communication as well as enlivens research.”

He said the preparation needed for an e-university was complex and time consuming.

Vietnam would need to train professional staff for online teaching, build network infrastructure, develop software systems and information resources such as e-textbooks, e-libraries, e-research and data centers. The e-university is different from normal universities because it needs a far stronger IT applications in the management of teaching and learning.

E-learning also will help Vietnamese students be more active, dynamic learners and give them opportunities for self-study through improved access to information, he said.

The conference will continue on Friday in Phan Thiet University in Phan Thiet City.

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