Lotus receives designation as national flower in referendum

HA NOI — The lotus has been named as Viet Nam's national flower, after receiving 80 per cent of votes during a referendum at the Spring Flowers and Drinks Festival, held at the Culture and Art Centre, Ha Noi, on Saturday.

Last April, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism established the criteria for the national flower: it must have originated in Viet Nam or have been planted for a long time in the country and must be found in many localities.

The ministry also asked that the flower be one featured widely in arts and favoured by many people.

During an online poll, conducted since 2006, 60 per cent of voters favoured the lotus, followed by the ochna blossom and peach blossom, the ministry said.

New logo, slogan to give ‘orientation' to tourism

HA NOI — The Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) yesterday awarded first prize to Cowan Viet Nam Company for creating the slogan Viet Nam – a Different Orient.

It will become the official logo for the National Tourism Promotion Programme for 2011-15.

The new logo is meant to reflect Viet Nam's uniqueness, independence, and vision.

Second prize went to the slogan The Country of Smiles, while third prize was awarded to Viet Nam – the Pride of Asia.

The competition ran for four months. Organisers received 413 entries from 223 design firms, both domestic and international.

The contest was jointly held by the VNAT and the Viettime Media Company.

The tourism authority hopes the logo will attract 10-15 per cent more international visitors, while boosting domestic holiday makers by 15-18 per cent from 2010-20.

Fathers have fun with their kids in new TV game show

HCM CITY — A new game show for children Ti Hon Tranh Tai (Kids Compete) will begin airing on television on February 5.

Produced by HCM City Television (HTV) and Dong Tay Promotion Company the show is based on Fremantle Media's game show Baby Races. The programme will be hosted by young actor Dinh Toan.

Children from six months to six years old are eligible to can take part in the show with their fathers.

The format of the game involves three teams with 4 members each – three children and a father – who will play games like trolley racing, milk-feeding, crawling, and diaper-changing and football.

At the end of the show, the winners and runner-ups will receive gold, silver and bronze medals as well as vouchers for buying toys.

The show will be aired at 7pm every Saturday on HTV7. — VNS

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Culture, sport need specialists

HCM CITY — The culture, sports, and tourism sector is unable to find enough quality personnel, according to officials.

Nguyen Thanh Rum, director of the HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism blamed it on a lack of incentives for specialists and talented people.

A severe shortage of skilled specialists who can train the next generations is also to blame, he said.

As a result, most fresh graduates fail to meet the job market's requirements, Ngo Quang Vinh, director of the Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said.

"Schools fail to factor the needs of employers into their training programmes," he told a conference held in HCM City this week to gather suggestions for drafting regulations to develop the workforce in this decade.

The poor teaching methods and low investment in infrastructure and equipment are also causes for the poor education quality, he said.

Amending regulations and policies will be a major breakthrough in developing the workforce, he said, adding that the draft should spell out incentives to attract talent.

Together, sports, culture, and tourism sector employ around 1.62 million people of whom doctoral and master's degree-holders account for just 0.2 and 2.07 per cent, respectively, Nguyen Van Luu, deputy director of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Training Department, said.

Graduates accounted for 36.58 per cent and vocational training graduates for 26.23 per cent, he said.

Some 435 schools and 1,000 vocational training centres around the country offer courses in culture, sports, and tourism that are attended by 26,000-30,500 students every year, he said.

But only 26.5 per cent of the 3,112 lecturers and teachers at these establishments have master's degrees, while 4.6 per cent have doctoral degrees.

Up to 30 per cent of all graduates fail to find suitable jobs or are unemployed, he added.

The ministry hopes to add 30 doctorates to the teaching staff every year through 2015, and 50 during 2016-20. — VNS

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Children need quality TV programmes

CAN THO — The need for more airtime and better scheduling for children's programmes was stressed by local filmmakers as well as television stations TV broadcasting officials at a seminar held in Can Tho city early this week.

Airtime for children's programmes on Da Nang Television was 10.3 per cent, on Ha Noi Television (HNTV), 9.1 per cent, and on Viet Nam Television (VTV) is 8 per cent, and in several provincial stations, just 2 per cent, said Huynh Mai Huong of Ho Chi Minh TV (HTV).

"Children programmes are broadcast at 2.30pm, 6.30pm or 7.30pm every day failing to attract young viewers, who are either at school or are beginning to do their homework at home," she added.

Musician The Long of the VTV in Can Tho said: "We produced 147 programmes in different styles for children in 2008; this dropped to 51 programmes in 2009 and just 47 this year. "

A recent survey by psychologist Dr Huynh Van Son and his team showed that only 30-45 per cent of children in HCM City and neighbouring provinces watched TV programmes designed for them.

"Most viewers prefer watching foreign productions on cable channels such as Disney Channel and Cartoon Network, because domestic works are poorly made and boring," he said.

Cartoon time is the highlight of the afternoon for children, but over 90 per cent of the cartoons shown on TV are imported productions.

The relatively few Vietnamese cartoons shown use outdated technology and uninspiring scripts, and they are losing out in a big way to high-tech, sophisticated productions from Japan, China and the US.

To produce a programme for children, VTV spends around VND3.7 million (US$ 160) – including the royalty of VND500,000 ($25) for the show's director – these meagre figures tell their own story, according to speakers at the seminar.

Many skilled producers and directors refuse to make children's programmes because they see it a poor business opportunity.

One official with Ha Noi Television (HNTV) said that without increased financial investment and new policies, "our TV programmes will continue to fail to attract children".

He said many provincial TV stations still lacked professional staff, modern technology and support from related offices to promote their broadcasts.

Also attending the seminar, held within the auspices of the National Television Festival held in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta city, were representatives from foreign TV stations including Australia's ABC, China's CCVT and Japan's NHK. — VNS

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Five-star resort opens on island

Con Dao Island will get its first five-star hotel when the Six Senses Resorts & Spas throw open their doors on Monday. The project was developed with investment from the Indochina Capital fund.

The hotel's 50 villas sit along a stretch of sandy beach, with stunning vistas of the sea and the curve of the bay, sheltered by green forested hills behind. All building materials were taken from natural, sustainable sources, using local materials where possible. Teak wood was reclaimed and includes over a thousand beautifully carved panels.

The resort's curved swimming pool, shaded by mature, wild mahogany trees, sits at the edge of the beach, which offers various water sports, including coracles, kayaking, snorkeling and diving in what is recognised as the best coral reef in Viet Nam, as well as boat trips to neighbouring islands.

Saigontourist eyes Japanese partners

The HCM City-based Saigontourist Holding Co is looking for Japanese partners for 12 new hotels and tourism complexes it plans to build. The company's general director, Nguyen Huu Tho, said Saigontourist is looking for both investment and management co-operation. Saigontourist also plans to buy hotels in Japan to expand its operations.

The company operates around 100 hotels, resorts, and restaurants around the country, and reported revenues of VND8.2 trillion (US$420.6 million) last year. It hopes to boost the figure to $1 billion by 2015 by which year it also plans to add 4,000 new rooms.

Central provinces unveil island tours

The tourism authorities of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai unveiled plans to launch a tour combining islands and inland destinations.

Do Tuan Cuong, deputy director of the Quang Nam Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the tour, to be launched next year, will begin in Hoi An to explore Cham Islet before speed boats for two hours to Quang Ngai's Re Island.

HCM City luxury hotel rates fall

Room rates in three-star to five-star hotels in HCM City fell by 10 per cent this year on average to US$98 per night due to a sharp increase in supply, according to the city Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The city has 68 international standard hotels with nearly 9,230 rooms. Newcomers include three four-star hotels, namely Oscar Sai Gon, Liberty Central, and Norfolk which have a total of 312 rooms, and nine three-star hotels with more than 580 rooms.

Tour operators offer discounts

To encourage people to travel during the Christmas season, travel agencies are offering tours at low prices, meaning they are unchanged from last year or are just 5-7 per cent up.

Ha Noi Redtours expects to serve around 1,000 outbound travellers and 500 clients who will undertake domestic and inbound tours. This represents an increase of 20 per cent compared to last year.

Vietravel said its business is likely to be 25 per cent higher than last year.

The most popular destinations for domestic travellers are Ha Noi, Sa Pa, and Ha Long Bay in the north and Ba Na, Da Lat, Phu Quoc Island, and Nha Trang in the central and southern regions. The most popular overseas destinations for Vietnamese travellers are in Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Russian carrier flies to Cam Ranh

A Vladivostok Air aeroplane carrying 80 passengers landed at Cam Ranh Airport in Khanh Hoa Province on Wednesday to mark the beginning of the Russian carrier's service from Vladivostok and Khabarovsk.

The carrier said it will operate seven flights each from the two far eastern Russian cities to the central Vietnamese destination between mid-December and March next year.

To create favourable conditions for the direct flights from Russia, the Central Airport Company said it has offered a 50 per cent discount on all ground services at Cam Ranh Airport. — VNS

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