German tour operators explore MICE
Tour operator Asian Trails Co will organise tours for more than 300 MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) organisers from Germany who want to look over Vietnamese destinations. The group, which will be here on September 4-10, will visit Ha Noi, Ha Long Bay, Hoi An, and HCM City.
Bui Viet Thuy Tien, managing director of Asian Trails, said Germany and Belgium are the company’s biggest customers for MICE tourism to Viet Nam.
Five-star resort to open on Con Dao
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| Con Dao Island. (Photo: SGT) |
Six Senses Con Dao, the first luxury resort on the famous Con Dao Island in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau will welcome its first guests in December.
The five-star resort boasts "ultra-contemporary architecture designed to enhance the natural beauty of the site".
All materials and resources have been locally chosen, and from sustainable sources, the resort developers say.
The resort has 50 villas, each with its own private infinity pool and unobstructed views of the East Sea with a total capacity of 200 guests. Each villa has both space and privacy along with indoor and outdoor bathrooms.
Con Dao is part of a 16-island archipelago around 200km from Vung Tau City.
Malaysian food for national day
Malaysia’s National Day will be celebrated with a special menu at the Hotel Nikko Ha Noi from August 21-31.
Organised in conjunction with the Embassy of Malaysia and the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, the menu will feature authentic dishes of Penang Island "the food capital of Malaysia".
The island was influenced by Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Nyonya (or Peranakan) cuisines, the latter being a mixture of Chinese and Malay.
Featured dishes include spicy and sour tamarind fish, spicy king prawn with stinky bean, Malaysian beef stew in oriental herbs, famous Penang fried flat noodles and curry fish head with lady fingers.
In addition, the teh tarik (pulled tea) – a hot black tea and condensed milk – will be brewed using an authentic technique of pouring back and forth from a high container to a low one. A demonstration will be presented daily.
The dinner buffet will cost VND500,000/person. Malaysian National Day is on August 31.
Tourists opt for budget travel
More Vietnamese went or plan to go on vacations this year but mostly on low budgets, a survey by Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper has found.
More than 64 per cent of the 2,100 people polled between April and July said they made several trips this year, compared with 54 per cent last year, but more people went on budget tours.
Less than 20 per cent were willing to spend more than VND10 million (US$512) on a trip, slightly down from 20.2 per cent last year, while 46.3 per cent agreed to pay VND5 million to VND10 million, down from 57.4 per cent.
Charity caravan leaves for Ha Noi
A Charity Journey from HCM City to Ha Noi 2010, a nine-day caravan to commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of Ha Noi, has left HCM City on its first leg to Binh Thuan.
The caravan, sponsored by the CT Group, the HCM City Business Association, the Viet Nam Young Doctors Association, and others, will travel through Khanh Hoa, Thua Thien-Hue, Da Nang, Binh Dinh, and Quang Binh to Ha Noi.
At every stop, it will perform charity activities like providing free health checks and medicines and giving away scholarships to the poor it will also engage in cultural exchanges.
VietNamNet/Viet Nam News | 
