Oct
04
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Women’s Museum most attractive tourist destination in Hanoi
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TripAdvisor - the world's largest travel website, has named the Vietnam Women’s Museum as Hanoi’s most attractive tourist destination in 2012.
TheVietnam Women's Museum.
Visitors to the TripAdvisor website ranked the museum 4.5 out of a possible 5 stars over the past 12 months, earning it the “Most Attractive Tourism Destination” award.
As the largest tourism website in the world, TripAdvisor offers travelers reliable advice and reviews, as well as reasonable options to help them plan the perfect trip. It currently operates in 30 nations and has created the world’s biggest tourism community.
The website welcomes around 60 million visitors per month and receives more than 75 million comments and feedback responses.
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Oct
04
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Home throws restoration open to tourists
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VietNamNet Bridge – A restored nha ruong in the old village of Phuoc Tich will allow tourists to visit a typical house in the central province of Thua Thien- Hue.
The old house is the first of its kind in the village to be upgraded under a joint project between the province and the Wallonie-Bruxelles region.
The five-room house is owned by Truong Duy Thanh, whose family has lived there for five generations. Located in a 150sq.m area in Phong Hoa Commune, Phong Dien District, the house gradually degraded over time.
"My ancestor built this house when he was a mandarin. My family has lived here despite its physical decline," Thanh said. He had to repair the house many times due to his limited budget.
Then came the project Village Cultural Heritage Preservation and Development for Tourism - An Experiment in Phuoc Tich Pottery Village by the Viet Nam Institute of Culture and Arts Studies (VICAS) and Wallonie Bruxelles's Heritage Institute, under which the house was chosen to be restored due to its historical value, according to Dr Tran Dinh Hang, from the VICAS's Thua Thien- Hue branch.
The house was restored in 10 months with the assistance of two architects from the Wallonie-Bruxelles. The restoration was completed on September 18 with a total investment of 24,000 euros (US$31,000).
"My family is very happy with the restored house. We will display the house as a museum," said Thanh. "I plan to be a host for homestay tourism. It is a long-time dream of mine that has finally come true."
The house restoration is the second phase of the three-year project, which aims to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of Phuoc Tich Village to help tourism development.
Formed in 1470 under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong, Phuoc Tich is the second village in Viet Nam recognised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national cultural and historical relic site.
Spread out along the scenic O Lau River, about 40km north of Hue City, the village still contains over 100 old houses. People here live by making pottery. Phuoc Tich is now a popular tourist destination in Thua Thien-Hue Province.
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Oct
04
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New boat service fees in Halong Bay
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VietNamNet Bridge – Quang Ninh Province’s decision of imposing a price hike of nearly 100% on boat transport and overnight accommodation services in Halong Bay in this year’s fourth quarter has met with strong reactions from travel firms.
Ha Long Bay.
The new fees of transport and overnight accommodation services in Halong Bay are applicable for September and the fourth quarter but the decision was issued on August 30 by the Department of Finance. However, several travel firms received the announcement just a few days ago, and many others have even not heard of this price hike.
Specifically, the transport fee for boats having 20-35 seats and 36-48 seats are VND300,000-400,000 and VND400,000-500,000 per boat per hour respectively. Besides, the respective fees for third-grade and second-grade boats are VND500,000-600,000 and VND600,000-700,000.
The fee can be revised up by 30% on holidays, travel seasons and at weekends.
The price of overnight accommodation service of fourth-grade boats ranges from VND700,000 to VND1.5 million per 24 hours per customer, VND1.5-2.5 million for third-grade boats, VND2.5-4 million for second-grade boats and VND4 million for first-grade boats.
According to Bai Tho Trading Investment and Tourism Service Joint Stock Co., a travel firm offering boat services in Halong Bay, while regional countries are lowering service fees to attract tourists, Quang Ninh Province does the reverse with the new fee for transport services rising by nearly 100% from the old rates.
The firm said that the number of tourists visiting Halong Bay has declined considerably due to high transport costs. It is expecting intervention from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) to set a suitable service fee.
Ung Phuong Dung, director of Indochina Services Vietnam, was also surprised at the sudden price hike. “We have sold package tours for this year, and with the recent price increase, we have to incur losses. The new service prices are too high for us to organize tours,” she said.
Some travel firms providing international cruise ship services said that the price increase would leave a huge impact on the number of tourists visiting Halong Bay as the bay was a favorite destination of cruise tourists. From this winter until early next year, cruise ships will bring thousands of tourists to Ha Long every week.
After several months of decline, the number of international tourist arrivals in Vietnam last month jumped 61.6% year-on-year to reach 460,000, raising the total number of tourist arrivals in the January-September period to 4.85 million, up 13% from the same period last year, according to VNAT.
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“Witches” of sound
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04/10/2012 08:33:51
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'Green Bridge' exhibition
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04/10/2012 08:31:37
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"Gangnam Style"competition in Vietnam
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04/10/2012 08:30:03
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Ha Noi writers in line for honours
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04/10/2012 08:27:44
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Welcomes Asia photo contest
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04/10/2012 08:26:21
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Ethnic costumes go on display in Belgium
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04/10/2012 08:25:18
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Geting Golden Apricot Blossom awards
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04/10/2012 08:23:27
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New calendar market 2012
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04/10/2012 08:21:18
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Enjoy Veteran artist's paintings of women
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03/10/2012 08:49:22
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