02 - 01 - 2008
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The HCM City Tourism Department and the Southern Airport Authority greet the year’s first visitors as they arrive at Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCM City. — VNS Photo |
HCM CITY — Some 550 passengers on board a Vietnam Airlines flight from Moscow and an EVA Airways flight from Taipei were feted yesterday as the city’s first international visitors of the new year.
The HCM City Tourism Department and the Southern Airport Authority greeted the year’s first visitors as they arrived at Tan Son Nhat airport in HCM City.
Alexandre Amosov, his wife Olesya Amosova, and their son, who live in a small town some 100km outside of Moscow, praised the warm welcome, saying that they planned to spend a week at Mui Ne beach in Binh Thuan Province.
The tourism department said HCM City targets 3 million international tourists in 2008, an 11 per cent over 2007.
The city’s tourism sector is expected to bring in VND29 trillion (US$1.8 billion) this year, 20 per cent more than last year, said Dong Thi Kim Vui, director of the tourism department.
Yesterday morning Saigontourist Travel Service Company received a group of 16 German and Danish tourists at Tan Son Nhat Airport.
Their 19-day package tour will include stops in HCM City, My Tho, Can Tho, Da Nang, Hoi An, Hue and Ha Long Bay before making trips to Laos and Cambodia.
The travel company also hosted 1,350 France and Italian tourists on board the 5-star cruise ship Costa Allegra when it docked at Sai Gon Port earlier yesterday morning. The travelers made a city tour before visits to the Cu Chi Tunnels and My Tho.
Saigontourist received over 4,000 foreign tourists across the country yesterday, according to its director Vo Anh Tai.
The company also joined hands with Fashion TV’s cruise ship F-Diamond to hold a gala dinner and fashion show on board the F-Diamond on New Year’s Eve. The show included 40 foreign and 10 local models and was attended by some 1,000 guests.
All the New Year’s festivities in Viet Nam will be aired on the French-based fashion channel as part of a joint programme launched by Fashion TV and Saigontourist to promote tourism in Viet Nam.
Aiming for 5 million
According to figures from the Viet Nam National Administration for Tourism, the country is expected to receive anywhere from 4.8 million to 5 million foreign tourists in 2008, up by 17 to 19 per cent from 2007.
Major events of Viet Nam’s tourism industry this year include the Mekong Delta’s Year of Gardens Festival, the Back Home Tourism Programme in the northern provinces, Festival Hue 2008, the continued campaign for Ha Long Bay as one of the world’s natural wonders, the Viet Nam Tourism Beauty Contest 2008, and an international fireworks contest.
This year Viet Nam will also host ASEAN travel forums and the 2008 international travel expo.
National tourism authorities will also speed up tourism promtion campaigns at home and abroad this year. — VNS