24 - 12 - 2007
The Nam Hai voted World’s Best New Resort by Cigar Aficionado |
|
The luxury lifestyle magazine Cigar Aficionado has named the five-star resort The Nam Hai as the World’s Best New Resort in their 2007 poll. "As the world’s top hotel brands fall over one another to open grand palaces throughout Asia, it was sleepy Viet Nam that stood out," the magazine’s editors wrote in a recent issue. | |
Cigar Aficionado described The Nam Hai as "more of a village...with guest rooms contained entirely in decadent freestanding villas". The resort, which spans 35 hectares between Da Nang and the historic town of Hoi An, has 60 individual villas and 40 villas with private pools overlooking 1km of private beach.
Vietnamese tourist group takes Christmas tour of the US
A group of 52 Vietnamese tourists left HCM City for a special tour of the US on Tuesday (December 18) organised by Saigontourist Travel Service Co. The Christmas tour stops in New York, Washington DC, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, and Hollywood after an eight-hour stop-over in Tokyo. The 11-day tour of the US costs $3,620 per person.
For Christmas and New Year’s holiday, Saigontourist has received some 6,400 bookings for inbound and outbound tours, including packages for the US, Europe, South Africa and Egypt. That represents a 27 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.
National archives opens collection to public view
The National Archives Office opened the National Archives Centre 4 last week with an exhibition at 2 Yet Kieu Street in the central highlands city of Da Lat. The exhibit includes more than 3,000 wooden items from the Nguyen dynasty and millions of documents from the revolutionary war (1945-1975).
The archives centre 4 was one of the residences of Tran Le Xuan, the sister-in-law of Ngo Dinh Diem, president of the former Sai Gon regime, who was killed during a coup d’etat in 1963.
Tour operators club together to promote professionalism
Ten international tour operators in HCM City have established the Viet Nam Inbound Tour Operator Club with an aim to promote professionalism in Viet Nam’s tourism industry. The club members include outstanding tour operators across the country, such as Indochina Services Viet Nam, Focus Asia, Asian Trails, Deithelm Travel, Phoenix Viet Nam, and Trails of Indochina.
Bui Viet Thuy Tien, the club’s deputy president and director of Asian Trails, said soaring hotel room rates were a problem for the hotel industry, and the club was seeking to resolve the trouble.
Viva Macau launches direct flights to HCM City
Viva Macau launched its maiden flight to HCM City on Wednesday (December 19). Holiday Tours and Travel, Viva Macau’s general sales agent in Viet Nam, said Viva Macau aircraft with economy and premium-class seats would arrive at Tan Son Nhat Airport at 11.45 am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and 9.25 on Sundays. It would depart for Macau at 1pm and 10am respectively.
The low-cost carrier uses Boeing 767 aircraft for the 2 ½-hour Macau-HCM City flight. To promote the new service, Viva Macau is offering a one-way trip from $82, exclusive of tax and surcharges.
Viet Nam tourism advertised on French-based Fashion TV
The French-based Fashion TV Group (FTV) will air free advertisements of Ha Long Bay and launch its cruise tours to Viet Nam next year, said an official from the national tourism authority. He said FTV would broadcast ads on Ha Long Bay in next year’s second quarter to encourage people to vote for it as one of the world’s seven natural wonders. — VNS