Cruise passengers take boat tour of HCM City’s Can Gio District

Tourists on board the German cruise ship Aida Aida were offered a tour of HCM City’s coastal district of Can Gio last week.
The vessel berthed at Phu My Port in Ba Ria-Vung Tau for the visitors to get aboard a smaller vessel which reached Can Gio in 15 minutes.
Phan Xuan Anh of Tan Hong Travel Agency, which provided services to the German cruise ship, says a river tour like this will provide a new travelling option for visitors to the city.
It will be offered to other international cruise visitors, he says.
Aida Aida, which can accommodate 2,600 passengers, is scheduled to anchor in Viet Nam 10 times between October 2011 and March 2012, taking its passengers to key destinations like HCM City, Nha Trang, Hue, and Ha Long Bay.
HCM City travel agencies offer Christmas, New Year packages
Saigontourist has organised more than 80 Christmas and New Year tours for travellers. Since early November more than 3,000 people have booked Christmas and New Year tours, a 10 per cent increase over last year.
Fiditour has offered more than 200 tours and co-ordinated with Vietnam Airlines to reduce the price of all domestic tours to VND3.5 million while Vietravel too offers many promotional tours from mid-December to March 3 next year.
Chinese tour operators explore popular Vietnamese tourist sites
Tour operators from China’s Yunnan Province made a familiarisation (FAM) trip to Viet Nam earlier this week, visiting popular tourist destinations such as Ha Noi, Nha Trang, HCM City, and Can Tho, HCM City-based travel agency Vietravel, the organiser of the trip, said.
The visitors were apprised of the highlights of each destination – including scuba-diving in Nha Trang, river tours on the Sai Gon River, and food in Can Tho.
Vietravel wants to expand co-operation with its Chinese counterparts in Yunnan to attract more travellers from this huge market.
$4.2b Canadian beach resort coming up in Ba Ria-Vung Tau
The first phase of the US$4.2 billion Ho Tram Strip project in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, which involves building a glitzy beach resort, is expected to open to tourists in early 2013.
The Canadian-invested project will build a large-scale resort complex covering 164ha in Long Dien District. The complex will include a 19-storey luxury hotel, restaurants, art performance areas, swimming pools, a golf course, and entertainment centres.
Da Nang culture department to open night market to entice tourists
The Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has unveiled a plan to build a night market on Bach Dang Street along the Han River to offer more entertainment at night for visitors.
The night market, to extend from the TV station to the Han River Bridge, will remain open from 8pm to 11pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
But the department has not said when the market will open.
HCM city-based travel agencies decry higher domestic air fares
HCM City-based travel agencies have expressed concern over the newly increased domestic airfare ceilings that have allowed Vietnam Airlines to raise economy class fares by 15 – 20 per cent from December 15.
Le Toan Thanh Tung of Vitours said the airfare makes up around 50 per cent of domestic tour prices, while Lai Minh Duy, general director of TST Tourist, said it is 60 per cent.
Saigontourist and Vietravel said they are trying their best to keep domestic tour prices unchanged until next year.