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Thứ Ba, 12 tháng 5, 2015

Vietnam Airlines to cut HCMC-Quang Nam route

National carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) will end flights between Ho Chi Minh City and the central province of Quang Nam as from this May 19, news website Saigon Times reported on Thursday.

Jetstar Pacific is taking over the HCMC-Chu Lai route. Photo: Mai Vong

The HCMC-Chu Lai route will be taken over by low-cost Jetstar Pacific, of which Vietnam Airlines holds a nearly 69 percent stake, it said.

On this route, Jetstar will operate three flights per week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with A320 aircraft, the report said.

Passengers who already confirmed bookings with Vietnam Airlines, or its subsidiary Vietnam Air Service Company (VASCO), for flights on and after May 19 can ask for refunds, it said.

Alternatively, they can switch to flights operated by either Vietnam Airlines or Jetstar between HCMC and Da Nang City, Hue City and Quy Nhon Town, which are near Quang Nam, without paying extra fees.

On March 30 Vietnam Airlines cut its route between HCMC and Tuy Hoa Town in central Vietnam, which was also taken over by Jetstar, according to the report.

Source: Thanh Nien News

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VN jumps five steps in tourism competitiveness

Viet Nam ranked 75th among 141 nations in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI).

In comparison with the rankings in 2013, Viet Nam jumped five steps. Earlier, in 2009 and 2011 the country secured the 89^th and 80^th places.

Regarding prices, the country's tourism stood at 22^ndamong 141 nations. Meanwhile, in term of sustainable development, it was ranked 132^nd.

The TTCI is measured by four different index groups of Legislative Factor, Infrastructure and Human Resources, Culture and Natural Resources.

The TTCI aims to evaluate factors and policies to encourage the development of tourism and travel to contribute to the development and competitiveness of each nation.

Source: VGP News

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Local visitors lack etiquette at cultural sites, say experts

Cultural experts and sociologists are worried about the lack of etiquette shown by local tourists at sites of national heritage and say Vietnamese need to be more respectful of their history.

Vietnam, etique, exhibits

A stilt house of Muong people

Many Vietnamese visitors have exhibited bad behaviour while visiting important sites, including writing on the walls of But Thap pagoda and thoughtlessly discarding burning cigarette butts.

Four Vietnamese visitors burned down the last hundred-year-old Lang stilt house of Muong ethnic minority people in northern Hoa Binh Province in October 2013 after they tried to cook corn inside the building.

The incident stirred a public outcry over the lack of awareness by local visitors at tourist and cultural sites.

“It was a great loss when the house burned,” said artist Phan Cam Thuong.

Another artist, Thanh Chuong, said, “I find it hard to understand why visitors to my tourist site throw burning cigarette butts on the roof of my stilt house."

He said tourists throw rubbish everywhere and show little respect for national heritage.

"I gather trash right in front of them in the hope they will change their behavior," Chuong said.

Donations are being collected to rebuild the Lang house, but its original heritage value has been lost because a group of tourists didn't think about what they were doing or where they were.

“Gathering the exhibits on the display inside the house is a great challenge,” said historian Duong Trung Quoc.

Source: Dtinews

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Cultural tourism of Cham ethnic minority

Inra Jaya is a Cham ethnic minority who has travelled extensively to many countries around the globe and strongly believes that tourism is the catalyst that will preserve the group’s way of life.

Kate festival held annually each October

The Cham ethnic minority are descendants of the Kingdom of Champa, a country that once blossomed in central and south Vietnam for more than 1800 years from 192 AD-1832.

“Tourists enjoy the rich unique vibrant Cham culture and the revenue generated from tourism results in less poverty and will be the salvation for the group’s unique culture,” Jaya shared.

Jaya, 27, said he avidly promotes the tourism industry of the Cham ethnic minority through photographs on his Facebook page, Incredible Champa.

Some photos:

Vehicle of Cham ethnic people

Women carrying water on their heads

The Ramawan festival in June

The Kate festival is the largest

The elderly teach younger generations to read and write

The elderly also instruct young girls on singing, dancing and etiquette

Chaper Tower in the Phuoc Tan commune of Bac Ai district

Source: VOV

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Travel firms bemoan new draft regulations

Local tour operators have decried draft regulations that require them to find drivers able to communicate in English to serve their tourists and use coaches with a maximum registered operation duration of 15 years to transport guests.

Coaches are seen at a port in HCMC waiting for cruise passengers

The circular on tourist transport, jointly drafted by the ministries of transport and culture-sports-tourism, has been forwarded to travel firms for comment since the end of last year.

Under the draft circular, drivers of tourist vehicles should be able to answer simple questions by foreigners about streets, weather, exchange rate, and addresses of post offices, healthcare centers, insurance agencies, sightseeing and shopping destinations, diplomatic corps and representative offices of international organizations.

According to tour operators, to meet the requirements, drivers must have a good command of English, and this is impossible.

Nguyen Thi Hoa Le, general director of Peace Tour Company, which has the biggest number of tourist buses in HCMC, said as English-speaking tour guides always accompany foreign visitors throughout their tours, there is no need for drivers to be fluent in English.

“It is very hard and almost impossible to find drivers who can communicate in English fluently,” Le said.

She described the regulation on limiting the operation duration of tourist buses to 15 years as irrational because the lifespan of a bus may be as long as 20 years if they are well maintained. Many countries allow tourist coaches to operate for up to 25 years.

Transport firms bemoan the rule requiring them to report the itinerary of buses to local departments of transport before they sign and implement contracts with tour operators.

A travel firm in HCMC explained that cars are sometimes rented for a small group of travelers and that it is time-consuming to report the schedule of every trip to competent agencies.

Source: SGT

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Ha Long Carnival 2015 kicks off

The annual Ha Long Carnival 2015 kicked off in the northern province of Quang Ninh on May 8, featuring over 2,700 professional and amateur artists.

They sang, danced and paraded on erected stages and along the 1,000m-long Hoang Quoc Viet road on the theme “Convergence of quintessence – Spread of smiles”.

Visitors could watch 10 carriages of flowers and exciting performances by popular singers and art troupes at home and abroad.

Twelve businesses have pledged to sponsor the event with a total of nearly VND10 billion (US$476,000), Vice Chairman of the Ha Long City People’s Committee Tran Trong Trung told a press conference in Hanoi earlier the same day.

The event is expected to attract tourists to the world heritage site Ha Long Bay and other local cultural heritages.

Source: VNA

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Thứ Hai, 11 tháng 5, 2015

Residents and (few) migrants at Ba Vi / 2-3th May

One week ago, I headed to Ba Vi National Park and spent 2 days there. I chose Ba Vi because there were lots of tourist during these days at Tam Dao. Of course Ba Vi attract also lots of tourist but they generally avoid my secrete place hehe..., right under the ruins of the French church (at ca 650m asl).

The first day was not too easy, I arrived at 2pm and soon found a singing male Hainan Blue Flycatcher. Not so long after, I spotted 2 other individuals. Some common birds in fruiting trees include Puff-throated and Black Bulbuls, Black-naped Oriole - the latter being a lifer. Before the sunset, I got some shots of a male Fork-tailed Sunbird.

The day after, I woke up early and went to an alt. of 400m, cannot go higher because of the fog... I spotted there a pair of Crimson Sunbird, a Grey-chinned Minivet, a pair of Striped Tit Babblers... After that, I saw a Green-billed Malkoha perched on a dead branch, but too far for a good shot.

At 10am, when the fog lifted, I went back to the place under the church.

For the second time I saw a male Red-headed Trogon perched 100m away. I quickly took out my camera but as I was about to pull the trigger, some Drongos mobbed it, and it flew off, never to be seen again. Arghhh, f........g drongos!

One hour after, I was more than happy to discover a nest of Red-vented Barbet. I hide myself in my camouflaged tent for more than 2 hours. Had some good shots of this lifer :D But I didn’t want to make the birds uncomfortable, so after that, I left quickly the place.

After having a very fast lunch, I stayed at the feet of a fruiting tree and waited for some more birds. Same stuff: Black and Puff-throated Bulbuls, Black-naped Oriole… But finally, 2 lifers came for a nice ending birding trip: an Orange-bellied Leafbird and a stunning male Siberian Thrush.

Le Viet Tuan Hoang