The 35th Travelweekly Digital Issue

Travel Intelligence

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Vietnam ranked among top growth tourist destinations

Schedule for the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi

India is gearing up for PTM 2011 in New Delhi

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Travel Intelligence

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India is gearing up for PTM 2011 in New Delhi

Official Media Partner for:

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09. German beer festival to come to Hanoi

04. Phan Thiet sets for Charming Kate Festival

VIETNAM NEWS

06. Movenpick Hotel Saigon debuts fol-lowing full-scale renovation

05. Vietnam inbound tourism poised to zoom during 2010-2013

10. Bangkok – Hanoi cultural tourism programme

Schedule for the 1000th an-niversary of Thang Long –

Hanoi17Thang Long - Hanoi has 1000-year history and is the concentration of country’s quintessence. The 1000th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi is the opportunity to express gratefulness to ancestor’s effort and honour country’s traditional values. The 1000th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi will take place in 10 days (from 1-10 October) with many attractive activities of culture, art and sport.


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“The PATA Travel Mart 2011 in New Delhi, India is one of the most exciting events and activities planned to roll out next year. We have a very special relationship with India, which is a rapidly emerging market, and we are delighted they are hosts for the PTM2011,” Said Hiran Cooray, PATA Chairman.

India is gearing up for PTM 2011 in New

Delhi

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12. Vietnam looks to five million interna-tional arrivals this year

14. UNESCO General Director to attend Hanoi’s anniversary

17 - 20. Schedule for the 1000th anniver-sary of Thang Long - Hanoi

1,000 YEARS OF THANG LONG - HANOI

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

22. Bring on the ATF 2011: Cambodia

23. Marina Bay Sands launches airport check-in services

26. Kick-Off Times for Rugby World Cup 2011

28. Shanghai continues to lead Asian hotel pipeline

28 - 29. Private Spa Wellness Centre opens in Bali

32 - 37. My Hanoi

DESTINATIONS

“Vietnam has an overwhelming beauty and is rich in nat-ural sceneries and beauties such as deltas like the Red River Delta and Mekong Delta, as well as other beauties including green rice-paddy fields, divine beaches and many more.” Especially, according to the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) affirmed that Vietnam ranked among top growth tourists destination.

Thursday 23.09.2010 www.travelweekly.com.vn

VIETNAM NEWS

Vietnam’s first International Choir Festival and Competition will take place in Hoi An, the central province of Quang Nam, from 16-20 March 2011. According to the Min-istry of Culture, Sport and Tourism, the festival gives a chance for the Vietnamese singers to exchange and gain more experience from for-eign colleagues as well as promote Vietnamese music to the world.

VND452 billion for Binh Son sea tourism urban area project was started construction on 13 Septem-ber. The 24.39-hectare will include entertainment area, resort and public areas for local people. The project help improve marine eco-logical environment and create new appearance for Phan Giang spread Ninh Thuan Sea’s beauty as well as attract tourist and investors. Thanh Dong Property Investment JSC is the work’s investor.

Vietnam’s first Interna-tional Choir Festival to held in Hoi An

Work on Binh Son sea tourism area starts

Bhaya Cruises opens new Vietnam offices

Thailand and Vietnam will co-host a cultural programme from 27 September to 2 October to mark the Hanoi’s 1,000th anniversary. The programme, arranged by the Thailand-Vietnam Association of Tourism, will feature a group of Thai scholars, artists, business leaders and media, who will travel from Bangkok to the Vietnam capital, via Savannakhet, Laos. The group will present a sculpture of HCMC to the Ho Chi Minh Museum in Hanoi.

Bhaya Cruises has officially opened its new office in HCMC. The Halong Bay cruise operator’s new premises is located on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Str, in HCMC’s District 3. Meanwhile Bhaya’s sister company, Hai Long Junks, has opened its new Hanoi Sales office. The new office is located on Ma May Str in the heart of the city’s Old Quarter.

Thailand-Vietnam plan cultural programme

The East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum (EATOF) themed, “For sustainable development in East Asia” wrapped up in Ha Long city, the northeastern province of Quang Ninh on 16 September, affirming its commitment to sustainable development in the region.

The three-day EATOF 2010 reaffirmed the significance and role of the regional organisation in the new context, and stressed provinces’ commitments to fulfill their re-sponsibility and rights as EATOF members.

Within the framework of the forum, a travel fair was held with the participation of over 30 booths from member provinces promoting their images and tourist products. Also, a series of workshops and bilateral meetings among EATOF took place, offering opportunities for cooperation, investment and tourism development in each locality.

At the closing ceremony, Quang Ninh province’s leaders transferred EATOF’s flag to Cebu province of the Philip-pines, the host of the next forum.

The Cham people will organise their biggest and most important festival, Kate, next month with processions, rituals, and cultural activities at the Po Sah Inu Tower in Phan Thiet.

The highlights will include colorful traditional rituals like a palanquin procession carrying the costumes of Goddess Po Sah Inu and the Tong On ceremony to keep away “poi-sonous” winds. The Cham believe these winds can cause diseases and bring bad luck to families.

Then there will be a ceremony to bathe the lingam-yoni altar and make an offering of wine. The lingam is a phallic symbol of the Hindu god Shiva and the yoni represents the female.

The festival will also feature the paranung drum dance, other ethnic music and dance, and folk games.

For the benefit of tourists and other visitors, Champa artisans will demonstrate traditional brocade and ceramic production.

There will be a contest to make cakes like banh tet (cylindri-cal glutinous rice cake filled with green bean paste and fatty pork) and banh gung (ginger cake).

The Kate festival falls on the first day of the seventh month in the Cham calendar (September-October in the solar calen-dar). It is celebrated in honor of Po Sah Inu, who according to legend helped the Cham grow wet rice.

It also marks harvest and is an occasion for childless couples to entreat Po Sah Inu to bless them with children.

EATOF focuses on sustainable development

Phan Thiet sets for Charming Kate Festival

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VIETNAM NEWS

EATOF focuses on sustainable development

Phan Thiet sets for Charming Kate Festival

Vietnam, with its beautiful landscape, fast developing services and a safe and stable political environment, occupied fifth place among the ASEAN countries in terms of at-tracting foreign visitors during 2008.

According to our research report “Viet-nam Tourism Industry Forecast to 2012”, international tourist arrivals in Vietnam are projected to grow at a CAGR of around 15% during 2010-2013 on the back of aggressive marketing campaigns, increasing govern-ment expenditure and high FDI flow in the tourism sector. Besides, its attractiveness as a new tourist destination is positioning the country as a global tourism hub.

Experts have found that Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang are three major cities in Vietnam as far as the tourism industry is considered. Hanoi, the Capital of Vietnam, has been registering continu-ous increase in tourist arrivals for the past few years.

China was the largest tourist market for Vietnam in 2009, accounting for around 14% of the total tourist arrivals. Due to the recovery of global economy and business activities between Vietnam and rest of the

world increasing, the confidence of tourists is boosting up, resulting in ballooning of inbound tourism.

The report has also found that Vietnam is emerging as one of the popular destina-tions for cruise tourism and holds immense potential to develop its cruise tourism in-dustry. This is because the country, located between North and South Asia, is in close proximity with the region’s two cruise hubs – Hong Kong and Singapore. The industry has demonstrated a gradual growth for the past few years. In 2009, the number of cruise passengers reached 100,000 pas-sengers.

“Vietnam Tourism Industry Forecast to 2012” provides valuable information regarding Vietnam inbound and outbound tourism industry with forecast till 2013. The report has analyzed recent industry trends and growth drivers.

Our report also includes a brief description of key players in the tourism industry. The report has analyzed every aspect of tour-ism industry in order to provide the best consultancy to clients.

Vietnam inbound tourism poised to zoom during 2010-2013

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VIETNAM NEWS

Swiss hotelier Mövenpick celebrated the grand opening of its Mövenpick Hotel Saigon on September 16, following a $15 million renovation that included each and every room, public space, restaurant and retail outlet positioned behind the property’s shimmering new modernist facade.

Located in the bustling Phu Nhuan District, just 5 minutes from Ho Chi Minh City’s international airport, the Mövenpick Hotel Saigon has been redesigned in high style - the bright, new lobby design takes shape around four incandescent, central pillars - but with the business traveller firmly in mind. Twenty-seven new rooms have been added, bringing the property’s total to 278, while a pair of new chefs have invigorated each exciting dining option.

Kiefer presided over the celebrated 2008

renovation of Mövenpick’s sister property, the Mövenpick Hotel Hanoi, and he has brought to Vietnam’s largest city and busi-ness capital a similar blend of the practical and inventive, of the modern and traditional, of East and West.

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts are known throughout Europe and the Middle East for their Swiss precision, hospitality and elegance. Kiefer and his local designers have again infused this sound formula with a youthful exuberance and organic, sophisti-cated Vietnamese style.

It starts with the rooms, where earth tones have been accented with touches of orange and naturally lit by ceiling-to-floor windows. The bathrooms are separated from the living quarters by more glass - full-length windows with blinds - that provides privacy with the

feeling of more open space.

Iki is a new concept, a Japanese bistro where top-quality, super-fresh sushi, tempu-ra and other East Asian favorites are served in a decidedly non-traditional setting. Japa-nese restaurants often reflect Japanese calm and reserve. There is nothing staid about the Iki menu, however, thanks to the flair of Chef Kittisukd Sujaritvetee, who arrives in Saigon from Bangkok. Likewise, there is nothing formal about Iki’s décor, with its vibrant colours, youthful staff and modernist décor.

Lotus Court will continue to serve what many believe to be the city’s finest Chinese cuisine, including dim sum that maintains a large and devoted following among Saigon’s resident Chinese population. However, a new chef, Brendan Ng, has arrived from the Mandarin Oriental in Jakarta, bringing with

Movenpick Hotel Saigon debuts following full-scale renovation

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VIETNAM NEWS

him a new menu that emphasises tradition-al favourites, some fusion elements, some surprises (like salmon), and an obsession with freshness.

“Our restaurants, bars and lounges will all draw from one of the largest wine lists in Vietnam - more than 300 labels - and we will sell them at the lowest prices of any 5-star hotel in the country,” Kiefer said. “Our approach is to offer superb variety and selection that is affordable, so people can enjoy premium wines without feeling that they are paying a premium.”

Café Saigon, the property’s all-day din-ing restaurant, returns with its signature elements in tact: the most interactive and vibrant buffet-style dining experience in the city. New to the Mix is the Cay Da Café, a brand new bakery that serves up home-

made ice creams pastries, cakes and the best European style bread in Ho Chi Minh City. This casual venue also features an outdoor, street-side terrace.

Kiefer added that the Mövenpick Hotel Saigon is newly equipped with all the technical amenities guests - business and otherwise - have come to expect at 5-star accommodations in Asia. But again, the goal is to present each one with a practical twist:

• Instead of a full-blown spa, the hotel of-fers a Wellness Studio that values privacy and individual treatments over sheer expanse, ubiquitous mirrors and mounted televisions.

• The work environments in each room are exceedingly comfortable thanks to

ergonomically correct chairs and generous desk spaces. The latter are made possible, in part, by inconspicuous-but-compre-hensive communication ports that sit just beside the tabletop, leaving workspace uncluttered.

• There is little danger the Mövenpick Hotel Saigon will relinquish its reputation as the most convenient, best-equipped business hotel in HCMC. No hotel is closer to the airport and MICE coordinators will appreciate the two large meeting rooms, a ballroom for up to 400 guests, and three boardrooms. All meeting rooms have built-in LCD projectors, motorised screens and fabric panelled walls that absorb sound.

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VIETNAM NEWS

The Oktoberfest 2010, a German beer festival will be held on 24-25 September in Hanoi.

The organising board said that during the festival, together with best-selling fresh beers of Germany, and those imported from other countries, partici-pants will have chance to enjoy German traditional food.

This year’s festival will have the participation of the German band “the Happy Bavaria” from Munich where the Oktoberfest originated.

This is the second time the Oktoberfest comes to Hanoi. Last year, the festival attracted 2,000 partici-pants.

Speaking at a press briefing on 15th September, Mr. Andreas Otto, Second Secretary of the German Em-bassy in Vietnam said that the Oktoberfest 2010 will have a larger scale than last year’s festival and is a cultural event to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi and the 35th anniversary of Vietnam - German diplomatic ties.

The Oktoberfest 2010 is expected to attract the par-ticipation of thousands of local people and foreign tourists.

The Oktoberfest festival an-nually takes place in Septem-ber in Munich. The festival was held in 1810 to celebrate a royal wedding with horse races and various culinary delights.

German beer festival to come to Hanoi

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VIETNAM NEWS

The program, co-organised by the Thailand – Vietnam Associa-tion of Tourism, will take place from 27th September - 2nd October to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi.In a press brief in Bangkok, Deputy Chairman of the Thailand – Vietnam Tourism Association, Vu Nguyen Anh Tuyet said that the program aims to discover the culture and customs of Vietnam-ese people as well as to enhance the relationship between the two countries.The program will include an auto-procession attended by a group of famous scholars and artists, businesses, and reporters of Thailand. The group will depart at Bangkok on 27th September on the Road 8 through Savannakhet and Khammuon Provinces to visit the House of Uncle Ho in Vietnam’s Nghe An and the Hoa Lu Ancient Capital in Ninh Binh. The group is scheduled to be in Hanoi in the morning of 30th September.After enjoying diverse activities to celebrate the giant celebra-tion of the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi, they will leave the capital on 2nd October.Also on this occasion, the group will present a sculpture picture of President Ho Chi Minh with 24 gilded carats to the Ho Chi Minh Museum in Hanoi.Also at the press brief, Ambassador Extraordinary and Pleni-potentiary of Vietnam to Thailand, Ngo Duc Thang highlighted the meaning of the decision of the King Ly Thai To of choosing Thang Long as the capital city. Thang Long in the past and the present has always been politic, economic and cultural center of Vietnam; with the affirmed position in the region and the world.Mr. Thang also introduced foreign press week which will be co-organised by the Hanoi People’s Committee and the Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs from September 9th to 15th in Thailand. At the event, activities of the great celebration of the 1,000th an-niversary of Thang Long - Hanoi will be launched.

Bangkok - Hanoi cultural tourism programme

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VIETNAM NEWS

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) assessed that in the first six months of 2010, Asia and the Middle East had the highest tourism growth. The UNWTO said that the number of foreign tourists around the globe has been 421 mil-lion, a 7% increase compared to the same pe-riod last year. With this, the world’s tourism sector will likely reach a growth of 4% for the whole year of 2010.

Tourism growth was seen in emerging mar-kets such as the Middle East with 20% and Asia Pacific with 14%. Some destinations in Asia had impressive growth, including Sri Lanka with 49%, Japan with 36%, Vietnam and Myanmar with 35%, Hong Kong and Macao (China) with 23%, Singapore with 23%, re-ported the UNWTO. The UNWTO said that the tourism industry will continue to grow during the rest of the

year but will still face difficulties from the global recession of 2009. For the period, re-gional and local tourism will play important roles in the world’s tourism growth. With being ranked among top destinations with the highest growth, Vietnam’s tourism is striving to rise to the world level with many attractive destinations and high-quality prop-erties honored and recognized by many of the world’s media websites. Specifically, Hanoi and Hoi An have been se-lected among 10 Asian destinations by one of Southeast Asia’s most widely read travel-trade media outlets, Smart Travel Asia. Some hotels and resorts in Vietnam were also named in the “Top 25 Leisure Hotels and Resorts” by Smart Travel Asia, including the Nam Hai, Hoi An at 2nd place, Sofitel Legend Metro-pole, Hanoi at 3rd place, Sofitel Dalat Palace, Dalat at 21st place and Princess d’Annam Resort&Spa, Binh Thuan at 25th place.In addition, Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh prov-ince, a UNESCO recognised world heritage site, has jumped to second place among 28 finalists of the online voting for the world’s new seven wonders, by New Open World (NOW).

The Hong Kong Royal Yacht Club has announced it will organise an international yacht race from Hong Kong to Vietnam’s central coast next month.The club said the 656-nautical-mile, category-one VinaCapital Hong Kong to Vietnam Race 2010 would start on October 20 and finish in the resort city of Nha Trang.The organiser is taking registrations from teams.The biennial competition has been in place since 2006, with the HCMC-based Saigon-tourist Holding Company being the local partner. The 2008 edition was attended by 13 yachts.A source from Saigontourist told the Daily that the company was waiting for approval from the Government to bring international boats to Vietnam to promote the local tourism image.In a related development, the central coast province of Binh Thuan will organise an inter-national sailing festival in December, with yacht performances and other activities such as music and dance performances.The World Match Racing Tour (WMRT), a professional sailing series that features nine World Championship events worldwide, will come to Nha Trang next year.

Hong Kong-Vietnam Vinacapital yacht race set for next month


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VIETNAM NEWS

Vietnam’s tourism authority is pinning hopes on a strong recovery of the inbound sector and aiming for a record high of five million foreign visitor arrivals in the coun-try this year.

Vu The Binh, head of the Travel Department under the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, told that the high expectation was based on the sector’s encouraging growth rate of over 30% in the year to date. Positive feedback from overseas partners for the high inbound tourism season by the year-end is another factor for optimism, Binh added.

The country welcome over 3.8 million inter-national visitors last year, down 11% from the previous year, but international arrivals in the first eight months of this year reached 3.35 million, up 35.2% year-on-year.

In an original plan, the tourism authority expected 4.5 to 4.6 million international visitors to come to the country this year.

The tourism sector has been active in pro-moting the country’s image abroad, with promotions carried out in Germany, France and Belgium from late August to early this month. The country also plans to bring a tourism promotion program to some Chi-nese provinces next month.

In the promotion program for Europe, Binh said, the tourism sector found a good chan-nel able to help Vietnam promote and sell tourism products to hundreds of thousands of overseas Vietnamese there.

Along with the promotions, the tourism authority is asking for policy incentives to spur foreign arrivals in the country, he said.

“We’ve received approval from the Minis-try of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to extend visa-fee exemp-tions to international travellers.”

But the incentive for package tour takers will need a final decision by the Govern-ment, and might take effect next month, he said.

The United Nations World Tourism Orga-nization (UNWTO) has put Vietnam in the list of Asian countries with strong tourism performance in the first half of this year.

The organisation said Asia had once again shown a strong capacity for recovery with 14% growth in the period. Vietnam and Myanmar had the same growth of 35%, just behind Sri Lanka and Japan.

Vietnam looks to five million international arrivals this year

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days to come 1,000 years of Thang Long - Hanoi


UNESCO General Director to attend Hanois’ anniversary

T he General Director of the UNESCO will arrive in Hanoi on October 1 to attend

celebrations of the 1,000th birth-day of the capital city and hand over certification of UNESCO recognition of Thang Long Roy-al Citadel as a world cultural heritage.

Head of the UNESCO Office in Hanoi Katherine Muller Marin announced the visit at a song and dance festival in Hanoi on September 18.

The 35 th session of the UNES-CO General Assembly in 2009 passed a resolution on UNES-CO’s participation in the grand ceremony of the 1,000th anniver-sary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Almost one year later, the UNES-CO’s World Heritage Com-mittee recognised Vietnam’s Thang Long Royal Citadel as a

world cultural heritage at its 34th session in Brazil on July 31.

The site won the recognition thanks to its three outstanding characteristics: the length of its cultural history, the continuity of the citadel as a power centre, and the variety of relics it con-tains.

The citadel will open to visitors in time for Hanoi’s 1,000th anni-versary.

The cleanup at relic site of the Thang Long citadel is also ex-pected to finish by September 20. On September 16, Perma-nent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung paid a visit to the site to check the arrange-ment of artifacts found at the 18 Hoang Dieu Street, the archae-ological excavation area for the planned exhibition.



1,000 photos about Hanoi to be display

1,000photos about Hanoi will be displayed and auc-tioned at an exhibition, entitled: “1,000 outlooks about Hanoi”, held from 2-5 October at the Ha-noi Library, 47 Ba Trieu Street.These photos were selected from the competition: “Hanoi Nostalgia”, organised by the Vietnam Photographers’ Asso-ciation and VNPhoto network. The auction of the 1,000 photos is to raise funds for outstanding students of the Hanoi Culture University.The exhibition will be arranged into areas: hanging 200 photos in themes, displaying the model of Khue Van Cac made from Nes-cafe tea caddies, and putting 1,000 photos together to create “Tortoise Tower” (Thap Rua). At the exhibition, amateur and professional photographers at home and abroad will have chance to exchange skills through a photo competition in-side the exhibition. The event is among a series of activities, in celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi.



Hanoi decorates for its giant celebration

L ighting projects to welcome the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi were inspected by Hanoi Party Chief Pham Quang Nghi on 18 September.

He was satisfied with the coloured lights around Sword Lake that make it more beautiful. He suggested highlighting the nearby scenery, including The Huc Bridge, Ba Kieu Temple, Turtle Tower as well as trees near the lake.

Streets including Hang Khay, Trang Tien, Trang Thi and Dien

Bien Phu have been decorated with different lights presenting the nation’s history, peace and international integration.

The areas around Sword Lake, the National Conference Centre, My Dinh stadium, West Lake and Thien Quang Lake will be lit up at night from 25 September to 15 October.

More than VND25 billion will also be invested in lights for some bridges over the Red River.




Thang Long – Hanoi has 1000-year history and is the concentra-tion of country’s quintessence. The 1000th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi (1010 – 2010) is the opportunity to express grate-fulness to ancestor’s effort and honour country’s traditional val-ues. This is also the occasion to introduce and enhance image of Hanoi Capital in particular and Viet Nam in general. The 1000th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi will take place in 10 days (from October 1 to 10) with many attractive activities of culture, art and sport.

Time Event Place

October 1

8h The opening of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi

The park of King Ly Thai To statue (Dinh Tien Hoang Road)

9h30 Art performances 5 stages around Hoan Kiem Lake

14h The opening of the exhibition named “Art and literature works through different periods”

Viet Nam Exhibition Center for Culture and Arts (2 Hoa Lu Street)

15h The opening of the exhibition of Hanoi’s art images Showrooms at 45 Trang Tien Street

19h30 The opening of the exhibition named “Social and economic achievements of Vietnam and Thang Long – Hanoi”

Vietnam Exhibition and Fair Center (138 Giang Vo Street)

19h30 The opening of historical and revolutionary film week National Cinema Center (87 Lang Ha Street)

20h The special art program named “The whole country with Hanoi” (live)

The park of Ba Kieu Temple (Dinh Tien Hoang Road)

20h Concert named “International integration – faith in the future”

Hanoi Opera House (1 Trang Tien Street)

October 2

8h Display of typical documents, items, antiques of Thang Long - Hanoi

Imperial Citadel of Thang Long (9 Hoang Dieu and 19 Nguyen Tri Phuong streets)

9h Introduction of the bookshelf named “1000-year culture of Thang Long”

National Library (31 Trang Thi Street)

14h Checking and announcing result of science research work at state level named “Researching and promoting natural, economic, social conditions and historical, cultural values of Thang Long – Hanoi for comprehensive development”


20h Performance of selected songs composed in honour of Thang Long – Hanoi

The park of Ba Kieu Temple (Dinh Tien Hoang Road)

20h The opening of Thang Long international tourism festival Bao Son Paradise (An Khanh Commune, Hoai Duc District)

October 2



October 3

7h Marathon for the peace Around Hoan Kiem Lake

20h The art program named “Thang Long – Hanoi in Ho Chi Minh age”

Hang Day Stadium (10 Trinh Hoai Duc Street)

October 4

8h30 The closing and prize awarding ceremony for the contest named “1000-year culture of heroic Thang Long – Hanoi”


15h The opening of the exhibition named “Vietnamese heroes and cultural celebrities”

Revolution Museum (25 Tong Dan Street)

15h30 The opening of the exhibition named ”Famous battles and campaigns in Vietnam’s history”

Viet Nam Military History Museum (28A Dien Bien Phu Street)

17h The opening of Thang Long – Hanoi calligraphy exhibition and festival

Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam (58 Quoc Tu Giam Street)

20h Announcing and awarding the nationwide press prize about Thang Long - Hanoi

Au Co Art Center (8 Huynh Thuc Khang Street)

20h Performance of ancient dances The park of King Ly Thai To statue (Dinh Tien Hoang Road)

October 5

9h Introduction of art work named “Pottery Road” Yen Phu Road

14h The opening of the exhibition named “Bat Trang Pottery – tradition and modern”

Bat Trang Pottery Village (Bat Trang Commune, Gia Lam District)

14h The opening of the exhibition named "Hearts with Thang Long – Hanoi”

Friendship Culture Palace (91 Tran Hung Dao Street)

20h Performance of Vietnamese famous artists Hanoi Opera House (1 Trang Tien Street)

20h The art performance named of "Thang Long’s strong impetus and the country’s song”

Hang Day Stadium (10 Trinh Hoai Duc Street)

October 6

8h The opening of Hanoi kite art festival Square of My Dinh Stadium (Le Duc Tho Road)



8h Vietnamese martial art performance named “Thang Long Spirit”

Quan Ngua Sport Palace (55 Doc Ngu Street)

8h30 The opening of Hanoi Museum Hanoi Museum (Pham Hung Road)

14h The opening of statues of Ho Chi Minh and Ton Duc Thang

Thong Nhat Park (354 Le Duan Street)

14h The opening of Hoa Binh Park Hoa Binh Park (Co Nhue Commune, Tu Liem District)

14h The opening of exhibition on ancient Thang Long – Hanoi

Hanoi Museum (Pham Hung Road)

14h30 The opening of Kim Dong Theater Kim Dong Theater (19 Hang Bai Street)

20h The opening of Hanoi Worker Theater Hanoi Worker Theater (42 Trang Tien Street)

20h The opening of Dai Nam Theater Dai Nam Theater (89 Pho Hue Street)

20h The opening of Hanoi gastronomy festival Ho Tay Water Park (614 Lac Long Quan Road)

October 7

8h The opening of international conference named “Sustainable development of heroic and cultural capital, the city for peace”

International Convention Center (11 Le Hong Phong Street)

9h The closing and prize awarding ceremony for the international contest named “Hanoi – Your Rendezvous”


20h Traditional music performance Hanoi Opera House (1 Trang Tien Street)

October 8

7h Art and culture programs of Hanoi’s youth Outdoor stages in the whole city

20h Exchange program named “Thang Long – spirit of the country”

National Convention Center (Pham Hung Street, Me Tri Commune, Tu Liem District)

20h Street festival State Bank Square (49 Ly Thai To Street)



8h The opening of Thanh Tri and Vinh Tuy bridges The southern h ead of b ridges of Thanh Tri and Vinh Tuy

9h30 The opening of Thang Long Boulevard Intersection of Pham Hung and Tran Duy Hung roads

20h Performances of international art troupes Outdoor stages i n the whole city

October 10

8h The 1000th anniversary of Thang Long – Hanoi Ba Dinh Square

20h The art and culture program to c elebrate t he 1000th birthday of Thang Long - Hanoi

My D inh Stadium (Le Duc Tho Road)

October 9



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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Retailers in Delhi will take part in a shopping festival to coincide the Commonwealth Games. From 25 September, markets in various parts of the Indian capital, such as Karol Bagh, Connaught Place, Chandni Chowk, Greater Kailash, Kamla Na-gar and Preet Vihar will offer major discounts for visitors. A group of 40 volunteers has come together under a scheme called ‘Personal Shop-pers India’ to help tourists find their ways to markets.

One hundred haute couture pieces from the renowned Italian designer Maison Valentino will appear in an exhibition at Singapore’s first integrated resort, Resorts World Sentosa 15 December-31 Janu-ary. “Retrospective: Past/Present/Future” will feature haute couture looks from founder Valentino Gara-vani’s early designs to present-day creations. The exhibition arrives from Paris via Brisbane.

The Kingdom of Cambodia was chosen to host the 30th Asso-ciation of Southwest Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tourism Forum (ATF) in 2011.

The annual event will be held between 15-21 January at the Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Centre in Phnom Penh with the multicultural theme ‘Wonders and Diversity’, Express Travel World reported.

ATF 2011 Host Committee Chairman Pan Chantra said the event opens up a channel for buyers and sellers to exchange information and learn about the ten ASEAN member coun-tries.

“ATF 2011 will offer a golden opportunity for all participants to discuss the development regional and individual tourism products of ASEAN member countries,” Mr Chantra said.

“It is also a cooperative regional effort to promote ASEAN, a world of wonders and diversity, as a single tourism destina-tion.”

Mr Chantra noted that while the ATF is a great forum for information exchange its main purpose is to attract tourists particularly from countries like India with growing interest to travel in the ASEAN region.

“There is a huge interest among the Indian tourists about the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Angkor Vat in Cambodia,” Mr Chantra said.

The Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) will launch a public awareness campaign to educate Thais about the potential benefits, which could result from hosting the World Expo 2020.“We’ll conduct a feasibility study of three potential locations, Chon Buri, Chiang Mai and Ayutthaya provinces and educate Thais about the World Expo,” Thailand Convention and Exhibi-tion Bureau president, Akapol Sorasuchart told the Bangkok Post.“They should understand how the country could benefit from organising this important event.”Mr. Akapol said it would cost 20 billion baht to organise the World Expo and the event has the potential to generate eight times that amount in revenue.He also said that all industries would benefit if Thailand’s World Expo bid is successful, especially tourism.

Sea World officially launches its new Castaway Bay. The AU$6 million (US$5.7 million), 800m² family attraction caters for kids with themed rides, including ‘Battle Boats’, featuring pirate boats armed with eight water cannons. Another attraction, the Sky Fortress, is a huge fort-like attraction featuring five levels of rope bridges, tunnels, slides, games and puzzles.

The Chinese government com-pleted the first phase at Beijing’s Forbidden City. Aimed at alleviating congestion, the expansion saw the restoration and opening of previ-ously closed sections of the former imperial palace. The central axis of the Forbidden City has long been open, but its thousands of court-yards on the sides have largely remained closed. The renovations have concentrated on opening these previously closed courtyards.

Delhi to launch Games shopping festival

Fashion exhibition at Sentosa Singapore

Bring on the ATF 2011: Cambodia

Castaway Bay opens at Gold Coast’s Sea World

Forbidden City com-pletes first phase of expansion

22

TCEB promotes benefits of World Expo 2020


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Marina Bay Sands and SATS have jointly introduced a new city check-in and baggage acceptance service – the first of its kind in Singapore – for hotel guests and visitors heading to Changi Airport.

With the launch of the Baggage Ex-press service, Marina Bay Sands’ guests and customers departing on Singapore Airlines (SIA) and SilkAir flights can enjoy the conve-nience of checking-in at least three hours before their flights depart. They can receive their boarding passes and baggage claim tags at Marina Bay Sands. Checked-in guests can also proceed directly to clear immigration at Singapore Changi Airport and be at the boarding gate before it closes.

Checking in at a downtown loca-tion offers users greater flexibility to maximise their time before leav-ing Singapore. This service will be extended to cover more participat-ing airlines in the coming months.

“Marina Bay Sands is proud to partner SATS in launching this first-ever city check-in service in Singapore. It speaks volumes of our ability to provide innovative and first-to-market services to our guests. All our hotel guests and visitors to our property are able to enjoy this one-stop check-in ser-vice. This is another value-added offering that Marina Bay Sands is providing for the convenience of our guests, and we will continue to introduce more innovative services in the coming months,” said Ma-rina Bay Sands President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Thomas Arasi.

Said Mr. Denis Marie, Senior Vice President, Passenger Services of SATS: “This new initiative under-scores our drive in leveraging our core competencies in gateway services to offer innovative prod-ucts and services to our customers and their guests. We are pleased to partner Marina Bay Sands in pro-

viding a delightful and hassle-free travel experience for its guests. We remain strongly committed to developing and delivering su-perior value propositions to our customer.”

Located at Marina Bay Sands’ Coach Terminal, the check-in counters will initially operate from Thursday to Monday from 10 am to 6 pm.

The Baggage Express service is free for guests without any check-in luggage. A handling charge of S$25 for every two bags applies. The check-in service is also open to hotel guests staying in other parts of Singapore.

The accepted baggage will be transported to Changi Airport with regular transport runs and will undergo security screening at the airport. The counters at Marina Bay Sands are manned primarily by SATS’ personnel.

Marina Bay Sands launches airport check-in services

23

“Marina Bay Sands is proud to partner SATS in launching this first-ever city check-in service in Sin-gapore,” said Mr. Thomas Arasi.


INTERNATIONAL NEWS24


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The final day of the three-day PATA Travel Mart 2010 (PTM 2010), Sep-tember 14-17, saw international buyers, sellers and media delegates gather at the dinner reception hosted by the Ministry of Tourism, Gov-ernment of India. Rajen Habib Khwaja, Secretary of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, welcomed delegates to PATA Travel Mart 2011, New Delhi, India.

Said Hiran Cooray, PATA Chairman: “The PATA Travel Mart 2011 in New Delhi, India is one of the most exciting events and activities planned to roll out next year. We have a very special relationship with India, which is a rapidly emerging market, and we are delighted they are hosts for the PTM2011.”

Said Arjun Sharma, managing director, Le Passage to India: “The travel fraternity in India is excited that PATA has chosen New Delhi as the venue for PTM2011. With the explosive outbound numbers emanating from our country it is not uncommon for increased and newer destinations to woo the Indian traveller. The Mart returning to India after a gap of only three years is appropriately positioned and bears testimony to the growth of Indian tourism. The capital city is presently gearing up to host the Commonwealth Games next month. With the increased capacities and greatly mod-ernised tourism infrastructure, we wish to assure you that New Delhi will be a bigger, better and more satisfying venue for the best trade show of the year. We look forward to welcoming all delegates to ‘Incredible India.’”

Said Ashok Kapur, CEO, Khiri DMC: “India is a fantastic choice as it is a rapidly emerging destination and market. With its incredible diversity and population, India deserves much more business, both as an inbound and outbound entity. As a travel specialist focussing on Thailand and Indochina, Khiri Travel will continue to invest strongly in the Indian outbound market. We see huge potential there for sectors such as leisure, MICE, honeymoon and top-end incentive trips. India’s rapidly increasing urban middle class as also more direct flights from the primary and secondary cities to Southeast Asia are both very encouraging trends.”

Said Nicoline Dolman, director of sales and marketing, Bali Dynasty Resort: “We will definitely participate in PTM in India. The Indian family market has a huge potential for the travel-and-tourism of Bali. Balinese cultures and religion are the main attrac-tions for the Indian market.”

Said Ashwani Gupta, managing director, Dove Travels, India, and a first-time at-tendant at PTM: “I am very excited about my attendance. PATA Travel Mart is world famous for its travel trade networking opportunities and also for its high level of organisation. It is a truly international event, very well organised, with meetings with your existing business partners spread into perfect time slots, and meetings with new exhibitors made accessible so as to improve our way of working and business.”

India is gearing up for PTM2011 in New Delhi

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The kick-off times for the Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand have been unveiled.

Eden Park, the scene of the venue for the inaugural RWC Final in 1987, will herald a nationwide six week celebration of world-class Rugby and REAL New Zealand Festival events when it hosts the Opening Ceremony on Friday, 9 September 2011 starting at approximately 19:30 (08:30 GMT). The opening match between New Zealand and Tonga will kick-off at 20:30 (09:30 GMT).

“We have achieved a good balance,” said Martin Snedden, CEO for Tournament Organisers Rugby New Zealand 2011. “If New Zealand is to make the most of the platform RWC 2011 gives us to showcase our coun-try to the world, then we need to ensure we maximise the global television audience for key matches.

“What has now been agreed with event-owner Rugby World Cup Ltd will help all hosting regions to promote themselves to the world and help fans, both domestic and international, to get on with planning their RWC 2011 experience with the start of the Tournament now less than a year away.”

Ten of the 48 matches will be played in the afternoon including the New Zealand v Canada pool match at 15:30 (03:30 GMT). A further 12 matches will begin by 18:00 and another seven at 19:30.

England’s first game against Argentina on 10 Septem-ber 2011 will take place at 20:30 (09:30 GMT). Australia plays the following day against Italy at 15:30 (04:30 GMT). South Africa get their tournament underway against Wales on 11 September 2011 at 20:30 (09:30 GMT).

The tournament will culminate in Auckland at the redeveloped Eden Park with the semi-finals and final. The kick-off time for these matches was confirmed at 21:00 (09:00 GMT) when the Match Schedule was an-nounced in March 2009.

Kick-Off Times for Rugby World Cup 2011

26


INTERNATIONAL NEWS 27

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The Asia/Pacific hotel development pipeline com-prises 1,037 hotels totalling 255,208 rooms, according to the August 2010 STR Global Construction Pipeline Report released this week.

China reported the most rooms in the total active pipeline among the region’s countries with 134,832, fol-lowed by India with 47,477 rooms. China also reported the most rooms in the In Construction phase with 92,559 rooms.

Among the key markets in the region, Shanghai, China, ended the month with the most rooms in the total ac-tive pipeline with 13,227 rooms. Two other markets reported more than 5,000 rooms in the total active pipeline: Bangkok, Thailand (9,138 rooms) and New Delhi, India (7,215 rooms).

Four of the seven Chain Scale segments each ac-counted for more than 15 percent of rooms in the total active pipeline: the Upscale segment (24.6 percent and 62,671 rooms); the Upper Upscale segment (24.4 percent and 62,153 rooms); the Unaffiliated segment (18.6 percent and 47,574 rooms); and the Luxury seg-ment (17.7 percent and 45,246 rooms).

Asia/Pacific pipeline by Chain Scale segment for Au-gust 2010 (number of rooms):Chain Scale Existing Supply In Construction Total Active Pipeline*Luxury 136,959 32,850 45,426Upper Upscale 193,540 43,463 62,153Upscale 247,068 41,009 62,671Midscale w/ F&B 175,293 12,882 21,225Midscale w/o F&B 27,382 1,943 5,673Economy 104,629 4,961 10,666Unaffiliated 1,531,451 30,896 47,574Total 2,416,322 168,004 255,208* Includes those projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning phases.

Shanghai continues to lead Asian hotel pipeline


Shanghai continues to lead Asian hotel pipeline


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A panel of leading tourism and biodiversity experts will meet in China on World Tourism Day (WTD) to ex-plore the synergies between tourism, biodiversity and sustainable development in an event marking the official celebrations of WTD 2010 (27 September).

WTD, is held this year under the theme ‘Tourism and Biodiversity’, in support of the United Nations Interna-tional Year of Biodiversity. China, one of the world’s most biologically diverse countries and a major tourism desti-nation, will lead the 2010 official WTD celebrations.

The High Level Dialogue on Tourism, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, meeting in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, the host of the WTD celebra-tions, will debate issues ranging from the economic value of biodiversity for tourism, to how to integrate bio-diversity protection into planning for sustainable tourism.

Participants include representatives from the Conven-tion on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); the President and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the CEO of Six Senses Resorts; as well as the Ministers of Tourism of China, Kenya and Malaysia.

The conclusions of the High Level Dialogue will be pre-sented to the tenth Conference of the Parties to the CBD as part of UNWTO’s contribution to the post-2010 targets of the CBD (Nagoya, Japan, 18-29 October).

The official WTD celebrations, organized by UNWTO, the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) and Guangdong Province, are held in conjunction with the Guangdong International Tourism and Culture Festival and also include a road parade for WTD Celebrations and the Asian Games and a photo exhibition along the streets of Guangzhou, featuring photos from this year’s WTD photo competition.

World Tourism Day 2010

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Long Bien Bridge

Hoan Kiem Lake by night

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The Huc Bridge

Hanoi’s Flag Tower


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The 35th Travelweekly Digital Issue

Travel

Transcript of The 35th Travelweekly Digital Issue