ASIAN CULTURAL & TRAVEL
NEW
TRAVEL IN BRIEF 29/3
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Quang Nam to boost
traditional craft villages
A handicraft
village development project that aims to create
jobs for ethnic minorities in eight mountain
districts was approved by the central province
of Quang Nam last week.
The first stage of the project will involve zara
tho cam (traditional hand-woven fabric)
production at a village in Nam Giang District
and ruou can (a popular alcoholic drink made of
wild leaves, cassava roots, and rice, and drunk
using bamboo stems) in Bac Tra My District.
An investment of US$95,000 has been earmarked
for the traditional wine village.
Strong euro, weak dollar decide tour
preferences
Many Vietnamese tourists are choosing to visit
the US instead of Europe after the dong weakened
against the euro but strengthened against the
dollar.
Tran Thuy Dung, deputy director of Carnival
Travel agency, says though it is now the high
tourist season in Europe, with a number of
spring festivals taking place there, the number
of clients booking tours to the continent has
been low.
Clients are carefully considering whether to
travel to Europe since the prices are set in
euro instead of the dollar.
The European currency has strengthened from
VND23,600 at the beginning of the year to
VND24,800 recently.
With the greenback falling well below VND16,000,
US tours are becoming very popular. The HCM
City-based Hoan My travel agency has stopped
bookings for tours departing in April despite
doubling capacity by operating four instead of
two monthly tours.
According to Hoan My, 85% of people booking
tours to the US combine travelling with visiting
relatives there.
The company’s tour to the US west coast is
priced at US$2,250 and to the east coast $2,500.
Ben Thanh launches tours of northern
Vietnam, Yunnan
The HCM City-based Ben Thanh Tourist has
launched a 12-day tour of some northern
provinces and China’s Yunnan Province.
From HCM City, guests will be flown to Hanoi
where they will spend two days exploring the
capital city and Ha Long Bay. They will then
take a train from Hanoi to the border province
of Lao Cai before entering China.
The next six days will be spent exploring the
beautiful landscapes of Yunnan. Travellers will
observe the day-to-day life of the Chinese in
Kunming, the provincial capital, visit Kuniming
Stone Forest, and the old town of Lijiang, a key
commercial and strategic site.
The tour costs VND15.9mil (US$1,000) per person
for groups of at least four.
Source : Viet Nam News |
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