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| Hanoi honoured in two categories of the Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best 2023 (Source: VOV) |
Hanoi is ranked third among the 20 Best Food Destinations, and 17th in the 25 Popular Destinations.
In its description of Hanoi, TripAdvisor said that “the charming Vietnamese capital has aged well, preserving the Old Quarter, monuments and colonial architecture, while making room for modern developments alongside.
“Hanoi may have shrugged off several former names, including Thang Long, or ‘ascending dragon,’ but it hasn't forgotten its past, as sites such as Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum and Hoa Lo Prison attest.
“Lakes, parks, shady boulevards and more than 600 temples and pagodas add to the appeal of this city, which is easily explored by taxi”.
Some renowned dishes of Hanoi include “pho” (noodle soup), bun cha (grilled pork with vermicelli), banh cuon (rolled rice pancakes), banh mi (Vietnamese baguettes), and ca phe trung (egg coffee).
Ha Giang optimises cultural resource for tourism development
The northernmost province of Ha Giang, honoured as the “Asia's Leading Emerging Tourism Destination” by World Travel Awards 2023 and among the 52 best places to travel in 2023 by New York Times, is rolling out measures to optimise its cultural values for tourism development and taking tourism expansion as a way to preserve and promote the local culture, reported VNA.
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| Ha Giang is honoured as the “Asia's Leading Emerging Tourism Destination” by World Travel Awards in 2023. (Photo: vietnamnet.vn) |
According to the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ha Giang takes cultural heritage as a resource for tourism growth with special values that can create attractive products and draw tourists.
Right in 2022 when Vietnam reopened the tourism market, Ha Giang welcomed more than 2.2 million visitors and earned 4.53 billion VND (185.99 million USD) from them. The figures rose to 3 million and 7.09 trillion VND, respectively, in 2023.
The higher number of tourists has made an important contribution to the province's GDP growth, contributing to poverty reduction and improving the living conditions of locals, especially in ethnic minority-inhabited areas.
In order to preserve and promote the values of cultural heritage sites in association with tourism development, Ha Giang plans to boost the communication work on the meaning and significance of cultural heritage conservation, while focusing on restoring cultural relics, traditional festivals, and cultural practices, and promoting community-based tourism, according to the department.
Ha Giang is home to more than 20 ethnic groups such as Mong, Tay, Dao, Nung, and Giay who have their own traditional culture, lifestyle and customs, plus exciting festivals for visitors and researchers.
The region boasts many historical relics and majestic landscapes, such as the Heaven Gate, the Quan Ba double mountains in Quan Ba district; the Mong King’s Vuong Palace, the Lung Cu National Flag Pole in Dong Van district; the Ma Pi Leng Pass in Meo Vac district; and picturesque terraced fields in Hoang Su Phi. They attract many visitors to come for fun or for research.
In 2010, the Dong Van Karst Plateau in Dong Van district was officially recognised by the UNESCO as a global karst geo-park, the first of its kind in Vietnam and the second in Southeast Asia (after the Langkawi Park in Malaysia).
Foreign diplomats and tourists to explore Vietnamese Tet at Duong Lam village
According to VOV, foreign ambassadors, along with representatives of diplomatic missions and international organisations, will gather in Duong Lam ancient village in Hanoi's outlying district of Son Tay from January 20 to January 21 as they enjoy a traditional Lunar New Year or Tet, the most important and biggest festival in Vietnam.
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| Foreign diplomats and tourists will explore Vietnamese Tet at Duong Lam village. (Photo: VNA) |
Participants will start their journey from a traditional Tet market at the Mong Phu communal house. Here, several unique features of Tet celebrations will be introduced to guests, including the art of calligraphy writing, folk performances, a cooking demonstration of Banh Chung or square sticky rice cake, and To he or toy figurines that are made of rice dough workshop, among others.
Furthermore, various typical local dishes, as well as handicraft and folk art products, will be put on display at the stalls.
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| The "Vietnamese Village Tet" program held at Duong Lam Ancient Village has become a brand that attracts people and tourists. (Source: hanoimoi.com.vn) |
International guests will also have the chance to experience Tet customs such as visiting a person's house on the first day of the new year, ancestor worship, exchanging New Year greetings, and giving lucky money to children and the elderly.
Moreover, foreign diplomats will visit the lacquer workshop of artist Nguyen Tan Phat and participate in Vietnamese folk games such as duck hunting, cockfighting, and fish catching.
This marks the third year that the event will be held at Duong Lam village, with the ultimate aim of promoting Vietnamese culture to international friends.
Nearly 2,000 night flights to be operated during Lunar New Year holiday
More than 1,800 night flights, equivalent to 8% of the total number of domestic flights, will be operated from January 21 to February 25 to meet the increasing travel demand during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, reported VNA.
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| Check-in desk at an airport. — Photo thanhnien.vn |
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) issued a document allowing night flights during the Tet holiday, and asked carriers to take actions to minimise flight delays and cancellations, and to intensify control to ensure aviation safety.
Local airports, especially the Dong Hoi, Phu Cat, Chu Lai, Tuy Hoa, Tho Xuan, Vinh, and Pleiku, were urged to develop specific plans and measures to ensure the capacity to provide services during the holiday and ensure sufficient resources, equipment and infrastructure facilities to serve flights following airline's operation plans.
Domestic airlines are requested to proactively and timely provide accurate information about their demand for operating night flights to aviation service providers to ensure the quality of air services.
Bamboo Airways said it has just added one more Airbus A320 aircraft to its fleet. As planned, another will be added to the firm’s fleet from the middle of January.
It plans to increase its capacity by over 20% during peak times, focusing on increasing the frequency of flights on major routes such as Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City, between Hanoi/HCM City and Da Nang, and those with high demand such as HCM City - Vinh/Thanh Hoa/Hai Phong. Additionally, the airline will also increase night flights on the routes connecting HCM City with Hanoi, Vinh, and Da Nang.
Similarly, Vietjet has also added four more aircraft to its fleet, lifting the total aircraft of the firm to 103.
The CAAV has estimated that the domestic air carriers will operate about 33,800 flights during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, or between January 24 and February 2, up 14% year-on-year and 21% as compared with normal days.
There will be some 24,200 domestic flights, representing an increase of 2% from the same period last year; and 9,600 international flights, up 60% year-on-year.
The busiest routes include Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City, HCM City-Da Nang/Vinh/Dong Hoi/Quy Nhon/Chu Lai/Thanh Hoa/Hue/Tuy Hoa, and Can Tho-Vinh, and vice versa.
The airlines expect to fly 7.2 million passengers during Tet, the biggest holiday in the year in Vietnam, of them more than 5 million domestic ones, up 4% year-on-year./.