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| Nho Que river in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang. (Photo: VNA) |
At the event, the province launched its ninth annual Buckwheat Flower Festival in 2023, which aims at honouring the buckwheat flowers, the most iconic flowers of the northern mountainous province, and the unique cultural values of local ethnic people.
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| Dong Van Karst Plateau - a global geopark. (Photo: VNA) |
The festival is expected to contribute to preserving traditional cultural features, effectively promoting the value of cultural heritage, scenic spots as well and tourism products of the province.
Speaking at the event, Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Son said that over the last 13 years, thanks to the attention and support of leaders of the Party, State, Government, ministries, sectors the and UNESCO geopark network, Ha Giang province has exerted efforts to preserve and promote the value of geological and cultural heritage, while developing sustainable tourism in line with the Party and State's guidelines, planning and orientation to create diverse livelihoods and improve the life of ethnic groups there.
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| A village in Dong Van Karst Plateau. (Photo: VNA) |
The Dong Van Karst Plateau has become an attractive destination for domestic and international tourists, along with its diverse and unique tourist products and attractions such as the Lung Cu flagpole, Vuong Mansion relic site, Dong Van ancient street, Tu San canyon, Ma Pi Leng pass, H'Mong Khen (Flute) Festival, and Khau Vai market.
The number of visitors to Ha Giang increased sharply from just 2,000 visitors in 2010 to 2.2 million in 2022 and the figure is expected to reach over 3 million this year.
Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Dao Cuong lauded efforts of Ha Giang’s authorities and people to overcome difficulties to bring the province forward.
He urged the province to pay more attention to preserving and promoting its geological, and cultural heritage values and natural landscape for the sustainable tourism development.
The province needs to continue to improve the investment environment, management, protection, and exploitation of heritage values so that heritage is truly an asset that makes an important contribution to the local socio-economic development, he said.
On October 3, 2010, Dong Van Karst Plateau was recognised by UNESCO as an official member of the Global Geo-parks Network (GGN), becoming Vietnam's first geological park and the second in Southeast Asia.
In 2014 and 2019, UNESCO re-recognised Dong Van Karst Plateau as a member of the UNESCO Global Geopark network in the 2015-2018 period and the 2019-2022 period.
Thai Airways resumes flights connecting with Vietnam
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| Staff members of Thai Airways pose for a photo in front of the carrier's plane landing at Noi Bai International Airport on October 29. (Photo courtesy of Thai Airways) |
Thai Airways marked the resumption of its flights to/from Vietnam with a flight landing at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi and other from Hanoi to Bangkok on October 29, according to Vietnam News Agency.
With four round-trip flights per day linking Bangkok with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the national flag carrier of Thailand is hoped to serve as a bridge for tourism, economic and cultural ties between the two countries.
In 2022, Thailand welcomed over 500,000 tourists from Vietnam, which in turn attracted more than 200,000 from the former. The figures are expected to double this year.
The flights to/from Hanoi and HCM City are among the first international routes Thai Airways has chosen to resume first to help boost the recovery and development of its operations.
Ngo Minh Duc, Chairman of HG Aviation – the general agent of Thai Airways in Vietnam, cited statistics as showing that nearly 900,000 Vietnamese have visited Thailand during the first 10 months of 2023, nearly twice the number of Thai travellers to Vietnam.
The return of Thai Airways aims to meet the demand of Thai and other countries’ visitors to come to Vietnam. Besides, Vietnamese tourists can also have more flight choices to come to European destinations, he added.
October CPI increases 0.08%: GSO
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| Increased education fees and rice prices are blamed for the CPI rise in October. (Photo: VNA) |
The consumer price index (CPI) in October increased 0.08% from the last month and 3.59% from a year earlier, Vietnam News Agency quoted figures of General Statistics Office (GSO).
Increased education fees and rice prices are blamed for the CPI rise. Meanwhile, core inflation in the month rose 4.38% compared to the same period last year.
According to the GSO, nine of the 11 groups of goods and services saw price hikes including education services (up 2.25%), housing and building materials (0.27%), water ( 0.48%), house repairing services (0.29%), drinks and tobacco (0.15%), restaurants and food services ( 0.06%), and household appliance (0.03%).
Meanwhile, telecommunications and transportation saw a drop of 0.11% and 1.51% respectively.
The GSO pointed out that core inflation in October increased by 0.09% over the previous month, up 3.43% over the same period last year. On average, in the first ten months of 2023, core inflation increased by 4.38% compared to the same period in 2022, higher than the general average CPI increase of 3.2%.
The main reason is that the average domestic petrol price in the ten months of 2023 decreased by 13.24% over the same period last year, and gas prices decreased by 8.55%./.