Lao Airlines ventures to Danang

Lao Airlines ventures to Danang Lao Airlines last week launched a three weekly service to Danang in central Vietnam, the first link from the landlocked nation to the seaside resorts of Danang and Hoi An.
Unfortunately for passengers it is not a nonstop service. It touches down in two Lao tourist destinations on the way. The service operates from Vientiane with stops in Savannakhet and Pakse on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday using ATR72 aircraft.
The flight departs the Lao capital at 0700 and arrives in Danang at 1040. The return flight departs 1140 and lands in Vientiane at 1520.

The roundtrip fare is US$251 from Vientiane; US$221 from Savannakhet and US$191 from Pakse. Last November, the carrier kicked off a nonstop service to Guangzhou, China, with three flights a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The flight departs at 1310 and lands in Guangzhou at 1610. The eturn flight leaves at 1710 and lands at 1810. Lao Airlines operates 20 regional routes from Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Savannakhet and Pakse to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Jing Hong, Kunming, Guangzhou and Singapore.
It achieves this remarkable growth over the last two years without any marketing or sales budget. The advertising budget is almost zero and very few financial incentives are offered to travel agencies.

With this investment, tourists from Laos can be more easy in transportation as well as time saving; and have a greater opportunity to visit the charming Danang – Hoi An to enjoy some of our exotic city tours Da nang - Hoi an. Please contact us for further information.

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Rustic homestay trend in Can Tho

Traveling experience in Can Tho is no longer merely sightseeing beautiful landscapes, but participating in the daily life of the locals with gardening, tree growing, fishing or producing cacao.

On the way to the homestay area of Muoi Cuong, tourists may have chances to enjoy the poetic stream of Can Tho River, over Cai Rang Floating Market and Ong De Cannal along the peaceful river with ever-green coconut rows and orchards.

The most distinctive feature of this new type of tourism is that tourists are wholeheartedly welcomed by attentive host families, who are carefully chosen. The room amenities are also of comfortable with air-conditioning and spacious rooms.

Many tourists attend this tour shares that they felt like being home since the host family treats them like members in their family. “They shares with us funny stories, gorgeously offer us delicious Vietnamese foods and guide us how to harvest cacao seeds without breaking the fruit, pick vegetables and cook on the firewood instead of electric stove”, said Jenna, a Canadian tourist.

Fresh and peaceful environment with alluring tropical fruits trees such as bananas, polemos, mangos, papayas and pineapples, in combination with unique cultures here promise an excellent choice of inner peace.

If you are interested in this home-stay trend, Threeland Team believes that you will enjoy our related Mekong Delta tours. Check out the detailed information on our website and contact us to receive instant advice from our professional tour consultants.

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Hanoi improves craft villages

Hanoi will develop six traditional craft villages to attract more domestic and international tourists and establish the city as a tourism gateway.

The six traditional craft villages are: Phu Vinh rattan and bamboo weaving in Chuong My district; Son Dong fine art sculptures in Hoai Duc district; Bat Trang-Kim Lan pottery in Gia Lam; Van Phuc silk in Ha Dong district; Ngo Ha mother-of-pearl inlay in Phu Xuyen district; and Du Du sculptures in Thanh Oai district.

Phu Vinh village has been chosen to pilot the scheme that will run until 2015.

According to the development plan, the city will focus on preserving old houses, restoring historical and cultural sites, building areas for product displays and upgrading transport, waste and water treatment facilities at the villages.

Also home-stay services will be offered to give visitors an opportunity to learn about local people’s daily life and the handicrafts they produce.

Based on the success of the six villages in phase one, the city says that by 2015, it can complete development of 14 village-cum-tourist destinations which in turn will encourage more visits to the capital.

It is forecasting visits to all 14 villages at 300,000 to 500,000 international visitors and 2 to 3 million domestic tourists a year once the project is up and running.

If you are interested in these craft villages, Threeland Team believes that you will enjoy our related Hanoi Tours. Check out the detailed information on our website and contact us to receive instant advice from our professional tour consultants.

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VFS adds visa centre in Vietnam

Embassies of Italy and Spain in Vietnam have partnered with London-based VFS Global, to launch a new Schengen visa application centre in Ho Chi Minh City, 2 January 2013.

The visa centre, at Resco Tower, 4th floor, 94-96 Nguyen Du, District 1, will start operations 3 January. The opening times will be 0830 to 1200 and 1300 to 1600, from Monday to Friday.

The move should encourage travel to Europe by making it easier to apply for the Schengen visa, Italian Ambassador to Vietnam Lorenzo Angeloni told a press conference last week.

It is also part of cost cutting measures as both government’s face an unprecedented financial crisis. Out-sourcing visa processes allows embassies to cut staff costs substantially.

VFS Global, a worldwide outsourcing and technology services company for diplomatic missions and governments, will be responsible for processing applications for Schengen visas from applicants residing across Vietnam, if the first port of entry in Europe is either Italy or Spain.

Lorenzo Angeloni

 VFS collects a non-refundable fee for the service in addition to the visa fee itself. It is one of most lucrative enterprises related to travel with guaranteed income and very little risk for the company.

Head of the Commercial Office of Spain in Vietnam, Antonio Bretones, said: “We’d like to make the whole process of applying for a visa to Spain easier for the citizens in Ho Chi Minh City, in order to encourage the exchanges between the two countries.”
VFS Global’s South East Asia and Pacific head, Loren Dsouza, said: “We’ve been privileged to be associated with the government of Italy in 17 countries and serve the government of Spain across 35 countries.”

He added his company had 775 visa application centers around the world.
What he omitted to explain is how the company guarantees the security of data and information it collects on visa applicants, which includes in many instances personal bank details, financials, company records and other confidential information.
TTR Weekly has often posted questions to companies handling visa processes to explain the rules they apply to information storage and at what point do they destroy supporting financial documents presented by visa applicants.
So far the responses have been circuitous and less than reassuring for security conscious travelers.

This new visa center will support incoming tourists who are interested in Vietnam Travel. Check out many exotic Vietnam tours on our website and contact us to receive instant advice from our professional tour consultants.

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Vietnam wetlands recognized

This southernmost province’s Mui Ca Mau (Ca Mau Cape) National Park will be recognized as a new world Ramsar site and the fifth site in Vietnam.

Ca Mau Agriculture and Rural Development Department said the World Environment Organization will announce the official recognition of the park, 13 December.
The 41,862-hectare site, including 15,262 hectares of land and 26,600 hectares of coastal areas, are mainly saline wetlands.

The attraction is home to 93 species of birds, 26 species of animals, 43 species of reptiles, nine species of amphibians, 233 fish species, including many rare ones.
The national park is one of the three main parts of the Ca Mau Cape global biosphere reserve, which was recognized by UNESCO on 26 May 2009.

Currently, Vietnam has four Ramsar sites, including two in the north and two in the south.
The northern Ramsar sites are Xuan Thuy Natural Wetland Reserve in Nam Dinh province and the Ba Be Lake in the mountainous province of Bac Kan, recognized in 1988 and 2011, respectively.
The southern ones are Bau Sau in Cat Tien National Park in Dong Nai province and Tram Chim National Park in the southern province of Dong Thap, recognized in 2005 and 2012, respectively.

The Convention on Wetland, known as the Ramsar Convention is an inter-governmental treaty that encourages member countries to maintain the ecological character of their wetlands regions.
Vietnam first participated in the Ramsar Convention in 1989.
To explore those wetland sites thoroughly, tourists can refer to our exotic Mekong Delta tours. Check out the detailed information on our website and contact us to receive instant advice from our professional tour consultants.

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