Travel in brief 26/2

Ha Noi welcomes Spring with festivals following Tet holiday
On February 19, thousands of Hanoians and tourists gathered to celebrate several festivals held after the main Tet (Lunar New Year) in Ha Noi. The Co Loa Festival took place in Dong Anh District with a very formal ceremony carrying incense to the Thuong Temple for paying tribute to King An Duong Vuong, the founder of the ancient kingdom of Au Lac and an ancestor of the Vietnamese people.
In Soc Son District, the Giong Festival at Soc Temple also attracted a crowd. The event was in honour of Saint Giong, who used his supernatural abilities to defeat foreign invaders and restore the country to peace.
On the same day, local residents gathered in Me Linh District to celebrate the Hai Ba Trung (Trung Sisters) Temple Festival. The festival honors sisters Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, who resisted and fought the despotic General To Dinh of China's Han dynasty.
Foreign visitor numbers to HCM City tipped to increase
HCM City will receive around 288,000 foreign visitors this month for a year-on-year increase of 15 per cent. City authorities said February is a special month because of the Lunar New Year festival that brings many overseas Vietnamese home for family reunions.
The city also saw 2 million visitors flocking to local entertainment venues such as the Suoi Tien Cultural Theme Park, Dam Sen Cultural Park and the Zoological Garden.
Viet Nam sees welcome boost in lucrative cruise ship arrivals
Royal Carribean International's cruise ship Legend of the Seas, with some 1,800 tourists from many countries, dropped anchor at the Chan May Port in Thua Thien-Hue Province on Wednesday. The cruise tourists were taken to major attractions in the central region including the ancient cities of Hue and Hoi An before the ship left for Ha Long Bay at 8pm the same day.
A day earlier, Saigontourist Travel Service Co welcomed some 1,250 passengers on board the five-star cruise ship Costa Allegra which docked at HCM City's NaviOil Port. The tourists visited attractions in HCM City, Da Nang, Hoi An, My Son Champa Tower Complex and Hue before leaving yesterday, February 25, for China's Sanya city.
Saigontourist will also welcome next Monday some 800 tourists on board the Athena cruise ship belonging to Portugal's Classic International Cruises. The cruise tourists, mostly from Australia, will visit landmarks in HCM City and the Mekong Delta city of My Tho.
This is the only visit to Viet Nam by Athena in 2010 as it prepares to visit the country every two weeks in 2011. So far this year, Saigontourist has received some 10,000 foreign cruise ship tourists, up 8 per cent compared with the same period last year.