Travel in brief 17 Dec 2010

Saigontourist eyes Japanese partners
The HCM City-based Saigontourist Holding Co is looking for Japanese partners for 12 new hotels and tourism complexes it plans to build. The company's general director, Nguyen Huu Tho, said Saigontourist is looking for both investment and management co-operation. Saigontourist also plans to buy hotels in Japan to expand its operations.
The company operates around 100 hotels, resorts, and restaurants around the country, and reported revenues of VND8.2 trillion (US$420.6 million) last year. It hopes to boost the figure to $1 billion by 2015 by which year it also plans to add 4,000 new rooms.
Tour operators offer discounts
To encourage people to travel during the Christmas season, travel agencies are offering tours at low prices, meaning they are unchanged from last year or are just 5-7 per cent up.
Ha Noi Redtours expects to serve around 1,000 outbound travellers and 500 clients who will undertake domestic and inbound tours. This represents an increase of 20 per cent compared to last year.
Vietravel said its business is likely to be 25 per cent higher than last year.
The most popular destinations for domestic travellers are Ha Noi, Sa Pa, and Ha Long Bay in the north and Ba Na, Da Lat, Phu Quoc Island, and Nha Trang in the central and southern regions. The most popular overseas destinations for Vietnamese travellers are in Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Russian carrier flies to Cam Ranh
A Vladivostok Air aeroplane carrying 80 passengers landed at Cam Ranh Airport in Khanh Hoa Province on Wednesday to mark the beginning of the Russian carrier's service from Vladivostok and Khabarovsk.
The carrier said it will operate seven flights each from the two far eastern Russian cities to the central Vietnamese destination between mid-December and March next year.
To create favourable conditions for the direct flights from Russia, the Central Airport Company said it has offered a 50 per cent discount on all ground services at Cam Ranh Airport.
Five-star resort opens on island
Con Dao Island will get its first five-star hotel when the Six Senses Resorts & Spas throw open their doors on Monday. The project was developed with investment from the Indochina Capital fund.
The hotel's 50 villas sit along a stretch of sandy beach, with stunning vistas of the sea and the curve of the bay, sheltered by green forested hills behind. All building materials were taken from natural, sustainable sources, using local materials where possible. Teak wood was reclaimed and includes over a thousand beautifully carved panels.
The resort's curved swimming pool, shaded by mature, wild mahogany trees, sits at the edge of the beach, which offers various water sports, including coracles, kayaking, snorkeling and diving in what is recognised as the best coral reef in Viet Nam, as well as boat trips to neighbouring islands.
Central provinces unveil island tours
The tourism authorities of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai unveiled plans to launch a tour combining islands and inland destinations.
Do Tuan Cuong, deputy director of the Quang Nam Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the tour, to be launched next year, will begin in Hoi An to explore Cham Islet before speed boats for two hours to Quang Ngai's Re Island.
HCM City luxury hotel rates fall
Room rates in three-star to five-star hotels in HCM City fell by 10 per cent this year on average to US$98 per night due to a sharp increase in supply, according to the city Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The city has 68 international standard hotels with nearly 9,230 rooms. Newcomers include three four-star hotels, namely Oscar Sai Gon, Liberty Central, and Norfolk which have a total of 312 rooms, and nine three-star hotels with more than 580 rooms.