Local tourism busy with foreign tourists in first days of New Year

Thousands of foreign tourists visited Vietnam in the first days of New Year, 2011.
On January 1, 460 foreign tourists on Vietnam Airlines and Cathay Pacific flights became the first New Year guests to visit Ho Chi Minh City.
After that, Philippine Airlines, Tiger Airways and Thai Airways brought hundreds of foreign tourists and Overseas Vietnamese from Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong, the US, England, France, the Netherlands, and Northern Europe to Ho Chi Minh City.
Also on the first day of 2011, Saigon Travel and Service Company (Saigontourist) welcomed ten foreign tourist groups and eight Australian tourist groups to Hanoi on 17-day trans-Vietnam routes at Noi Bai International Airport. The tourists from Australia will visit Hanoi, Halong, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Cu Chi, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho.
Saigontourist said that in the first week of the year, the company greeted more than 1,500 foreign tourists to Vietnam, while Vietravel reported it welcomed 27 Italian tourist groups to a 13-day tour on a route including Ho Chi Minh City, Phu Quoc, Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi, Halong and Sapa.
On January 1 and 2, more than 11,000 tourist arrivals visited Ha Long Bay, including 80% foreign tourists. The tourists were warmly welcomed at the Bai Chay Tourism Port.
In Sapa, Lao Cai Province, hotels were full during the first two days of the New Year, especially the Ham Rong Ecotourism Site, welcoming nearly 4,000 domestic and foreign tourists. This is considered a good signal for Sapa tourism in 2011.