Travel in brief 28 Jan 2011

Plan to attract Japanese investment
Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Nam provinces and Da Nang plan to set up a joint representative office in Japan as part of a programme to attract Japanese tourists to Viet Nam.
Travel firms, Vietnam Airlines, and a Japanese organisation have pledged support, and the office is expected to open later this year.
"We want to open it soon since Japan is among our important markets," said Tran Quoc Thanh, deputy director of Thua Thien-Hue Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Cruise ship brings 3,000 visitors
Three international cruise ships brought more than 3,000 visitors and crew to HCM City last weekend.
US vessels Nautica, which came with 7,000 passengers, and SeaBourn Pride, which had 100, anchored at Sai Gon Port last Saturday. The visitors went around HCM City and to the Mekong province of Tien Giang. The Nautica later visited Chan May Port in Thua Thien-Hue and Ha Long Bay before leaving for Hong Kong. The SeaBourn Pride anchored in Da Nang and Ha Long Bay before also leaving for Hong Kong today.
The Italian-flagged Costal Classica dropped anchor at Lotus Port in HCM City and its 2,500 passengers visited HCM City and My Tho. It later went to Da Nang, Hue, and Ha Long before leaving on Wednesday.
First helicopter tour takes off
An MI 172 helicopter took off from Da Nang Airport last week with 24 tourists on board to popular sites like Son Tra Beach, Mount Ngu Hanh Son, Cua Dai Beach, and Cham Island.
It was the first helicopter tour conducted by the Northern Air Services Co and the Vitours. In the beginning, besides the Russian-made MI 172, a French EC 155B1 will also be used for the tours.
There will be a flight each before and after Tet, with each tourist paying nearly VND6 million (US$300).
Furama Resort to hold Tet market
The five-star Furama Resort Da Nang will organise a Tet market for tourists from January 27 to 30, offering guests the experience and colour of a Vietnamese country market and craft village.
They can witness people making banh chung (square glutinous cake with green bean and pork), fortune tellers in traditional costumes in action, and ong do (calligraphers) drawing "parallel sentences" and creating Dong Ho folk paintings.
Regional countries to produce 3D tour
Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar will jointly produce a documentary titled Four Countries – One Destination to promote their tourism industry.
It will make use of 3D filming to depict the countries' history, culture, and daily life.
It will focus on exotic destinations like the Temple of Literature, Thang Long royal citadel, and handicraft villages in Ha Noi, the Mekong River, the ancient capital of Luang Prabang, and Thap Luang in Laos, Angkor Wat, the ancient capital of Angkor Thom, and Sea Lake in Cambodia, and the Shwe Dagon pagoda, ancient capital of Mandalay, and Bagas city in Myanmar.
Phan Thiet offers Tet festivities
Phan Thiet will hold a series of cultural and sports events from January 30 to February 8 to mark the Lunar New Year in early February.
There will be music performances, sports, folk games, and lion dances in most of the city's 16 wards.
The Bien Xanh theatre group will hold music galas in the communes of Tien Thanh, Phong Nam, and Thien Nghiep.
Tien Loi - Tien Thanh Tourist Park will have a fireworks display on New Year's Eve on February 2.
A boat race will be held on the Ca Ty River on the February 4 and the Mui Ne Sand Hill Run will be held two days later.