Tourism flourishes during Tet 2011 holiday

More local and foreign tourists have taken inbound and outbound tours during the Tet (Lunar New Year) 2011 holiday compared to previous years.
The number of foreign visitors arriving in the central province of Thua Thien Hue reached 50,000, mostly from Europe, Japan and Thailand, an increase of about 20,000 over previous years.
Local officials said that numerous cultural festivals held in Hue during Tet have attracted a large number of visitors. They said the festival was a harbinger for many other cultural events to be held in the province this year in order to welcome the National Tourism Year set to be celebrated in 2012.
All historical relics in Hue remained open to visitors free of charge from February 3-5 (Jan 1 - 3 on the lunar calendar).
Da Lat welcomed roughly 75,000 tourists during this Tet holiday, with most hotels and guesthouses in the Central Highlands city reporting 80 per cent occupancy.
In Ha Noi, about 1,027 passengers on 109 international flights arrived at the Noi Bai International Airport from February 3 - 5, mostly European tourists and Viet kieu (Vietnamese overseas) from many countries, according to the airport's Customs Department.
Besides, about 8,000 passengers on 82 flights departed from Noi Bai Airport to other countries during the holiday.
The first international flight carrying 184 tourist passengers from Hong Kong arrived at the Da Nang International Airport on the second day of Tet.
They came on a 5-day tour offering relaxing stays at high-end resorts and hotels, as well as visits to many tourist sites like the Son Tra peninsula, Ngu Hanh Son Mountain and many world heritage sites in Hue and Hoi An towns.
The Sebourn Pride carrying 200 passengers from UK, France, Germany, America also arrived at the Tien Sa Port in Da Nang on the second day of Tet.
Meanwhile, thousands of tourists flocked to the Kim Lien historical site in the eponymous commune, Nam Dan District, in the central province of Nghe An.
The site's management board mobilised more staff to offer better services during Tet to deal with the increase in number of visitors during the festive season.
The site, which has normal working hours of 7:30am till 5pm, was opened even earlier until late in the night to serve a large number of visitors on the first and second days of Tet, the board said.
Travel firms do well
The surge in Tet festival tourism saw HCM City-based Viettravel company serve 18,000 - 20,000 customers, a soar of 40 per cent over the same period last year.
Viettravel mobilised an unprecedented 300 tourist guides to serve customers during this Tet holiday.
Meanwhile, the Saigontourist company in HCM City attracted 10,000 customers to join 130 domestic tours, an increase of 40 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Saigontourist also welcomed and served 9,000 tourists from America, Germany, UK, Russia, France, Japan and China on this occasion.