South Korea taps into Viet Nam tourism

VietNamNet Bridge – Ten South Korean travel agents attended a conference and art performance in Ha Noi last Friday to promote their country's tourism potential.

During the event, the agents introduced MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition) tours, developed with high economic efficiency throughout South Korea.

An exhibition on Seoul, Daejeon and Jeju travel took place alongside the seminar while Korean culture and dancing was presented during a MICE night.

Over the past five years, the number of Vietnamese tourists to South Korea had doubled while Viet Nam promised to become a key tourism market in the near future, said Sim Hye-ryun, a representative of the Korean Tourism Organisation in Viet Nam.

South Korea, in co-operation with Viet Nam, is voting for both Jeju Island and Ha Long Bay to become two of the seven new natural wonders of the world.

* Vietnam Airlines adds nearly 850 flights for Tet

The national flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines, has announced it will arrange an additional 846 flights for the upcoming Lunar New Year festival (Tet).

The airline said it will provide 155,600 more seats on seven major air routes. It forecasts that passenger demands over Tet will increase by 11 percent on the HCM City-Hanoi route and by 20 percent on the HCM City-Da Nang route, compared to the same period last year. 
Vietnam Airlines will increase the number of flights on five air routes from HCM City to Hai Phong, Buon Ma Thuot, Pleiku, Quy Nhon, and Nha Trang with 13,200 additional seats, up nearly 34 percent from last year.
Vietnam Airlines spokesperson, Le Hoang Dung, says that the plan will hopefully resolve the annual Tet overload. The airline is considering increasing flights during future Tet holidays to meet passengers’ greater demand for travel.

* Foreign pianists ready to play at new festival

Pianists from the US, Bulgaria, Singapore, South Korea and Ukraine will join talented pianists from across Viet Nam to perform at the first-ever piano festival, to be held in HCM City on October 18-23.

Organised to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the HCM City Conservatory of Music, the festival will feature a programme of performances, workshops and master classes.

Pianist Vo Bao Lac Nhan, a lecturer at the Maison Stepman music centre in Brussels, Belgium, will conduct a workshop on piano history on October 18. He will deliver presentations about the art of composing music and contrast different piano performance styles.

Another workshop on the 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor Franz Liszt will be held on October 19 to commemorate his 200th birthday, 1811-1886.

Master classes conducted by foreign musical experts will be held on October 20.

Piano performances at the festival will include talented students from the HCM CityConservatory of Music playing on October 21-23. Vietnamese guest artists from the Viet Nam National Academy of Music, Hue Conservatory of Music, as well as foreign artists will also perform during the festival.

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