City lacks art programs for int'l tourists
VietNamNet Bridge – American Tours International LLC (ATI) pinning hopes on a strong increase in outbound tours from Vietnam to the U.S. plans to open a representative office in Vietnam.
Noel Irwin Hentschel, chairwoman and chief executive officer of AmericanTours International LLC; told the Daffy via email on Monday that the company was considering the representative office to work closer with local tour operators and other partners.
ATI is preparing manpower and promotion activities to attract visitors from Vietnam.
"We plan to conduct training seminars in Hanoi and HCMC late this year to educate tour operators and travel agents about the most popular U.S. cities," she said.
Hentschel joined a 22-member delegation led by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez in a four-day visit to Vietnam in November last year. She met local tour operators and tourism officials to sound out cooperation prospects.
She said that since that trip, her company had begun receiving many requests from Vietnamese tour operators to arrange America tours for Vietnamese tourists, and that tours for Vietnamese tourists were actually organized from last December to last month and more would be coming some time this year.
Groups of seven to 70 people, including both leisure and business travelers, have taken the most popular itinerary encompassing Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York and Washington D.C.
"The comments we received from the visitors have been very positive. We will be conducting familiarization trips for tour operators from Vietnam to understand the U.S. market better," she said.
ATI has created a Vietnam unit called AIT-VIETNAMERICA in the company's ATI-ASIAMERICA department, she said. It is recruiting and training Vietnamese sfaff in Los Angeles and New York.
"This year we are training more Vietnamese-speaking tour guides to ensure the best possible service for this emerging market to America," she said.
According to HCMC's tour operators, more and more Vietnamese tourists are inclined to visit the U.S. These companies offer regular tours to meet the rising demand, and some of them even organize weekly tours.
HCMC's department of tourism said in a report that a total of 21,336 Vietnam office Vietnamese visited foreign countries in January via the Tan Son Nhat International Airport, with 1,075 of them traveling to the U.S.
Previously the U.S. was not among the top ten destinations for Vietnamese tourists but January saw America climbing to the eighth position.
* A plan to enrich entertainment programs for foreign tourists and thus lengthen their stay in HCMC has been delayed over the past three years and when it gets rolling remains unknown.
Nguyen The Thanh, deputy director of the city's Culture and Information Department, told the Daily that her department had submitted to the city government a new plan to upgrade the Kim Chau Theatre into an entertainment venue for international tourists.
"We've asked the city government to allow private investment in the theater," she said, adding the lack of finance was the main reason for the delay.
The original plan for upgrading the theatre was worth VND10bil but the department has several times revised the budget due to higher construction material prices.
She declined to give further details about the revised plan for private participation in the project.
In late 2005, the departments of tourism and culture-information kick-started a plan to upgrade the Kim Chau theatre at 17-19 Nguyen Thai Binh, District 1 into a place for art performances to entertain international tourists.
After the trial of some traditional art performances at the theatre, the city government assigned the Culture and Information Department to carry out the plan.
(Source: SGT)
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