Vietnam News Today (Mar. 25): Ha Long Bay Among Top 10 Must-visit Asian Destinations

The column chart shows the number of imported cases, and the line chart shows the number of locally acquired infections. Photo: MoH

New Covid-19 infections fall on eighth consecutive day to 120,000

March 24 is the 8th consecutive day that has seen daily Covid-19 infections fall considerably across the country.

Of the total, 119,992 cases were locally acquired, with 84,819 cases recorded in the community. Eight cases tested positive upon returning from overseas, and the remainder were diagnosed in quarantine and lockdown areas.

Hanoi capital topped localities nationwide registering 16,014 new cases, followed by Dak Lak, Bac Ninh, Phu Tho and Nghe An provinces that reported more than 4,000 fresh cases each.

On average as many as 137,890 cases were documented daily during the past week, cited VOV.

The MoH also reported that the past 24 hours saw more than 164,754 patients recovering from the disease and 70 patients die of the virus and other underlying illnesses.

As of 06pm on March 24, Vietnam has detected 8,599,751 Covid-19 cases since the start of the outbreak, ranking 14th out of 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Of the infected patients, 4,826,024 have been discharged from hospital after making a full recovery from the disease, and 42,145 patients have died of the virus.

More than 204 million vaccine doses have been administered nationwide.

Border gates between Son La, Lao province to reopen from April

Relevant agencies of the northern border province of Son La stand ready to work with their counterparts of Houaphanh province of Laos to resume operations of the main border gate pairs and an auxiliary one starting April 1.

In a dispatch, the Department of External Relations of Son La stated that the agencies will work to promptly resume operations of the Long Sap-Pa Hang and Chieng Khuong-Ban Dan border gate pairs, together with the Nam Lanh-Muong Po auxiliary pair, according to VNA.

Relevant agencies of the northern border province of Son La stand ready to work with their counterparts of Houaphanh province of Laos to resume operations of the main border gate pairs and an auxiliary one. Illustrative photo: VNA

The department requested the Houaphanh side to inform relevant agencies and ask them to collaborate with Son La counterparts, as well as adhere to Covid-19 prevention and control measures.

Son La and Houaphanh have a shared border line of 242 kilometers, with 113 border markers, two main border gates, and two auxiliary border gates.

Ha Long Bay among top 10 must-visit Asian destinations

Renowned tourism website The Travel has named UNESCO-recognized World Natural Heritage Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh province among the top 10 greatest places in Asia that travelers must visit at least once in their lifetime.

According to the website, Ha Long Bay has approximately 3,000 islands in the area which is populated by roughly 1,600 people who reside in floating towns.

The Travel recommended that tourists take a cruise so they can get the most out of their vacation and see the world from the a fresh perspective.

Ha Long Bay is listed among top 10 must-visit Asian destinations by The Travel. Photo: Getty Images

“In fact, tourists will be in awe of the natural splendor that surrounds them. This is unquestionably a must-see destination!” according to The Travel.

Elsewhere, Mount Fuji, one of Japan's Three Holy Mountains, topped the list with its majestic snow-capped peaks, reported VOV.

The website noted that while many tourists are keen to photograph this World Heritage Site and well-known symbol of Japan, others go simply to take advantage of the mountain's incredible climbing prospects.

Rounding off the top 10 best places as selected by The Travel includes Bokeo Nature Reserve of Laos, Banaue of the Philippines, The War Memorial of the Republic of Korea, Shinjuku Gyoen of Japan, the Great Wall of China, Taj Mahal In India, Danxia Landform of China, and Tiger’s Nest Temple of Bhutan.

Hanoi to host hot air balloon festival "Colorful Hanoi”

The Hanoi Department of Tourism will coordinate with relevant agencies to kick off a tourism program themed “Get on Hanoi 2022” on March 25 with a series of attractive activities, including a hot air balloon festival "Colorful Hanoi".

The program is part of activities to respond to the resumption of tourism activities, welcoming international tourists in the new normal in the capital city.

This is the first event in a series of activities to be organized in Hanoi during 2022, such as the Hanoi tourism gift festival, Hanoi tourism festival, food and handicraft village tourism festival, and Ao dai Hanoi festival.

Illustrative image. Photo: thethaovanhoa.vn

This is a combination of music, lights and images of Hanoi's destinations; along with the screening of the short film "Colorful Hanoi", music and visual art "Charming Hanoi", visual art Love Hanoi, musical and art performance "Get on Hanoi 2022".

In particular, the event also introduces low-hanging hot air balloons on Dinh Tien Hoang Street, with ten one-level hot air balloons (10m high) and one seven-level hot air balloon (22m high).

The program will broadcast online through digital platforms: YouTube, the municipal Department of Tourism’s fanpage, and the “Get On Hanoi” fanpage.

During the hot air balloon festival on March 25- 27, the municipal Department of Tourism will coordinate with VMG Media JSC to organize a program to introduce three new tourism products with hot air balloons, and perform at the same time 22 hot air balloons. Visitors will experience flying up in hot air balloons to see Hanoi from above, cited VNA.

“Get on Hanoi 2022” is expected to help the capital city promote its image as a safe, friendly, and attractive destination to domestic and foreign visitors.

Hanoi aims to serve over 10 million visitors in 2022, including over 1.2 million international holiday-makers, earning total revenue of over VND30 trillion (US$1.31 billion).

Developing the Hanoi food travel map

Hanoi has been listed among the 25 best tourist destinations for food lovers in the world as voted by Tripadvisor readers.

Previously, the capital city was placed among the world’s 16 greatest cities for food as selected by the UK’s Telegraph newspaper.

While Vietnam is praised by many international tourists as the kitchen of the world, Hanoi is the typical representative and features many special dishes that have been applauded by famous international media channels, such as ‘pho’ (noodles with beef or chicken), 'bun cha' (rice noodles with grilled pork), ‘bun rieu’ (noodle with freshwater crab), ‘banh tom’ (deep fried shrimp pancakes), and ‘cha ruoi’ (sandworm omelette).

As a major cultural center of the country, Hanoi is home to an array of delicious dishes, many of which have been named after their associated places in the city, including West Lake shrimp pancakes, Quan Ganh Street round glutinous cakes, Vong Village young sticky rice, Uoc Le Village pork sausage, Bat Dan Street stir-fried noodles with beef and vegetables, Trang Tien Street ice cream, Thanh Tri Ward steamed rice rolls, and Hang Manh Street rice noodles with grilled pork.

As such, a gourmet can easily find the right addresses to enjoy the authentic taste of the dish that the place is famous for. This fact has led to the suggestion of building a food travel map in Hanoi.

Developing the Hanoi food travel map. Photo: VNA

The food travel map needs to provide detailed suggestions and instructions about the typical dishes of the capital and where to eat them. These are not only practical suggestions for domestic and international tourists to explore Hanoi’s cuisine but also to contribute to advertising the interesting dining experiences and excellent cuisine of Hanoi to travelers.

A study of the World Food Tourism Association (WFTA) has revealed that up to 81 percent of international visitors want to explore the local cuisine at their destinations and are willing to spend an average of 25 percent of their travel budget on food, NDO reported.

This means that the attractiveness of the destination's cuisine is an extremely important factor in attracting tourists and increasing their spending during their trip. If it can highlight the attractiveness of the capital's cuisine, the food travel map will become an effective advertising channel to lure more tourists to Hanoi, especially in the context that Vietnam officially reopened international tourism on March 15.

According to experts, Hanoi’s food travel map should to be built with consultations with chefs' societies and culinary experts who can help to provide the most accurate and detailed selections and recommendations for the list of Hanoi’s typical dishes and places to enjoy them. The map should also be available in multiple languages to serve food lovers from different markets.

Culinary tourism has recently received certain attention from travel agents, but the cuisine of Vietnam and Hanoi, in particular, has simply been introduced through food festivals and programs, while cuisine itself is not yet seen as a tourism product.

Once it is completed, the map will create a foundation for travel businesses to develop new tours linking the destination and the gastronomy of the place.

Such tours should also introduce food travelers on the selection of ingredients, the cooking process, and the story behind the dishes in order to draw their attention and interest.

It can be said that cuisine is a potential area to further develop Hanoi’s tourism. In addition, to build paper travel food map, it is also necessary to develop a digital version that allows food travelers to post photos, feedback and reviews. This is an effective way to turn visitors into cultural ambassadors to promote Hanoi cuisine, thereby attracting more tourists from at home and abroad to the capital city.

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