Many travel agencies in Ho Chi Minh City are offering various promotional schemes on domestic and international tours to lure customers, whose numbers have dropped sharply after a substantial increase in airfares and other service charges.

Do Hoang Anh Tuan, deputy minister of Finance believes in raising Vietnam’s image by offering refund on Value Added Tax (VAT) on commodities purchased in Vietnam by foreign travellers at point of departure at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat International Airports from July 2012 till June 2013.

The online magazine ‘Business Insider’ recently published an article written by leading investment strategist, Tim Staermose, who talked about impressions of Vietnam after his eight-day visit to the Southeast Asian country.

Vespa riders will have the chance to arouse great passion for the vintage scooter with their counterparts from several Southeast Asian countries during the 2012 trans-ASEAN motor tour.

The Vietnam Administration of Tourism (VNAT) plans to establish a representative office in Japan to attract more tourists from this promising market.

The President of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council of France, Segolene Royal, and Chairman of Thua Thien Hue province’s People’s Committee, Nguyen Van Cao, signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in Hue city on April 10.

Nearly 65,000 tourists, including more than 30,000 foreigners, have attended the 2012 Hue Festival from April 7-9. The opening gala event alone drew the participation of 25,000 tourists and local people and hotels and hostels in Hue reported more than 91 percent occupancy at the peak of the festival.

Entry to Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh will be free to all visitors from April 28 to May 1, as a way of saying thank you to visitors for voting the Bay as one of the Seven New Wonders of the World.

Tourists visiting Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh are benefiting from free wifi service as of April 20. Under a project by the Vietnam Posts & Telecommunications Group (VNPT), 44 wireless internet stations will be installed along National Highway 18A running through Ha Long City.

Sapa will become a resort site by international standards, aiming to welcome 3 to 4 million visitors until 2030 with an average growth rate of 7.2 percent per year.