Once only known to few, the pristine beauty of Rai, a complex of caves in south-central Vietnam, has recently earned it a top-spot as an emerging destination for young Vietnamese travelers. The complex, located in Ninh Thuan Province’s Nui Chua National Park, has been dubbed a ‘stone park’ by Vietnamese travelers for its towering boulders and shallow caves. The name Rai, which means otter in English, comes from the small caves shaped by overlapping blocks of stone that once were home to otters in the region. The complex is also home to dozens of ancient stones, rock formations, and big coral reefs, creating a natural park for tourists to explore. With minimal diving equipment, tourists can enjoy the beauty of the colorful coral under the blue ocean water. Nui Chua National Park also has great lookout points for visitors to catch both the sunrise and sunset. Hiking, camping, and tours that involve watching turtles lay eggs help make this park a promising location for those looking for...

A fruitful endeavour: The event last year featured more than 150 kinds of fruit and a giant and rare fruit collection. The festival is organised by the city’s Tourism Department and the park to honour the agricultural values of Việt Nam and the southern region. The event will feature more than 150 kinds of fruit at below-market prices with discounts of 20-40 per cent, and display fruits that satisfy VietGap and Global Gap standards, and a giant and rare fruit collection. It will also present different kinds of fruit-based drinks and food by bartenders and chefs from the city’s restaurants and hotels. The annual festival is a popular cultural tourism event to promote Vietnamese fruits. However, it also offers a chance to support farmers in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta affected by the prolonged drought and saline intrusion. The organisers plan to launch a programme called “Week of Vietnamese Fruits” at hotels, trade centres, supermarkets, traditional markets and grocery shops in the...

Vietravel, one of the leading travel companies in Viet Nam, recently launched its direct Da Nang – Bangkok charter flights.  This new service follows the recent success of Vietravel’s reopening of the direct air routes connecting Can Tho City with Da Lat and Bangkok. Vietravel will operate one flight every five days on the route, utilising a 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft chartered from Thai Vietjet Air, and each flight will take 1 hour and 30 minutes.  The travel company reported that Da Nang has become a favourite destination for Thai tourists and Thailand is always among the top 10 countries with the most tourist arrivals to the city in recent years.  In the first 6 months of 2015, the number of local tourists using the services of Vietravel’s Da Nang branch to take tours to Thailand had a year-on-year increase of 40%.  The company is offering a preferential five-day tour package from Da Nang to Thailand’s Bangkok and Pattaya at only 7.49 million VND. According...