Vietnam's Iconic Caravelle Hotel Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Famous base for war correspondents transformed into luxury 5-star WORLDHOTELS affiliate

WORLDHOTELS Deluxe Collection affiliate the Caravelle Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City has celebrated its 50th anniversary as a colonial icon in Vietnam.

The 5-star landmark which was a legendary base for Vietnam War correspondents in Lam Son Square marked the milestone with a memorable party including a reminiscent speech from renowned journalist Peter Arnett, a Pulitzer-prize winner.

The Opera Room ballroom was transformed into a replica of the former Rue Catinat (now Dong Khoi Street) as it looked in the 1960s whilst the flagship restaurant Reflections created a special 'Champs-ษlys้es' menu of French cuisine for which it was famed in the 1960s and 1970s.

During the war, the award-winning Caravelle Hotel was just across the street from the former National Press Centre of South Vietnam, where the foreign press gathered daily for official briefings known derisively as the 'Five O'clock Follies'. A number of major news organisations including both CBS News and ABC News kept bureaus in the hotel and its famous rooftop Saigon Saigon Bar served as the unofficial press club.

"The Caravelle was something of a beacon for foreign press, which is why it made sense for us to ask Peter Arnett along for the anniversary celebration," said John Gardner, General Manager of the Caravelle Hotel.

"Fifty years ago, we opened and immediately set the standard as the most memorable, most talked-about hospitality experience in Saigon. You could say the exact same thing about this hotel today."

The Caravelle today stands as a beacon of restoration after its dramatic comeback in 1998 just as Vietnam was in the midst of doi moi, or economic renovation. The refurbishment of the original 10-storey building was complemented by a new 24-storey tower.

While the hotel soared to new heights, Ho Chi Minh City asserted itself as one of Southeast Asia's most dynamic cities.

The hotel plans to celebrate its storied history with a book detailing guests stories and experiences and the ups and downs of its history through the 1960s and 1970s.

Roland Jegge, Vice President Asia Pacific for WORLDHOTELS, said: "Today, the Caravelle ranks as one of the country's most prestigious hotels. Its rooftop bar is one of Saigon's most popular, as it was during the war, enjoying a surge of popularity as one of the premier rooftop bars anywhere."

The Caravelle offers 335 rooms, 31 of which are suites. All rooms are a minimum of 38 square metres, and offer river or city views, as well as broadband Internet, satellite TV and climate control. The city's leading five-star hotel also features a health club and beauty centre.

The hotel has also completely revamped its ground-floor dining venue, Nineteen, which ranks today as one of the city's most chic and elaborate buffets. The ever-changing views of Lam Son Square and the Saigon River are a delight, and it's all within an easy seven kilometre transfer from Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

PATA Travel Mart 2009 Opens for Business in Hangzhou, China

Asia Pacific's best travel contracting and networking show.

For the past 32 years, PATA has combined an in-depth seller understanding with expert buyer selection to create unparalleled networking and contracting opportunities in the Asia Pacific region.

PTM 2009 presented new products and experiences, including topical workshops, business forums, along with a complete schedule of business appointments.

The city of Hangzhou welcomed more than 1,000 buyers, sellers and media at the opening of this year’s PATA Travel Mart.

PATA Chairman Phornsiri Manoharn presided over the official opening ceremony at the World Trade Center on Wednesday, which was supported by an impressive list of VIPs and distinguished guests.

PATA CEO Greg Duffell; Zhang Jiang-ting – Deputy Mayor of Hangzhou; CNTA vice chairman Du Jiang; Hangzhou Mayor Cai Qi; Zhejiang Tourism Administration Director Zhao Jin-yong; and Mrs. Zhang Chun-zhi – Managing Director, Marketing for Air China also took part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The impressive guest list included James Bule, Vanuatu’s Minister for Trade and Tourism, Fineasi Funaki, Minister for Tourism in Tonga and Somphong Mongkhonvilay, Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, Lao PDR.

Industry and Media delegates (including 591 Sellers from 38 destinations and 305 Buyers from 51 source markets) attended this year's event which opened on Wednesday (23 September). Markets promoting at PTM for the first time include Spain and Korea (DPR).

“With China now ranked as the fifth strongest source market globally by UNWTO (when measured by tourism-related expenditure) there's no doubt that we're in the right country at the right time this year,” said PATA Chairman Mrs. Phornsiri Manoharn.

“PATA Travel Mart was launched in 1978 in Manila. Every year the travel and tourism industry uses the event for fact-finding, research, networking and contracting.

“The value of business conducted at our Travel Marts since 1978 must now run into many hundreds of millions of dollars,” she added.

Hangzhou Tourism Commission Director Li Hong said, “It is my great honour to welcome PATA to the city of Hangzhou for PATA Travel Mart 2009.

“Tourism is a pillar industry for the city of Hangzhou with some 400,000 people employed directly in travel and tourism.”

Mr. Li Hong told journalists that Hangzhou was striving to raise the bar on the quality of its tourist attractions, hotels and other amenities.

“Although we have received the honour of ‘best city in China’ from the CNTA and the UNWTO we recognise that there is still work to be done to compete with international cities such as, for example, Paris and Barcelona,” he said.

World Tourism Day 2009: "Tourism – Celebrating Diversity"

World Tourism Day, celebrated annually on September 27, will be taking place this year in Accra, Ghana. As part of the official celebrations, UNWTO will collaborate with the host country to organize a Think Tank around the 2009 theme "Tourism: Celebrating Diversity."

This will be World Tourism Day’s 30th anniversary and presents an opportunity to highlight the wealth of cultural and natural diversity across the globe, as well as the role of sustainable tourism in preserving this diversity. Diversity has long been the driving force behind tourism which in turn has become an engine for socio-economic development, poverty alleviation, and international understanding. As world leaders come together to tackle the challenges of climate change and the economic crisis, diversity will continue to drive tourism, engendering international cooperation, and ensuring sustainable development.

Following the successful experience of previous World Tourism Day celebrations, UNWTO is organizing with the host, Ghana, a Think Tank based on the World Tourism Day Theme: "Tourism: Celebrating Diversity." Bringing together leading public and private tourism stakeholders, as well as members of the media and UNWTO representatives, the Think Tank promises to be instrumental in raising awareness of the significance of diversity and sustainable tourism.

The Think Tank will:

• Highlight tourism’s capacity to maintain diversity in the face of globalization
• Outline how tourism can enhance cultural and environmental diversity
• Consider the role of tourism in engendering international cooperation

The main purpose of World Tourism Day is to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political, and economic values.
Source: unwto

UNWTO: Support Tourism, Support Your Economy

As world leaders meet to discuss a sustainable way out of the current economic crisis, the United Nations World Tourism Organization has issued a reminder claiming that many governments and decision makers still have some way to go before they recognize tourism as a sector that can be a relevant factor of the economic recovery.

Raising the profile of tourism in both the political and public perception is a critical element in increasing awareness of the sector’s economic potential as an efficient provider of employment and the way forward to the “Green Economy,” UNWTO said yesterday.

According to UNWTO, close to one billion international tourist arrivals per year generate millions of jobs. Travel and tourism is one of the few sectors that cuts across the economy mobilizing employment, investment and sustainable development opportunities for emerging economies.

“We are weathering the storm,” said UNWTO assistant secretary general Geoffrey Lipman. According to him, the global economic downturn has taken its toll on international tourism.

However, he also said that the industry is resisting the worst that the deterioration of the marketplace is delivering. Lipman said: “We will come back, stronger than we have been before, different than we have been as a sector, and those people who are understanding how to do this with us collectively, they will do it better.”

Source: unwto

Cambodia, Philippines to launch direct flights

Cambodia and the Philippines, two members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday towards allowing direct flights between the two countries, Phnom Penh Post reported, quoting an official of Cambodia’s State Secretariat of Civil Aviation.

“The MoU opens our skies to direct flights from the Philippines. This will be good for our tourism sector," said SSCA Cabinet Chief Long Chheng.

He said that the Philippines’ proposal would open seven weekly flights from Manila to Phnom Penh, 14 flights a week from Clark to Phnom Penh, plus 14 weekly flights to the capital from elsewhere in the Philippines.

“We have not reached a decision on their request yet because we still have to review the possible routes,” said Long Chheng. “I hope that both governments will reach an Air Service Agreement by the end of the year.”

So far in 2009, Cambodia has signed four agreements on direct flights: with Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and now the Philippines. Feasibility studies leading up to the pact have been jointly conducted by Cambodia and the Philippines since 2007.

Kong Sophearak, director general of statistics for the Tourism Ministry, said that his ministry had long been advocating the much-awaited deal as part of a broad effort to draw larger numbers of tourists from regional countries to Cambodia.

“Recently we’ve seen the number of tourists visiting our country from the Philippines increase year on year,” Kong Sophearak said, adding that since both countries are ASEAN members, their citizens do not require visas.

MoU to boost Cambodia, Thailand Tourism & Trade

Cambodia and Thailand signed a memorandum of understanding on the exchange of traffic rights Thursday in an effort to boost trade and tourism links between the two countries, the Phnom Penh Post reported.

The agreement, which was signed by Cambodia’s Minister of Public Works and Transport Tram Iv Tek and Virachai Virameteekul, a minister attached to the Thai prime minister’s office, will allow a daily quota of trucks to cross the border without having to unload cargo and reload to a second truck on the other side.

Forty trucks from each side would initially be allowed to cross daily, but the quota is expected to be raised progressively.

It was signed on the sidelines of the Second Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Corridors Forum in Phnom Penh, a meeting of ministers from the six countries through which the Mekong River flows.

Arjun Goswami, head of the Southeast Asia Regional Cooperation Group for the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which brokered the deal, said it was an important step in boosting trade between the two ASEAN neighbours.