Floating shop, Halong Bay.
As part of the day-long “Phở Discovery” experience, a cook takes travellers through farms, markets and a noodle-making house to gather fresh ingredients before a cooking lesson at the chef’s home.
From luxury yachts to culinary journeys, to golf and new cruise operations on Halong Bay, Vietnam will not be short of new product in 2019.
Throw in a swag of new hotel developments, and Vietnam can look forward with some confidence to eclipsing its 2018 tourist arrivals target of 15.5 million.
Arrival numbers are likely to be swelled by Asean Tourism Forum’s 2019 spotlight on Halong Bay, and the new international cruise terminal at Halong Bay which attracted its first five-star ship visit in 2018 and will target a total of at least 10 international ship arrivals in 2019.
Still in Halong Bay, new luxury Vietnamese cruise operator Lion Asia has launched the first of two President Cruises ships at the UNESCO World Heritage site. The second vessel will take to the water in 2019. The 1200-tonne steel craft is the largest overnight ship ever to ply Halong Bay’s waters.
Still on the water, Reverie Saigon hotel has launched a new ‘Monte Carlo’ 60-foot yacht on the Saigon River for day cruises. Trips start at around US$2,100, inclusive of transfers and a champagne picnic service on-board.
Food being one of the biggest attractions for visitors to Vietnam, The Anam resort in Cam Ranh has introduced a culinary cooking tour that delves into rich origins of phở, Vietnam’s humble beef noodle soup, and teaches budding chefs how to deliver it in an authentic fashion.
As part of the day-long “Phở Discovery” experience, a cook takes travellers through farms, markets and a noodle-making house to gather fresh ingredients before a cooking lesson at the chef’s home.
“So much is said and written about phở but there’s still so much more to discover about it,” said The Anam’s founder and owner Pham Van Hien.
Thought to have originated from the Nam Dinh-Hanoi area in Vietnam’s north under French colonisation in the late 19th century, historians believe the term phở stems from feu, the French word for fire and that the dish is an adaption of the beef stew the French introduced called pot au feu.
A new air terminal for international passengers opened at Cam Ranh in June last year, in anticipation of strong visitor growth to the fast-developing coastal strip. Designed to mimic a type of bird’s nest common in Khanh Hoa Province, the new terminal at Cam Ranh International Airport is a two-story structure with almost 52,000 square metres of floor space.
A gateway to the bayside city of Nha Trang, Cam Ranh is slowly becoming a destination in its own right due to the evolution of Long Beach, an eight kilometre sweep of enchanting white sand that is just less than five minutes from the airport.
Since 2015 more than 30 hospitality projects have been cleared for development along the strip. Many are hotels that do or will carry an international brand name. The biggest venture is KN Paradise, an 800-hectare resort that is slated to include a suite of hotels and an array of real estate opportunities and entertainment options.
Its first components are a Greg Norman-designed golf course called KN Golf Links Cam Ranh and a 572-key Wyndham Grand hotel.
Other hotels opening include Best Western Premier Cam Ranh Seahorse Beach Resort. Located five minutes from the airport and 20 minutes from Nha Trang, it includes a convention centre.
Olivier Berrivin, Best Western’s managing director of international operations – Asia, said, “With record numbers of international visitors, a large domestic population and rising levels of affluence, Vietnam is an incredibly exciting destination with huge tourism potential.”
Also bedding down in Cam Ranh is the Radisson Blu Resort Cam Ranh Bay and Mövenpick Resort Van Phong, which will have 200 rooms and suites plus 100 villas.