The National Travel Year 2007 officially started yesterday in Thai Nguyen at a grand opening ceremony with the theme “Returning To the Capital of Forest and Mountain - Viet Bac Safe Military Zone.” An art programme of the opening night was organised in an impressive and attractive manner to praise the revolutionary tradition of ethnic minority groups and people in Viet Bac.

Attending the event were National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung, leaders of Thai Nguyen province and representatives from ministries, sectors and other localities.

As many as 20,000 people flocked to Thai Nguyen Stadium last night to witness the launching of the National Tourism Year. Spectators enjoyed traditional music, dance and cultural performances given by the Tay and Nung ethnic minority groups which reside in the area.

The Thai Nguyen Tourism Year aims to honour the place where the late President Ho Chi Minh and the Party Central Committee worked and led the resistance war against the French colonialists in 1947.

Addressing the launching ceremony, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung expressed his desire that the Thai Nguyen tourism sector in particular and the country in general take advantages of organising the tourism year while developing the tourism sector and contributing to improving the local people's lives. He also said that this would be an opportunity for the country's tourism sector to try its best to win domestic and foreign visitors' hearts.

Mr Duong Vuong Thu, Vice Chairman of Thai Nguyen Provincial People’s Committee and head of the travel year’s organising board, said at the launching ceremony that this was a big opportunity to promote Thai Nguyen and neighbouring provinces tourism nationwide and abroad.

“The National Tourism Year held here not only offers a breakthrough for the Thai Nguyen tourism sector in the integration process with the whole country but also helps boost co-operation in tourism development with regional provinces,” Mr Thu stressed.

The tourism year is expected to highlight Thai Nguyen as one of the premier tourist destination regions in the country. This year, the city expects more than 750,000 domestic and foreign arrivals, which will boost the tourism sector’s revenues to US $26.5 million.

Thai Nguyen, about 80 kilometres northeast of Hanoi, is an economic and cultural centre of the Viet Bac region. It covers an area of 2,541 square metres and has a population of more than a million.

(Source: VNA)