11:32:39 AM | 3/4/2006
A cuisine and craft street/village festival opened at Thong Nhat (Unification) Park in the capital of Hanoi yesterday (March 30), with the aim of introducing famous Vietnamese dishes, as well as other foods from Asian, European and American countries.
On display are unique products from traditional craft streets of Hanoi and villages nationwide, including Bat Trang ceramics, Hang Trong paintings and Dalat embroidered paintings.
Chefs from five-star hotels, restaurants and famous food stalls will show visitors how to make some special dishes and how to cut fruit and vegetables, as well as how to decorate dining tables.
Other activities include, a flower exhibition and flower arranging contests, art performances and folk games.
The festival, which is considered an introductory activity to the APEC Summit to be held in the capital city in November, will last until April 2.
Deputy director of the Hanoi Tourism Department Tran Huu Binh said that the event is an effective way to attract foreign visitors and boost tourism advertisement in the domestic market.
Recently, Hanoi was named by the US Travel and Leisure magazine as the fifth most favored tourism city in Asia. It now has around 5,100 rooms of 3 to 5 star standard, including eight five-star hotels with 2,045 rooms and five four-star hotels with 85 rooms and 22 three-star hotels with 1,933 rooms.
In 2005, Hanoi welcomed more than 1.1 million foreign visitors, accounting for 32.1 per cent of the total number of foreign visitors to Vietnam, and earned more than VND11 trillion ($696 million) from tourism, according to statistics from the department.
The city has set a target of hosting 5.7 million tourists in 2006, including 1.2 foreign visitors, an increase of 22 per cent over the year 2005's target.
Pioneer, The People
Vietnamese
