Every weekend, hundreds of people flock to the U Minh Thuong National Park in the southern province of Kien Giang to fish as a leisure activity. Here there are different kinds of huge fish far beyond their wildest dreams.

Saigontourist Travel Service Company provided on-shore services to around 2,000 passengers, mainly from Italy, Spain, and the UK, who arrived on board the five-star cruise ship Costa Classica at HCM City's Navi Oil Port, on January 12.

Many visitors to Vietnam have been impressed by the unique beauty of the scenery.

Vietnam is now at the top of the list of the world's emerging tourist attractions, as selected by international visitors in 2012, according to a recent report by the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA).

The tourism sector in Vietnam fetched VND205 trillion in 2011, accounting for 9.2 percent of the country’s GDP, while providing jobs for 402,000 local people, according to a report from the World Trade & Tourism Council.

Tam Giang Lagoon is where the Huong, Bo and O Lau Rivers meet before they flow into the sea through Thuan An estuary in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.

Entry to all relics of Hue ancient citadel will be free of charge during the first three days (January 23, 24 and 25) of the lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, which is on, according to the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre.

Travel agencies in HCM City have been kept busy booking foreign tours as residents seek to take advantage of a nine-day Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.

A popular saying goes: "Even after living 100 years of a virtuous religious life, you cannot be called a true religious person until you go to Yen Tu ".

The HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism held a ceremony on January 1, 2012 to welcome the first international visitors to the city in the New Year.

Tourism will become a cutting-edge industry with high professionalism and consistent, modern infrastructure by 2020, under a strategy recently approved by the Prime Minister.

36,500 flights carrying more than 3.24 million passengers arrived and departed Hanoi in 2011, said the Hanoi Customs Department.

The Superstar Aquarius cruise ship with more than 2,000 visitors on board will arrive in the former imperial city of Hue on December 31 to welcome the New Year.

The number of international arrivals to Hanoi reached nearly 1.9 million in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 11 percent, according to the capital city’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

A logo of My Son sanctuary, a world cultural heritage site in the central province of Quang Nam, was announced on December 28. 

The largest tourism development project in Vietnam will start in eight northwestern mountain provinces next year.  

“Vietnam – Timeless Charm” and the five-petal lotus have been selected as the slogan and symbol of the Vietnamese tourism in the 2012-2015 term.

Curvalle Bernard Francois from France is the six millionth foreign visitor to Vietnam this year, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).  

HCM City aims to receive 3.8 million foreign arrivals in 2012, 8 percent more than in 2011, according to the Municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his girlfriend Priscilla Chan have surprisingly chosen Vietnam as a destination for their Christmas holiday this year.

The occupancy rate of hotels in the tourist resort city of Sapa has increased dramatically following the news that the temperature there is forecast to fall below zero degrees Celsius on Christmas Eve.

Nui Chua National Park in the central coastal province of Ninh Thuan is considered “a desert” thanks to its dry conditions and low rainfall.

Fusion Maia Danang has been listed in the 8th annual Luxe List of the award-winning travel magazine DestinAsian. 

Nearly nine hundred British tourists and sailors aboard Voyages of Discovery will dock at Saigon port in HCM City on December 23 to begin their eight day trans-Vietnam itinerary.

Since the beginning of 2011, Ho Chi Minh City has welcomed 3.5 million international visitors, fulfilling the year's plan and representing a year-on-year increase of 12.9 percent.

Located on Luoi Hai Mountain, Choi Waterfall is considered the diamond of Cu Dong commune, Thanh Son district, in the northern province of Phu Tho.

A seminar on tourism development co-ordination among central coastal provinces was held in Tuy Hoa city in the south-central province of Phu Yen on December 19.

The successes and failures of Italy’s tourism industry can be very valuable for the policy-making process to develop Vietnam’s tourism industry.

The central and Central Highland provinces of Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh and Kontum have agreed to support each other in tourism development to attract foreign visitors from Cambodia, Laos and Thailand through the Bo Y border gate.  

The second campaign to vote for  “Ho Chi Minh City-the 100 interesting things” was launched by the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism on December 17.