[Photos] Open-Air Cafe Stands Out On Kontum Waterfront

 

Written by Saigoneer.

Kontum is not, perhaps, the first place you'd expect to find a piece of modern architecture, but perched on the Dakbla River is the imposing Kontum Indochine Cafe. Designed by award-winning architecture firm Vo Trong Nghia, the cafe is part of a local hotel complex which lies adjacent to Dakbla Bridge, a gateway into the city.

Contest on ASEAN world heritage sites launched

 A contest about world heritage sites in ASEAN countries has been launched for the Vietnamese people.

Ha Long Bay, a noted world nature heritage site in Viet Nam. — Photo moitruong.com.vn

Contestants can send their pieces of writing, research work, projects and reports, as well as short films, graphic clips or photo essays on the topic to the organisers till November 23.

They can also propose ideas and plans for better conservation of the sites and to bring into full play heritage in the community as well as to enhance people's knowledge about heritage conservation.

Prizes worth VND100 million (US$4,500) will be presented, while the winners will also get a chance to visit heritage sites in Viet Nam. After the contest, the winners with the most feasible preservation plans will be consulted to improve the project plans, before they are implemented.

Source: VNS

Foreign arrivals to Vietnam on rise

Foreign arrivals to Vietnam on rise

     Foreign arrivals to Vietnam in August are estimated at 664,985, an increase of 12% over last month and 7.5% against the same period last year.

According to statistics from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO), after witnessing a decline in 13 consecutive months, the number of foreign arrivals to Vietnam began rebounding in July and August.

In July, 593,566 foreign tourists came to Vietnam, up 12.1% compared to June and 5.1% compared to July last year.

In August, arrivals by air rose by 17.4% to 610,159 (accounting for 91.8% of total foreign arrivals), by sea dropped 9.3% to 1,360 (making up 0.2%) and by land declined 45.2% to 53,466 (equal to 8%) against the same period last year.

The number of tourists from five European countries which have been exempted visas enjoyed a robust growth in August compared to last month, such as Spain (159.3%), Italy (141.4%), Germany (54.1%), France (25.8%) and the UK (25.5%).

Meanwhile, the number of visitors from northeast Asia and ASEAN also saw an two-digit growth, including the Republic of Korea (42.5%), Hong Kong (36.4%), Laos (33.4%), Thailand (29.9%), Japan (25.9%), Singapore (18.7%), China (16.4%) and Malaysia (13.5%).

Totally, Vietnam welcomed more than 5 million foreign visitors and 45.8 domestic tourists during the first eight months of this year, earning VNS235,586 billion, up 2.7% against the same period last year.

Source: VOV

• Tags:
• European countries,
• northeast Asia