Overseas vietnamese get local hotel rates during holiday
HANOI - In a bid to woo more overseas Vietnamese to return for Lunar New Year celebrations next month, the
government has ruled that they will be charged the same rates as locals for accommodation and transport during the holiday, an
official said Tuesday.
Vietnam has a two-tiered pricing system, where foreigners and overseas Vietnamese are charged at least double for services
including hotel accommodation, flights, rail fares and entrance fees for tourist spots.
The decision, effective from Jan. 1 through March 31, 2001, was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Manh Cam on
Monday, and will be applied to overseas Vietnamese, their spouses, their children and in-laws, said an official of the Prime
Minister's Office, who declined to be identified.
The government made the concessions for the first time last year during the lunar new year celebrations, also known as Tet. It is
Vietnam's biggest holiday of the year.
Tet this year falls on Jan. 27. In 1999, 125,000 overseas Vietnamese, or Viet kieu, returned to celebrate it with family in
Vietnam.
There are about 2.5 million Vietnamese living overseas, more than 1 million of them in the U.S.
Associated Press - December 26, 2000.
|