Tourism and airline representatives from HCM City and China's Sichuan met yesterday at the Kim Do hotel in HCM City to discuss opening an air route that would link the two cities to promote tourism between both destinations.
Zhu You, senior manager of Air China's marketing department, said the airline had wanted to open the route since 2006 when they began flying between HCM City, Beijing and Nanning.
The flight will take about 3.5 hours from HCM City to Chengdu, and slightly less on return.
"We want to collect ideas from the city's tour operators about the air route as well as suitable times for passengers from HCM City to travel to Chengdu," she said.
Sichuan Airlines are also interested in opening the route. "We are here to learn about the operation of the Chengdu-HCM City routes and routes to other destinations in Vietnam;' said Hu Pingshu, the airline's vice director-general.
Currently, passengers from HCM City need to take a connecting flight from Shenzhen, Guangzhou, hanghai or Nanning to reach Chengdu. Flying from HCM City to Chengdu via Guangzhou takes 4.5 hours - 2.5 hours from HCM City to Guangzhou, then another 2 hours to Chengdu. A direct flight will reduce flying time considerably and minimize tedious airport procedures.
The route was first discussed last October when Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung visited Sichuan.
In yesterday's meeting, airline representatives and tour operators from HCM City and Sichuan also discussed extra activities to promote tourism to both areas, especially travelers from Vietnam to China.
Lai Huu Phuong, director of Ben Thanh Tourist Travel Service Centre, said Vietnamese tourists generally travelled in family groups during the summer and Lunar New Year holidays. He added that they loved to shop and visit historical sites.
"The new air route is not only to attract more Vietnamese travelers but Chinese-Vietnamese who were born in Sichuan; he said.
La Quoc Khanh, deputy director HCM City's Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism, said tourism between HCM City and China is growing by about 25% each year.
The city welcomed 140,000 Chinese travellers last year, compared to jus 76,000 in 2006. In addition, about 30,000 Vietnamese people travelled to China via the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in 2009.
Zhang Gu, head of Sichuan's Tourism Promotion Bureau, said that they would sign a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism in Hanoi tomorrow.
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