Hanoi: Vietnam boasts a lot of advantages to develop sports tourism and is taking measures to promote this type of tourism – one of the fastest growing segments in the industry, with an estimated value of about 800 billion USD globally.
Recently, more and more sports clubs have been established, and tournaments organised, attracting a large number of both domestic and foreign sports lovers.
Prominent among them are VnExpress Amazing Marathon, Ha Long Heritage Marathon, Da Lat Ultra Trail, Hoi An International Marathon, and paragliding festival ‘Fly over the golden season’.
These sports activities have created a special “catalyst” that helps enhance the image recognition and competitiveness of local tourism.
Nguyen Cong Hoan, General Director of Flamingo Redtours which has successfully organised many sports tours taking tourists to watch major football tournaments such as Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup, said that currently, travel companies are exploiting three popul
ar forms of sports tours: those for tourists to cheer and watch tournaments such as football and tennis; those for participants in sports activities such as golf, marathon and trekking; and those with sports activities for organisations, agencies and businesses.
According to experts, to turn sports tourism into a key product, it is important to have thorough research and long-term orientations to build and upgrade infrastructure, and improve the transport system and specific technical facilities in a more professional and modern direction so as to meet requirements of different forms of sports tourism.
It is also necessary to have an early and methodical promotion strategy as well as dynamism to increase opportunities to host international events.
Nowadays, tourists in general and sports tourists in particular appreciate different experiences when participating in tours. Therefore, Director of Vietfoot Travel Pham Duy Nghia said that in addition to providing quality services and ensuring safety, sports tou
rism products also need to bring new experiences to visitors./
Source: Vietnam News Agency
The anti-corruption investigation office imposed a travel ban on former Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup over an alleged influence-peddling case related to the death of a young Marine, months before he was named the new top envoy to Australia, sources said Wednesday.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) banned Lee from leaving South Korea in January, sources with knowledge of the matter said.
On Monday, the foreign ministry announced Lee’s appointment as the new ambassador to Australia, which drew criticism as Lee has been a subject in the CIO probe in connection with the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun, who died in July last year while on a search mission amid heavy downpours.
The CIO has been looking into allegations that Lee exerted influence to hold off the findings of an internal probe by the Marines on Chae’s death. Suspicions had it that Chae was forced by his superiors to push ahead with the risky rescue operation without proper safety measures.
The Marines’ top investigat
or in charge of the case has been indicted on charges of insubordination and defamation after he handed over the probe results on Chae to the civilian police in defiance of Lee’s orders.
The CIO was widely expected to soon summon Lee for questioning.
Following the announcement on Lee’s appointment, the CIO said it was “weighing various options and measures so that the investigation will not be disrupted.”
The CIO is likely to either seek to question Lee before his departure for the host country, or lift the travel ban on condition that he will cooperate with the investigation after he leaves, according to the sources.
Source: Yonhap News Agency