International Tourism Festival kicks off in Hanoi, Hanoi

Vietnam’s capital on Saturday launched an International Tourism Festival to promote the city’s smokeless industry, attracting the participation of many art troupes and tour companies. The festival, themed “Friendship Bridge” would be held near Hoan Kiem Lake, Bach Thao Park and The Temple of Literature – the ever first ancient University in Vietnam. The event will feature the participation of many tourist companies from major centers around Asia, and represents a good opportunity for them to exchange and develop tours to Hanoi. In addition, an international cuisine exhibition is also part of of the festival, along with plant and flower arrangement, and traditional Vietnamese art shows. A seminar on cooperative tourism between Hanoi and other localities in Vietnam would be held by the city’s Department of tourism. The Hanoi International Tourism Festival is traditionally held every two years. According to organizers, there were 500,000 domestic and foreign visitors who joined the 2003 festival.