Thursday, October 12, 2006
Macao firms, Vietnam resort ink cooperation deal
Vietnam’s central Furama Danang Resort & Spa signed memorandums of understanding (MoU) with Macao-based businesses from China on tourism and air service cooperation.
The signing ceremony took place Wednesday during the visit of the delegation of officials and businessmen of China’s Macao Special Administrative Region to Danang city.
The resort inked an MOU with Viva Macao Limited to launch a low-cost direct air service between Macao and Danang city in the first quarter next year.
Under the MOU, the Furama Danang will cooperate with Viva Macao for accommodation and aviation services when the company offers air service to the city to tap potential travelers on the route.
Also yesterday, the resort inked another MOU with Macao-based travel firm Gray Line Tours Ltd. over their cooperative tourism activities and promotions in both destinations.
The first event under the MOU, the city tourism sector is set to organize Vietnamese cultural week in Macao next month to introduce culture and tourism potentials of Danang.
The MOUs with two Macao companies were important to bringing a large volume of international travelers to not only Furama Resort but also the central coastal city, said Huynh Tan Vinh, deputy general manager of Furama.
Vinh, who is also chairman of the Danang Tourism Association, expected that more business and leisure travelers would come from Macao to Danang, especially for MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition).
Furama Danang can receive some 80,000 guests and commission a 2,500-sq.m conference hall able to accommodate 1,500 people at a time to meet the demand of MICE tourists.
The resort said room occupancy had exceeded 60 percent and that its operations had come back to normal after Typhoon Xangsane tore through central Vietnam earlier this month.
Danang’s rapid development has attracted the interest of foreign business people and airlines.
Thai Airways International Public Co. Ltd. has mulled over resuming air service between Bangkok and Danang next year.
