Hanoi preparing for APEC 2006

Hanoi tourism sector is making preparations for the 2006 APEC summit with about 60 conferences and meetings due to take place for the whole year of 2006, expected to draw thousands of delegates

Hanoi’s hotels system has developed considerably in recent years, attracting much domestic and foreign investment and beautifying the city’s architecture with modern and large buildings.

This is a favourable condition to help the city organise great international events such as the 22nd Southeast Asian Games, ASEM 5 and many other high-level meetings of the region.

At present, the city has enough hotels to receive delegates and tourists due to join activities in the framework of the 2006 Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum summit.

There will be thousands of delegates and officials from 21 APEC member countries and three delegations as observers of the APEC to participate in events in Hanoi, including 20 heads of states.

Arrivals in Hanoi during the time may surge sharply, requiring well-done preparations to serve tourists, particularly in the field of hotels.

The city now has 420 hotels with more than 12,500 rooms, including 166 standard hotels with 8,330 rooms. They consist of seven five-star hotels with 2,045 rooms, let alone the 299-roomed Sheraton hotel that is waiting for the official five-star recognition by the National Administration for Tourism.

Melia hotel.
 
Eighty six hotels have sufficient necessary conditions to serve delegates to the summit, said the Hanoi Tourism Department. These hotels can accommodate 11,650 people with modern facilities such as telecommunications, satellite televisions, internet, swimming pools, tennis courts and other services.

The city is expected to improve and build nearly 1,000 hotel rooms to meet the demands, including Hanoi Tourism Corporation’s hotels of Hoan Kiem, Dong Loi, Intercontinental, Holiday and Thuy Tien.

In August, the tourism industry of Hanoi opened four training courses for 300 learners from 200 travel companies in the city in order to improve their knowledge in organising a great international conference.

By having experiences in holding the previous international events, Hanoi tourism sector will be certainly capable of serving the 2006 APEC summit with success.
 
 
Nhan Dan