International visitors to Vietnam during Tet can experience making banh chung and banh tet, receive lucky money and enjoy traditional dishes.
To welcome foreign guests during the Lunar New Year, many resorts and travel companies design their own tours and organize activities to promote traditional New Year culture for visitors to experience.
In Phu Quoc, a destination where 80% of foreign visitors stay at 5-star resorts, many new activities for guests are organized on this occasion. A representative of Salinda Phu Quoc resort said that from February 8 (29th of Lunar New Year) to February 14 (5th of Lunar New Year), most of the guests staying at the resort were foreigners from China, Korea, England, Kazakhstan and Europeans.
The resort organizes activities for visitors to learn about Vietnamese customs and culture. This year, the resort will organize a New Year's Eve ceremony, lion dance, and workshops on how to wrap Chung cake, Tet cake, make handmade apricot and peach blossoms, make lucky money envelopes, and give New Year's greetings. In addition, each guest will also receive a booklet with information about Tet programs, including an introduction to the traditional Tet holiday and the zodiac symbols of the new year.
One of the activities that tourists are interested in is the class to make banh chung and banh tet. Aran and Jeroen from the Netherlands said this was their fifth time on vacation in Phu Quoc and their second time coming to Vietnam during the Lunar New Year. "Every time we come back, we feel like we are returning to visit family," Aran said.
Two Dutch male tourists participated in a banh tet wrapping workshop to learn more about Vietnamese traditional Tet cuisine and felt lucky to have chosen to travel on this special occasion.
"We wish all our Vietnamese friends and families in the Netherlands a Tet filled with health, happiness and prosperity," said Aran and Jeroen.
At Pullman Phu Quoc Resort, foreign guests also make up the majority of this Lunar New Year, mainly Koreans and Russian-speaking people. To enhance the guest experience and promote the beauty of Vietnamese Tet culture, the resort organizes free folk games and dedicates an outdoor area for Chung cake wrapping classes.
A Korean male tourist staying at the resort shared that this was the first time his family had come to Phu Quoc during the Lunar New Year. He, his wife and their young child tried wrapping banh chung and learned about traditional Tet dishes. After being instructed by the chefs, the Korean family was able to wrap their first banh chung.
"The hotel helped me cook that cake and served it the next day. I really had a lot of interesting experiences and learned more about Vietnamese cultural traditions," the male tourist said.
Young Korean tourists are instructed on how to wrap banh chung. Photo: Pullman Phu Quoc resort
In Ho Chi Minh City, some travel agencies have also designed their own tour programs to serve foreign tourists coming to the city during Tet. Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu, Marketing and Communications Director of Vietluxtour, said that the number of international visitors to the company during this time increased by 50% compared to the same period last year. The main markets are Poland, the Czech Republic, and Australia. In addition to the inner-city tours to explore the city's culture and history, the company also launched the "Westerners celebrate Tet" tour so that foreign tourists can have more interesting activities and experience the traditional Tet culture of the Vietnamese people. Tourists can enjoy Tet dishes such as banh tet, banh chung, braised pork, pickled onions and receive lucky money.
Foreign visitors receive lucky money when they arrive in Vietnam during Tet, photo taken on February 7. Photo: Vietluxtour
Mr. Tran The Dung, General Director of Vietluxtour, said that in previous years the company has received positive feedback from tourists after experiencing Tet in Vietnam.
"The company maintains this activity every year to increase the diversity of tourism products and bring foreign tourists beautiful impressions of Vietnamese culture," said Mr. Dung.
Bich Phuong
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