Vietnam to offer first trans-ASEAN motor tour

Nine tourists from the US, Canada and Norway will join in a trans-ASEAN tour by motorbike, which will be launched in Vietnam for the first time on September 24, 2008.

The trip will last two months under which travellers will drive through Vietnam for 20 days, then travel across Laos, Cambodia and Thailand before ending up in Malaysia.

The tour is offered by the Vinh Tan Tourism and Trade Company (Vyta Tours), which is also the first travel business in Vietnam and Southeast Asia to arrange trips of this type for tourists going in groups.

Vyta Tours Director Phan Than said his company came to the idea of this type of tour in the light of its 12-year experience in offering trans-Vietnam motor tours for foreign tourists.

According to Than, such tours are popular among foreign travellers despite higher prices.

Than said he thought Vietnam has a great potential for developing this type of tourism as the country is located on the trans-Asia road and boasts various recognised world natural and cultural heritage sites such as the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, the former imperial capital of Hue, the ancient town of Hoi An and the My Son relics.

However, the number of motor tours remains limited at several trips a year in Vietnam due to complicated procedures in tour approval and granting driving licences for travellers, Than added.