Www.onlinetravelvietnam.com: A short film promoting Ho Chi Minh City’s 100 most interesting tourism products, services, and attractions will be shown aboard aircraft belonging to eight international airlines later this year, according to a local official.

La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of the city Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said Tuesday that representatives of the carriers -- including Air France, the US’ United Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, and Taiwan’s EVA Air -- have agreed to show the three-and-a-half-minute clip.

But they asked the city’s tourism authorities to write about the program to their head office.

“We will send the document at the beginning of April to launch the program as soon as possible,” Khanh told Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon Online (Saigon Economic Times Online) newspaper.

“According to the initial agreement, the program will take place until the end of 2010.”

But he did not indicate when it would begin.

The 100 “interesting things” list the top 10 in 10 different categories in the city – city tours, eateries, hotels, shopping venues, favorite Vietnamese delicacies, coffee shops, sightseeing spots, favorite entertainment venues at night, local products, and cultural events.

The top eateries include Ngon Restaurant, Com Nieu Saigon Restaurant, which specializes in clay-pot rice dishes, and Ngoc Suong Saigon Seafood Restaurant.

The ten best sight-seeing spots consist of the Notre Dame Cathedral, the HCMC Central Post Office, Ben Thanh Market, the War Remnants Museum, and the Vinh Nghiem Pagoda.

They were chosen by local officials, tourists, and tourism professionals.

The list, announced in February, is part of a “HCMC – 100 interesting things” campaign launched late last year by the tourism department to promote the city as an attractive and safe destination for tourists.

HCMC, Vietnam’s largest tourism hub, welcomed some 2.6 million foreign visitors last year, down 200,000 from 2008. It was the first decline in arrivals since 2003 when a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic hit the country.

But revenue from tourism was up 13 percent last year at VND35 trillion ($1.89 billion).

The tourist industry hopes to attract 2.8 million foreign travelers this year.

Source: Tuoi Tre