National Tourism Year 2010 will kick off starting in October with a series of commemorations of the 999th anniversary of the Thang Long-Hanoi, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

The tourist event, the largest of its kind in Vietnam in 2010, will be held throughout the year, mainly in Hanoi, Director General of VNAT Nguyen Van Tuan told a press conference in Hanoi on September 25.

Themed “Thang Long-Hanoi, Thousand-year convergence”, the event once again emphasised that the capital city remains an attractive tourism destination in the region and the world, he added.

National Tourism Year 2010 in Hanoi is scheduled to include the launching of the “Hanoians welcoming visitors” and “Green tourism year” programmes, and the Thang Long-Hanoi international tourism and cuisine festivals.

Also, Hanoi will work together with other domestic and foreign cities and provinces to organise more than 30 cultural and recreational activities, such as a flower street festival, an exhibition on traditional and modern Bat Trang Pottery, a kite-flying festival, participation in the JATA Fair in Japan and the Travex Fair in Brunei, and Vietnam promotion as a tourist destination in China’s Beijing-Shanghai-Guangzhou area.

A ceremony to launch the National Tourism Year 2010 will be held on October 10 in Hanoi