Around 100,000 leaflets on Ha Long Bay will be printed in four or five foreign languages to help foreign holiday-makers vote for Ha Long Bay as one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
An agreement to the effect was signed on March 24 between the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism and the Civil Aviation Administration of Viet Nam (CAAV).
Under the agreement, the leaflets will be provided to tourists together with their flight tickets. The CAAV will install computers and arrange guides at waiting halls of Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport and Hanoi’s Noi Bai and Da Nang airports to help foreign tourists with necessary information on voting for Ha Long Bay.
The official result of online voting will be announced on August 8, 2008.
Ha Long Bay, which covers more than 430 sq. km of sea surface in the Eastern Sea of Vietnam, whose name means “Descending Dragonâ€, is dotted with nearly 800 limestone islands that rise spectacularly from the sea. It is renowned for diverse geographical features such as a unique system of caves that were formed by the encroaching water.
Geographical attractions aside, Ha Long Bay is home to a diverse ecological system that includes mangrove forests, tropical forests and coral reefs that are inhabited by more than 1,000 species of fish and marine animals.
The islands are also home to many species of birds, bantams, antelopes, monkeys and iguanas.
Ha Long Bay has twice been recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a World Natural Heritage site.
