Visitors take the tour in September 2017 (Source: http://www.vietnamtourism.com)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Tours to Hanoi’sOpera House, a historic landmark in the capital, have been put on hold afterless than a year.
According to a source from the Opera House,tours had been put on hold while repair work was taking place, and would resumein early September.
The tour was run twice a week on Mondaysand Fridays and lasted for 90 minutes, costing 400,000 VND (18 USD).
When asked about the possibility ofreducing the price, the official, who preferred to remain anonymous, said: “Weare still running an experimental tour and haven’t decided a fixed price yet.It depends on the art programme, which has not been staged yet.”
“The tour is not that interesting and theprice is fairly high so travel agencies haven’t shown much interest,” said LeDuc Phong, director of a travel agency in Hanoi.
“I have a feeling that the Opera House tourstaff are still very busy with the shows and don’t have time for the tours.”
Luu Duc Ke from the Hanoi TourismCorporation said that if the tours were only 15-20 minutes, reasonably pricedand aimed at domestic guesses, they would be better.
“I find the tour is half Vietnamese, halfforeign,” said Bui Thi Nhan, Director of the Sea Ecology Tourism Company. “Theprice is more suitable for foreigners than Vietnamese people, but the show isnot really suitable for foreign tourists.”
The Opera House was built in 1901 andcompleted in 1911 by the French following the design of the Opera Garnier inParis. It has been assessed as one of the most beautiful buildings in SoutheastAsia. The house is one of the most opulent building in Hanoi, and houses majorevents, meetings and high-class performances by domestic and world artists.-VNS/VNA
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