Published:  23:56 Thursday - January 03, 2013

The first tourists to visit HCM City this year got a warm welcome yesterday at Tan Son Nhat Airport by officials from the Department of Culture, Tourism and Sports and the city's Tourism Association.

They included 315 passengers coming from Frankfurt, Germany on Vietnam Airlines and 150 others arriving from Hong Kong aboard a Cathay Pacific aircraft.

Last year HCM City received 3.8 million international visitors, representing 56 per cent of all foreign visitors to Vietnam - a year-on-year increase of 8.5 per cent.

Boats look on as New Year's fireworks erupt over Sydney Harbour Bridge on Monday night. Sydney
kicked off a wave of dazzling firework displays welcoming in 2013, from Dubai to Moscow and London.– AFP Photo

The city tourism industry reported revenue of VND68 trillion (nearly US$3.3 billion), 42.5 per cent of the country's total tourism earnings.

This year the industry is expected to make great efforts to improve its products and services and ensure safety for travellers, without hiking up prices of tours and services, according to La Quoc Khanh, Deputy Director of HCM City Department of Culture, Tourism and Sports.

On Sunday, Sandra Noel, a British tourist, received a big welcome and gifts for being last year's two millionth guest in the ancient city of Hue.

Representatives of HCM City's Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism present gifts
to the city's first visitors of 2013 yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Quang Nhut

Speaking at a ceremony, the director of the Hue Centre for Monument Conservation, Phan Thanh Hai, said that at a time of global economic turmoil, receiving 2 million visitors was "beyond expectations".

Meanwhile, localities nationwide including Ha Noi, Can Tho and Binh Duong held festivals featuring cultural, musical and sports activities to welcome the New Year.

The event was jointly organised by the municipal People's Committee and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Global party

A million people crammed into New York's Times Square yesterday to greet the New Year in a global party that kicked off in Australia before rolling around the world in a non-stop chain of fireworks displays.

An estimated 1 billion television viewers around the world also watched the Big Apple extravaganza, which climaxed when the mayor, aided by a bevy of Rockettes dancers, sent the traditional glittering crystal ball down a pole at one minute to midnight.

Kissing and dancing erupted in the thronged streets as fireworks erupted over Manhattan.

"It's something you need to do in your life. It's New York and New Year's Eve," said an excited Juli, 18, visiting from Austria.

Worldwide celebrations got started on a balmy summer's night in Sydney with a A$6.9 million (US$7.2) pyrotechnics display overseen by pop star Kylie Minogue. From there, the endless party shifted to a kaleidoscopic eight-minute jamboree in Hong Kong, with the city's famed Victoria Harbor lit up in spectacular fashion, and fireworks across other Asian cities, including for the first time Yangon.

As midnight moved westward through time zones, the world's tallest building, Dubai's Burj Khalifa, was the centrepiece of festivities in the huge expatriate and tourist hub.

In Britain, tens of thousands braved rain on the banks of the Thames to see fireworks and the London Eye wheel lit up in changing colours.

"What an amazing end to an incredible year," said the British capital's Mayor Boris Johnson, alluding to the Olympic and royal spectaculars of 2012.

In Washington, the White House and top Republicans had cause for their own celebration when they struck a last-minute budget deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff" tax hikes and spending cuts.

But it was New York that led the US party scene, with South Korean pop sensation Psy and country star Taylor Swift in the line-up and the Empire State Building blazing in an unusual pulsating light display.

Frederick Martineau, a sales rep from Quebec, Canada, made the trip to Times Square as a Christmas present for his girlfriend, Sonia Lapointe.

Asked about his 2013 resolution, Martineau, 38, patted his substantial midriff and grinned: "Guess what?"

Another Canadian couple, who were kitted out with tinsel and small golden trumpets, said coming to the Big Apple New Year's bash was a dream come true.

"I've always wanted to be here. I've watched it on TV for so many years," Sherry, 49, said.

"2012 was a hard year. I survived pancreatic cancer this year. I lost my brother this year. So we have come here with a lot of hope for next year."

In South America, Rio de Janeiro, officials promised a bumper 16-minute, 24-tonne display opposite Copacabana Beach.

Meanwhile, in Russia, President Vladimir Putin used a traditional New Year's address to call for unity following a year of protests against his return to the Kremlin for a third term.

In Rome, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated New Year's Eve vespers in St Peter's Basilica, voicing solidarity with the poor and calling on believers to pause to reflect from time to time despite busy lives.

"We have to know how to stop and think. This way our soul can find healing for the inevitable wounds of everyday life," he said.

In Spain, revelers who gathered in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square ahead of midnight – cowed by cold, rain and recession – sought to numb the pain of economic crisis with a glass of wine and plenty of cheer.

Manuela Ibanez, 51, who came from Barcelona with her two daughters, said: "At times like this we forget the crisis."

In Paris, however, there was less cheer as authorities issued a reminder that all fireworks are officially banned for the night.

Earlier in Asia, in regions devastated by Typhoon Bopha which hit the southern Philippines in early December killing more than 1,000 people, many survivors said food, work and permanent shelter topped their priorities.

In the capital Manila, authorities had been bracing for the annual rush of injuries as families celebrated with do-it-yourself fireworks displays and shot celebratory bullets into the air.

Seoul ushered in 2013 with a ritual ringing of the city's 15th-century bronze bell 33 times, reflecting the ancient practice of marking a new year.

Millions visited temples and shrines in Japan for "ninen-mairi" two-year prayers, gathering at family homes to feast on soba noodles and watch the New Year variety show Kohaku Uta Gassen or the Red and White Song Contest. Fireworks also went up in cities across China. And in Chinese Taiwan, hundreds of thousands defied chilly winds to pack the square in front of the Taipei City Hall for a concert featuring Taiwanese pop diva A-Mei and Hong Kong-based singer and actor Aaron Kwok.

In Myanmar, however, an estimated 50,000 flocked to Yangon's revered golden Shwedagon Pagoda for the city's first public New Year countdown and fireworks display, seen as further evidence of opening up.

"I came here to have fun and leave disappointment behind," said 27-year-old reveler Sithu.

But in India, rocked by the deadly gang-rape of a young medical student, the armed forces cancelled New Year celebrations while many hotels and bars scaled back parties out of respect for the unnamed victim.

Meanwhile, at least 61 people died and dozens more were injured in Abidjan as crowds that had gather for celebratory New Year's fireworks stampeded overnight, Ivory Coast rescue workers said yesterday.

Witnesses said the stampede had broken out after the fireworks ended, though the cause remains unclear.

 VNS/AFP