Vietnam is beyond doubt, one of the best places in the world to be spend your vacation in. If you are planning to visit some really beautiful place for your vacations, then nothing can be better than a vacation to Vietnam. Vietnam is a place that is much loved by adventure lovers especially for its best cycling tours. The land of Vietnam can be best explored through cycling trips as it takes the visitor to the core of the land. There are several very good tour operators who conduct some of the best cycling tours in Vietnam. These tours include cycling, boating, visits to several cottage industries, fruit gardens, floating markets and the homes of the local people. The very activity of cycling along the places in Vietnam gives the tourist a different kind of zeal to explore the nature in a better manner.

If you are one of those people who are always craving for adventure and fun, then Vietnam is the place for you to be during your vacations. Vietnam cycling tours offers the best of the thrills and an adventurous experience. A conductive cycling tour can be well availed by contacting the various cycling tour operators that are easily available based on your needs and requirements. The varied terrains and the topography of Vietnam are the basic reasons why cycling is so popular and full of thrills.

The cycling tour programs vary in levels of difficulty in Vietnam. They are designed in that way in order to make this activity popular and exciting for everyone. There are certain people who like cycling but are not confident with slopes, while some people prefer to indulge in hilly cycling. So, the difficulty levels are basically devised for the enjoyment of all the people as people can pick up their cycling tours according to their comfort and confidence level.

These cycling sessions can be held anytime of the day and span up to a couple of hours per day. The duration of the cycling session is largely dependent on the physical condition, interests and the difficulty level of the tourist cyclists. Even if one is a novice, these excursions take ample care and security of the visitors and thereby instill a new confidence in their cycling skills along with bringing them closer to nature. These tours are accompanied by expert guides who guide and instruct the cyclists throughout the excursion.

In the textile industry, companies are increasingly looking for lower cost countries that can provide outsourcing opportunities. The rising cost of land and labour are diminishing China’s labour cost advantage and Vietnam is increasingly seen as a low cost sourcing alternative to China. Estimates are that wage levels in Vietnam are about one third of those in China’s coastal region. Companies that are chasing lower labour costs are increasingly moving production to Vietnam. In a 2008 Booz Allen Hamilton survey 88 percent of companies originally chose China for its lower labour costs. Of the companies surveyed, 55 percent believe China is losing its competitive edge to countries such as Vietnam. The survey also indicated that 63 percent named Vietnam as their top low cost sourcing alternative to China. However, costs may be rising. The Navigos Group, a leading recruitment solutions provider in Vietnam, announced early in the year that there had been a 16.47 percent increase in Vietnamese workers’ average gross salaries between April 2008 and March 2009.

Low cost location

However, low cost labour is hardly a competitive advantage in the long term. Labour cost keeps changing and today’s low cost location is not necessarily tomorrow’s viable outsourcing location. If it is not China or Vietnam, it could be Bangladesh or Cambodia. Ig Hortsmann, a professor of business economics at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management notes that Nike originally off shored manufacturing to Japan. As labour costs increased, manufacturing was later moved to South Korea and Taiwan. When labour cost increased in South Korea and Taiwan, it was moved to China and later also to Vietnam. Justin Wood, a Director of the Economist Intelligence Unit Corporate Network in Singapore makes the point that in the last 15 years Vietnam has moved from a low to a middle income country. The move towards a middle income will likely put additional pressure on Vietnam’s low cost labour status.

Intellectual property threat

For many companies outsourcing to Vietnam, intellectual property (IP) remains a concern. Within the fashion industry, IP is not as enforced as it is within the film and music industries. Designers can “take inspiration” and it is seen as a major driver for setting trends in the industry. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has called for stricter intellectual property enforcement within the fashion industry to better protect companies and promote competitiveness within the textile and clothing industries. “It is a hard thing to take care of and you just have to be faster than everybody else”, says Rolskov. For smaller designers and labels it is much easier to switch manufacturing. However to prevent the copying of designs is a challenging undertaking.

Infrastructure development

For Vietnam to advance as an outsourcing location, the textile industry supply chain needs to be considered. Local logistics are influenced by direct and indirect cost. In Vietnam’s textile industry raw materials are often imported, which increases cost compared with those countries able to source locally. Managing reverse logistics can also be a challenging undertaking in Vietnam. Procedures, processes and infrastructure are sometimes not in place to manage repairs, returns and warranties.

According to a new market research report from Transport Intelligence (Ti) entitled Vietnam Logistics 2009, the high cost of logistics remains one of the biggest stumbling blocks in Vietnam. According to TI analyst John Manners Bell, logistics costs are estimated at 25 percent of Vietnam’s GDP. Even with cheap labour cost, poor infrastructure remains a major barrier for entry. This is largely due to Vietnam being in the early stages of infrastructure development.

Many experts believe that China’s advanced infrastructure gives it a major competitive advantage. Electricity and transportation costs will likely come down even further and and this will have a significant impact on the total cost, even if their labour is more costly. The Vietnamese government is aware of this dynamic and has invested billions of dollars in the country’s infrastructure. The government is actively encouraging foreign direct investment in the country’s infrastructure. This is visible with projects such as the Cai Mep Container Port in the Mekong River Delta and the new Long Thanh airport that’s projected to be completed by 2015.

Through assessing the overall supply chain, rather than a singular focus on labour costs, it is easier to identify where Vietnam’s opportunities and challenges lie in the textile industry. While small scale designers and manufacturers take advantage of a flexible environment, infrastructure and logistics processes will need further investment to make Vietnam an outsourcing destination and source for tomorrow’s fashionista wardrobes.