On November 3, 2024, the Viettel Marathon will officially kick off in Luang Prabang (Laos). This is the first leg in a series of races across three Indochinese countries hosted by Vietnam. Athletes will participate in three stages: starting in Luang Prabang (Laos) on November 3, 2024; the second stage in Hanoi (Vietnam) on December 1, 2024 and the finishing stage in Siem Reap (Cambodia) on December 22, 2024.
“Tickets sold out” before Viettel Marathon 2024
According to local government leaders, previous marathons held in Luang Prabang were usually small-scale, with about 2,000 - 3,000 participants, but Viettel Marathon has so far had more than 5,000 registered athletes, coming from other provinces/cities in Laos and neighboring countries.
Due to the sudden increase in demand ahead of the race, airfares from Hanoi to Luang Prabang have nearly doubled compared to the same time a month ago. The race organizers in Luang Prabang also said that train tickets from other provinces/cities to Luang Prabang are almost fully booked this weekend - the time of the Viettel Marathon. Hotels and homestays in Luang Prabang have been "fully booked" for about a week.
Ms. Pham Quynh Anh - a Vietnamese who manages Villa Nam Khan Heritage, a small homestay located on the Nam Khan River - said that her hotel was fully booked from October 31 to November 4. "Some are guests from Vietnam, there are also many foreign tourists and they shared that they came to Luang Prabang to participate in the Unitel race," Ms. Quynh Anh shared.
The Viettel Marathon Organizing Committee said that it has coordinated with local authorities to make careful preparations, ensuring that 100% of participating athletes enjoy suitable accommodation and experience services. Specifically, on October 23, 2024, the Luang Prabang authorities sent local staff to support the implementation and welcome the delegation participating in the race. The Organizing Committee also provided accommodation packages with BIBs.
Unitel - a joint venture between Viettel and Lao Asia Telecom, the largest telecommunications network in Laos - commented: "Viettel Marathon 2024 not only contributes to promoting the sports movement but also plays an important role in building the international image of Vietnamese enterprises and developing a sustainable relationship between the two countries." For Unitel, the race is not only an opportunity to promote its brand image but also a gratitude event from Unitel to customers and Lao people who have always trusted and accompanied Unitel on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of this brand. Since September 2024, Unitel has proactively coordinated with Viettel Telecom Corporation and Vietcontent to implement important activities, meeting high requirements for professional organization and maximum support from local agencies to ensure the success of Viettel Marathon 2024.
In particular, Unitel introduced the super application LaoApp with outstanding features, integrating a multi-channel ticketing and payment system, supporting popular payment methods and helping users register for events easily.
Viettel gives roaming data to athletes participating in Viettel Marathon 2024
To support customers to maintain continuous connection during the race, athletes who are Viettel customers who successfully register for the race will experience the free first time registration of the IRU3 package - unlimited Roaming data for 3 days in Laos and Cambodia. Athletes only need to send a message IRU3 to 191 or dial *098*0125# with the Viettel phone number that matches the registration number when purchasing the race ticket, the system will record and waive the registration fee for customers.
Being able to participate in an international running competition while staying in constant contact and sharing beautiful images of your country immediately with friends and relatives in Vietnam promises to be the most memorable experience in 2024 for athletes.
With the effort to popularize Roaming service, Viettel is currently the leading network operator in Roaming price incentives. Since 2017, following the trend of global networks, Viettel with the advantage of network infrastructure due to having member networks (Metfone in Cambodia, Unitel in Laos) has pioneered the implementation of the Roam like home policy (allowing users of 3 networks to use data, voice and SMS when roaming internationally between Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia at the same price), accordingly, voice price has decreased 14 times, data price has decreased up to 140 times. This is a breakthrough in bringing real benefits to users when using telecommunications services abroad on their own Viettel phone numbers.
In order to maximize customer benefits, from the end of 2023, Viettel has deployed the IRU unlimited Data Roaming package with a package price (Viettel Data Roaming Unlimited) in these two countries for only 25,000 VND/day with many options for usage time.
Not only providing unlimited data roaming packages in Indochina countries, Viettel also has a DRU package - unlimited data roaming to 48 countries/territories for 50,000 VND/day. In addition, Viettel is currently the network operator with the widest data roaming package coverage of up to 130 countries/territories worldwide.
Viettel Marathon 2024, organized by Viettel Military Industry and Telecommunications Group in collaboration with the Asian Athletics Federation, the Athletics Federations of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, is an Asian-standard sporting event expected to attract 25,000 participants, held in three countries: Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. This is also an activity in a series of events celebrating Viettel's 20th anniversary of mobile service business (October 15, 2004 - October 15, 2024).
This is the tournament with the highest prize value ever, up to nearly 3.7 billion VND (~150,000 USD), divided equally among all subjects from professional athletes, to amateur athletes, running groups...
