"Sold out" tour since mid-February
After agreeing that the whole family would travel abroad on the occasion of April 30, at the end of February, Ms. Vu Minh Hue, a bank employee (living in Hoang Mai District, Hanoi), contacted a travel agency to book a tour to Thailand. What surprised Ms. Hue was that the company announced that the tour to Thailand had been "closed", leaving only tours to Korea, Japan, Taiwan (China)...
Thailand is a destination chosen by many Vietnamese tourists for the upcoming April 30 holiday.
Ms. Hue shared: "Every year, I only plan to travel for April 30 at the end of March. This year, after Tet, there is a holiday schedule, I planned to book 2 months in advance to buy a tour at a good price, but unexpectedly, the seats were sold out early. I also asked some other travel companies, there were seats available but the flight date was earlier than the holiday schedule."
Not only customers booking tours, even travel companies are surprised because foreign tours are selling out early.
Mr. Bui Thanh Tu, Marketing Director (BestPrice Travel Company), said that since the 5th day of the first lunar month of the year of the Cat (January 26), immediately after the information about the Hung Kings' Commemoration Day holiday schedule close to the April 30 and May 1 holidays was announced, there were customers texting to inquire about the April 30 tour.
"There has never been a year when the April 30 tour was in high demand after Tet. We have not even had time to introduce the April 30 tour yet and we already have customers booking. Up to now, 4 groups going to Thailand during the holiday are all fully booked. Tours to Korea and Singapore are also almost fully booked; they may be "closed" by mid-March," said Mr. Tu.
Many companies said that the number of customers booking tours on April 30 increased sharply, 3 times higher than normal days.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen, Director of Gbest Vietnam Travel Company, said that in terms of cost, the price of tours to European and American countries is quite high compared to the general level. Moreover, the 5-day holiday is suitable for traveling to Asian countries. The most popular tours are tours to Thailand, Korea, Japan, Singapore...; the most crowded is the group of more than 200 people going to Thailand.
In addition, tours to China are also of interest to many customers. "Currently, China is still considering the time to open, so we are still working with partners to build tours; first of all, road tours to popular destinations such as: Phoenix Ancient Town, Lijiang, Kunming... When China opens, we will receive customers immediately," said Ms. Huyen.
Tour price increased by 30%
Explaining why foreign tours are popular on April 30, according to Mr. Bui Thanh Tu: "Although last year, some markets opened, the prices were high, along with strict quarantine requirements, so this year is the year that foreign tours really "exploded". Besides, currently, domestic airfares are normally more expensive than international flights, and holiday tickets are even more expensive and scarce, so many people have switched to traveling abroad."
Surveying tour prices on the market, with a 5-day holiday on April 30, the tour to Thailand is currently selling at the cheapest price, from 8 - 10 million VND/person, the tour to Singapore is from 13 - 15 million VND/person, the tour to Korea is 18 - 20 million VND/person, the tour to Taiwan (China) is 15 million VND/person, the tour to Japan is 35 million VND/person...
According to travel companies, the prices for holidays like this have increased by about 30% compared to normal days. However, compared to domestic tour prices, many tourists still choose to go abroad.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen analyzed: "The psychology of tourists in the North, after a long cold winter and spring, often choose to vacation at the beach or in the warm sunny southern provinces. However, unlike previous years, this year the ticket price from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc during the holidays is quite high, about 7 - 8 million VND/round trip ticket, equal to the price of a package tour to Thailand. If you include the hotel room, the cost of food, accommodation, and travel is about 12 - 15 million VND/person, equal to going to Singapore and Korea".
If in the past, customers chose to buy a travel combo (air tickets and hotel reservations), now choosing to buy a tour is still more reasonable. Although countries that have reopened tourism have all lifted Covid-19 quarantine, Mr. Bui Thanh Tu recommends that, in addition to good health preparation, Vietnamese tourists should still prepare a photo of proof of having received 2 Covid-19 vaccinations.
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