In mid-July, the check-in area and waiting room at Tan Son Nhat airport's domestic terminal were quite deserted despite the peak summer tourist season. Mr. Minh Nhat (living in District 11, Ho Chi Minh City) said he had a business trip to Hanoi but was quite surprised to see the airport so deserted. "Two weeks ago, I went on a trip and participated in a running race in the Central region and saw that there were not as many tourists as last year," said Mr. Nhat.
Host - guest feelings
In fact, according to the reporter of Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, during the 2 peak summer months, many domestic destinations recorded the number of tourists not as crowded as expected, even decreased. For example, Phu Quoc pearl island (Kien Giang province) is going through an unprecedented difficult period. All tourist destinations from the beginning to the end of the island have almost no scenes of crowding and overload like a few years ago. Even the tourist areas invested in are of international standards such as Sunset Town, Hon Thom in the South of the island or VinWonders, Vinpearl in the North of the island, there are no scenes of "long lines" of tourists.
Ms. Luong Thi Ngoan, owner of a famous restaurant in the center of Duong Dong ward, Phu Quoc city, said that the number of customers coming to the restaurant during peak tourist seasons is only about 30% compared to previous years.
"Even though I didn't have to pay rent, last month I still lost hundreds of millions of dong in employee salaries and raw material purchases. Other businesses that rent premises have suffered even heavier losses. In my decades of doing business, except for the COVID-19 pandemic, I have never felt as difficult as I do now," she said sadly.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tong, a tourist from Rach Gia City, Kien Giang Province, said that during the summer vacation, he and his wife took the opportunity to take their two children to Phu Quoc for a 4-day trip. Despite saving as much as possible, it still cost 20 million VND, including: train fare, taxi, budget hotel for 4 people for 4 days costing 9 million VND; 4 cable car tickets to visit Hon Thom cost 450,000 VND/ticket; 4 VinWonders tickets cost 920,000 VND/ticket; then food, pocket money, etc.
"I am a local tourist, only a train ride away from Phu Quoc, a packaged tour, not staying at a coastal resort, but I spent the entire rice harvest season in just 4 days. The trip was not impressive, I only visited some man-made structures, and did not experience places with natural landscapes. I think that is a minus point of Phu Quoc tourism for domestic tourists because it is too expensive" - Mr. Tong said.
A tourist attraction in Phu Quoc is quite deserted even during peak summer tourist season. Photo: DUY NHAN
Many other destinations in the Mekong Delta are also… equally deserted. Ut Trinh Homestay (located in Hoa Ninh Commune, Long Ho District, Vinh Long Province) is the first homestay in the Mekong Delta to meet ASEAN standards, with meticulous investment, combining traditional and modern features.
Homestay guests have the opportunity to experience the authentic life of the Western people, from living, eating to typical activities such as cycling to explore the countryside, fishing in ditches, growing vegetables, cooking, visiting fruit gardens and participating in farm work...
However, this summer, the establishment has recorded a decrease in the number of visitors compared to the same period last year. "The number of visitors has decreased by about 50% compared to the previous period due to the difficult economic situation, people spend less on traveling" - Ms. Pham Thi Ngoc Trinh, owner of Ut Trinh Homestay, shared.
In Quang Nam province, in the first 6 months of the year, the province attracted nearly 3.1 million international visitors (up 27% over the same period) but domestic visitors only reached 1.5 million (a modest increase of only 4%). In some famous tourist destinations such as Hoi An ancient town, My Son sanctuary... the number of visitors is quite large but many businesses said that the business situation is still facing many difficulties, because visitors mainly go sightseeing, rarely shop and limit spending.
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Ha, Director of Gami Hoi An Theme Park Management Joint Stock Company, said that currently, the tourism industry is on the way to recovery but quite slowly, especially domestic tourists tend to decrease compared to last year.
The reason is probably because of the high price of airfares, and the flights with low prices are not convenient (late night). Faced with this reality, tourists tend to change their way of traveling, switching to independent travel, traveling within a radius not too far, about 300 km or less.
Customers switch to... regional travel
In Da Nang City, many travel agencies and tourist attractions reported that despite being in peak season, the number of visitors to Da Nang did not meet expectations due to the impact of airfare prices. Domestic visitors mainly come from neighboring provinces and cities.
Mikazuki Resort representative said that the number of visitors during the peak summer season this year is only 70%-80% of capacity, not reaching the expectation of 90%. The main reason is that airfare is too high, so the resort mainly welcomes visitors by road or train from neighboring provinces from Nghe An to Binh Dinh.
Some tourist areas and destinations believe that the peak summer tourist season is only about 1 month away. After this time, the domestic tourist market will begin to slow down. Therefore, airfares need to be adjusted immediately to ease the difficulties for the tourism industry.
Meanwhile, a report from the Department of Tourism of Binh Dinh province shows that in the first 6 months of 2024, the province welcomed more than 5.6 million visitors, an increase of 106% over the same period in 2023, exceeding the whole year plan (welcoming 5.5 million visitors); revenue of nearly 15,000 billion VND, an increase of 56.8%.
Mr. Tran Van Thanh, Director of Binh Dinh Province Department of Tourism, said that compared to previous years, this is the first time the province has achieved a record in the number of visitors as well as revenue. The reason may come from the fact that Binh Dinh has successfully organized a series of major events, such as: Sports, Culture and Tourism Week 2024; summer tourism programs in 2024 such as: Aquabike Jet Ski World Championship, F1H2O Powerboat World Championship and Teqball World Championship 2024... Thereby, attracting a large number of domestic and foreign tourists to Binh Dinh.
According to Ms. Nguyen Nguyet Van Khanh, Director of Marketing Department - Vietravel Tourism Company, the situation of crowded places and empty places is the reality that the tourism industry is facing. Vietravel is no exception, after the first 6 months of 2024, the number of domestic tourists at the company has decreased slightly, partly because the cost of airfare is quite high, partly because the travel trends of customers are increasingly changing.
Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu, Marketing and Communications Director of Vietluxtour Travel Service Company, said that domestic tourism this summer is divided into two markets. In addition to package tours, tourists tend to choose free & easy tours, option tours (designed according to the specific requirements of the group of guests) and book partial services (hotels, air tickets, car rentals, etc.). The destinations favored by domestic tourists when departing from Ho Chi Minh City are also neighboring destinations such as Nha Trang, Phan Thiet, Phu Yen, Da Nang, etc.
According to Mr. Pham Anh Vu, Deputy General Director of Viet Travel Company, although the company's overall domestic tourism market data still recorded growth compared to the same period, there has been a shift in the demand for each route, location and means of transport. The demand for using trains has increased significantly recently, especially from young tourists and families.
Destinations from Ho Chi Minh City such as Ninh Chu, Nha Trang and from Hanoi such as Quang Binh, Sa Pa... have high demand, increasing by more than 30% compared to last year. Meanwhile, long-distance routes, requiring travel by plane such as Nha Trang, Phu Quoc... decreased by more than 50% over the same period. Tourists from the North switched to using trains as their main means of transport but only to Hue, Da Nang, not to the South or the Central Highlands. These figures reflect destinations that are greatly affected by high airfares and reduced spending power of tourists.
The demand for independent travel is increasing.
In 2023 - 2024, a series of new expressways will be put into operation, helping family groups and customers with personal vehicles have more options, such as Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang via Cam Lam - Vinh Hao expressway in just over 5 hours or from Hanoi to Vinh in just 3-5 hours thanks to Dien Chau - Bai Vot expressway...
This summer, many travel companies have recorded an increase in the number of family groups booking private domestic travel services such as hotels and cars compared to the same period last year. The demand for free travel and personal experiences... has been increased in number due to many favorable factors such as the development of tourism technology and the development of the highway system. In return, businesses have shifted to selling many services such as airline tickets and separate hotels, increasing the flexibility of choices for tourists.
(To be continued)
Source: https://nld.com.vn/du-lich-can-cu-hich-de-bat-len-196240731202131376.htm
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