Massive emigration due to long holiday
Having just transferred more than 40 million VND to a "favorite" travel company to pay for a 5-day, 4-night cruise tour to Malaysia - Singapore from the 3rd to the 7th of Tet, Ms. Thanh Hien (living in Nha Be District, Ho Chi Minh City) hurriedly prepared her belongings and went to the airport to return to Hanoi. The Tet holiday lasts for 3 weeks, Ms. Hien decided to return to Ho Chi Minh City earlier than every year so that the newlyweds could make their first spring trip of the new year. Initially, Ms. Hien planned to go to Da Lat to avoid the heat, but after asking a few familiar homestays, they were all reported to be fully booked, and a few places that still had vacancies had rooms that were a bit small and the prices were double the usual, so she was worried about the crowded conditions at "hot" destinations. Introduced by an acquaintance to a discounted tour, the couple chose the cruise tour from Malaysia to Singapore. "Actually, I have been to Malaysia and Singapore many times. My husband wants to go to Thailand, but we just went to Thailand during the New Year, so how can we go back? If we go on longer routes, we won't have time to get a visa, and it's a matter of luck. Let's go for a change and try a cruise tour. At first, I chose Da Lat because I hadn't been there in 6 years. Seeing my friends posting a lot of photos, I wanted to go back and try it. Normally, I absolutely don't travel domestically during the holidays. It's too crowded! Da Lat is also fully booked. If you have time to travel during the spring, go to nearby countries. It's fun and the prices are sometimes even cheaper," said Ms. Thanh Hien.
During the long Tet holiday, besides choosing foreign tours, domestic tours also attract many people. In the photo: Tourists visit Hoi An ancient town
Like Ms. Hien, Mr. Tran Lam (living in District 7, Ho Chi Minh City) has also chosen to travel abroad for many years during holidays and Tet because he is afraid of overloading domestic destinations. "Each locality will only have a few hot destinations, so surely during Tet, everyone will flock there. For example, taking the cable car, waiting for half a day for your turn, and the shops cannot serve you because they are overloaded. Sightseeing is not possible, eating is not possible. Then there are trains and buses, everything is expensive. My family often avoids traveling domestically during peak times. This year, I did not go out, just returned to my hometown. I will not plan to travel until March, when the situation of domestic destinations "cools down", then I can also plan to go somewhere around, Phu Quoc or Quy Nhon...", Mr. Lam shared.
Concerns about overloaded services and high prices are also the reasons why more and more Vietnamese people choose to travel abroad for spring. According to Viet Travel Company, the number of customers buying tours for the Lunar New Year 2024 is forecast to increase by about 30% compared to last year. Up to now, the company has completed more than 90% of the Tet business target, of which most outbound tours have been "closed". Mr. Pham Anh Vu, Communications Director of Viet Travel, said that spring travel tours abroad are somewhat more dominant than domestic tours because they ensure attractive schedules, reasonable prices, and the long Tet holiday gives tourists more time to experience, and tours from 4 to 6 days are chosen a lot. Nearby destinations in the region such as Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia... and Northeast Asian destinations such as Taiwan, Japan, and Korea continue to be popular with many tourists. Tours to distant markets have been completely closed at this time. Among them, the Thailand tour is the most popular because it costs only 7.5 million VND, an increase of about 1 million VND compared to normal and cheaper than domestic tours by plane. In this segment, the tour connecting Singapore and Malaysia also attracts customers; while the China, Japan and Taiwan routes are sold out, accounting for about 30% of the tours of Viet Tourism.
At TST Tourist, the number of customers buying foreign tours for spring travel is also slightly overwhelming the number of domestic tourists. Long-distance tours that require visas have almost all been "closed", and many tours after Tet until March have also been closed. The "hottest" destination is Japan, followed by Korea, China and European countries. The trend of customers traveling in family groups of 4 or more people is very large and booking tours early, so in general, tour prices are stable and do not fluctuate. Notably, Mr. Nguyen Minh Man, Director of Communications - Marketing of TST Tourist, informed that the travel needs of Vietnamese customers this year are very diverse. While there are groups of customers buying tours who have to think about prices in the context of economic difficulties, there are also many customers who choose high-end services. "There are families who booked our tour to Australia, the total cost is nearly 200 million VND/person. The service is extremely high-class. Therefore, the total number of international visitors may not be as high as every year, but the high-class tour segment is quite large, the tour value is high," said Mr. Man.
Tourists visit Hoi An ancient town
Saigontourist Travel Service Company has also closed orders to serve many groups of tourists choosing tours to Western Europe, Southern Europe and cruise tours worth around 100 million VND/person. These routes are currently fully booked, showing the increasing trend of high-end tourists with the need to experience high-class services when traveling abroad.
Domestic tours are equally exciting.
Although the growth of outbound tours is good, Ms. Doan Thi Thanh Tra, Marketing and Communications Director of Saigontourist Travel Service Company, said that domestic tours are not inferior. Although the revenue may not be equal to that of outbound tours, the number of customers buying domestic spring tours through Saigontourist Travel is slightly higher. This is due to the huge increase in overseas Vietnamese customers, accounting for 80% of the total number of customers booking tours before Tet and 60% of customers buying tours after Tet of the company. Overseas Vietnamese customers often choose long-term tours, at least 5 days, and can last up to 8-10 days. They focus on tours to visit, explore culture, and experience routes in the Central region (Da Nang, Hue, Hoi An, etc.) and the North (Ninh Binh, Quang Ninh, the Northwestern provinces, etc.). According to Ms. Thanh Tra, in general, the value of domestic tours is moderate, so it still attracts a large number of customers. Except for tours using airplanes and 4-5 star services such as Phu Quoc, Da Nang, Hanoi tours, etc., the prices may be higher than tours to Thailand. There are many other road tours such as Nha Trang, Phan Thiet, Da Lat, etc., most of which have not increased significantly in price. "Not to mention that many families with elderly people and children who go on overseas tours are often more difficult, having to go to many places continuously, so they still tend to choose domestic tours because they are more relaxed and have more of a resort feel," Ms. Thanh Tra said.
Ms. Doan Thi Thanh Tra, Marketing and Communications Director of Saigontourist Travel Service Company
Vietluxtour Travel is also expecting the number of customers buying F&E retail services (customers who only book basic services instead of buying a package tour) to increase sharply in the days leading up to Tet. The demand for domestic tours at this company has not cooled down compared to the peak season of Lunar New Year 2023. In particular, customers buying retail services and F&E increased compared to package tours.
Mr. Nguyen Minh Man also assessed that the domestic tourism market is having many positive changes, largely thanks to the fact that localities have recently invested in a more diverse, in-depth, and more focused product system. For example, Phu Quoc with a series of newly launched "blockbusters" is gradually attracting a large number of tourists back to the pearl island; night-time economic products, after a long period of sluggishness and shouting, have now really moved, with more entertainment venues after 6 p.m. in Ho Chi Minh City; Binh Dinh organizes Formula 1 motorboat racing...
According to Mr. Man, creative products are becoming more and more practical; local product promotion and advertising work is also more professional and systematic than before. However, in order for products to truly exert their full effect and become a magnet to attract customers to strongly stimulate domestic tourism, a national-scale promotion and advertising strategy with a more in-depth approach to customers is still needed.
"I have just participated in famtrip groups organized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, which were carried out very professionally. They surveyed and made a list of the top travel agencies in key markets, then organized famtrip groups with each group having its own program, selecting suitable experience products. For example, groups of French and Italian travel agencies will follow a different program than groups from Southeast Asian countries... Classifying each source of customers and approaching customer files through large travel agencies is a way to promote the right products and hit the right target," Mr. Nguyen Minh Man suggested.
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