Mr. Manh Dung's family in Bac Ninh has just finished their trip to Da Nang. Unlike previous years, he did not take a plane but chose to travel by bus. Although it took 12 hours, the ticket price was 1 million VND/person cheaper. This summer, Mr. Dung has another trip with friends and is considering it when domestic airfares increase:
"If we go from North to South, we have to choose another option, because the ticket price is too high, which will increase the cost for the whole family. The plan is to go to Phu Quoc, but when I compare it to going to Thailand, I find it much cheaper."
Domestic airfares are currently 30-70% higher than the same period last year, causing domestic tour prices to also increase by 5-7%.
According to a survey by reporters, domestic airfares are currently 30-70% higher than the same period last year, causing domestic tour prices to increase by 5-7%. On some online ticket sales sites, the Hanoi - Phu Quoc round trip is now priced at up to 13 million VND, nearly double the price of a ticket to Bangkok, Thailand, equivalent to a package tour to Zhangjiajie, China. This has had a strong impact on people's travel needs: "I'm planning to go on the Vinh - Buon Ma Thuot route. Honestly, I want to go by plane for speed and convenience, otherwise it's too far away, and it's too hard for my children. So I have no plans to go at all."
Not only the people but also travel companies have been affected. Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen, General Director of GBest Vietnam Joint Stock Company, said that the number of tourists going on foreign tours increased by about 20% compared to the same period, with package prices ranging from 10 to 25 million VND. However, the number of tourists going on domestic tours using air routes has decreased by 40%.
"We are diversifying our products, providing partial consulting services to help tourists have many suitable choices in terms of flight routes, airlines, destinations and some services that make up the price such as hotels (star category), destinations, sightseeing fees, etc.
In addition, we also cooperate with many travel agencies to have the best cost for customers. We also hope to have price stability again as soon as possible, especially for flights.
We also hope to have the participation of local tourism agencies to be able to implement good cooperation, taking the number of customers coming to the locality as the basis to increase benefits for suppliers instead of high prices causing customers' tourism demand to decrease," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen.
According to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Viet Thai, Head of the Faculty of Hotel and Tourism, University of Commerce, although airfares have increased, people's demand for travel is still very high (in the first quarter, it increased by more than 30%). This has caused changes in the market, the number of visitors tends to decrease in distant destinations but will increase in nearby destinations. The shift from air to road and rail will also be a big challenge for the infrastructure and parking systems at tourist destinations that are already overloaded.
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Viet Thai said that, in addition to solving immediate problems, localities and businesses need to consider long-term solutions to stimulate sustainable domestic tourism: "First, travel companies and localities must create attractive tourism products with special features, suitable for the needs of each customer group to attract returning customers and create a spread with other customer groups.
Second, we must have links between localities and businesses. We have done this, but the problem is turning awareness into action. There are businesses that, when they have no customers, are very enthusiastic about joining the chain. However, when customer demand increases, people are ready to give up. There must be long-term links and strict compliance, there must be businesses leading those chains.
Third is communication and promotion activities about destinations. It is necessary to emphasize the differences of each product that touches the needs of each target customer group. The point is that people must know, be heard and be seen.
According to Mr. Phung Quang Thang - Chairman of Hanoi Tourism Association, it is too late to talk about stimulating domestic tourism at this time, promotion and advertising solutions need to be implemented systematically many months before entering the peak season. Therefore, forecasting is very important to have timely and appropriate solutions, especially when the tourism industry is always affected by many objective factors at different times.
"Tourists always adjust their trips to suit their budget. The current trend of tourists is to contact service providers directly at the destination. Therefore, solutions from managers at the destination are needed, early forecasts and appropriate solutions are needed.
"At one time there are impacts like this, at another time there are other impacts, so we need to be very flexible in terms of tourist sources, destination promotion, and further risk management, to mitigate the impacts of objective conditions on tourism activities," said Mr. Phung Quang Thang.
In 2024, in addition to the target of welcoming 18 million international visitors, the tourism industry also expects to serve 110 million domestic visitors. However, rising airfares are a major barrier, as air travel costs can account for up to 50% of the tour price.
In the future, many other fluctuations may occur, affecting the goal of stimulating domestic tourism. Therefore, it is necessary to soon improve the linkages in the tourism value chain so that tourism can truly become a spearhead economic sector.
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