Vietnamese tourists spend hundreds of millions of dong to celebrate Christmas in Norway and Finland

As Christmas and New Year approaches, many tourists decide to spend a lot of money to book snow tours abroad. Northern Europe and Northeast Asia continue to be popular destinations.

Vietnamese tourists are willing to spend tens of millions of dong to bring home a special experience with ice and snow. Photo: Dang Thuy Duong.

This year, Hang Bui (living in Hanoi) decided to go to Norway and Finland to celebrate Christmas and New Year. She will travel with friends, and expects to spend about 120 million VND for 15 days in Northern Europe.

"We are planning the trip with some activities like watching the aurora, exploring snow villages and fishing on glaciers...", Hang said.

Similarly, Nga Muoi (living in Ho Chi Minh City) said she was looking for a tour to see snowfall in China. After posting in a travel group on Facebook, the female tourist received many invitations to buy tours with many routes, diverse experiences at competitive prices.

"China is quite 'hot' this year, and the cost is affordable. I plan to spend 12 million VND on a trip to this country during Christmas to see and touch the white snow with my own eyes," she shared.

Admiring the aurora borealis, glaciers... are experiences that tourists seek when going abroad to see the snow during Christmas. Photo: Bui Truc Phuong.

With more than a month to go until Christmas, many Vietnamese tourists are rushing to plan trips abroad to see the snowfall and experience the vibrant festive atmosphere. Among them, Finland - the homeland of Santa Claus - is a "top" destination with impressive snowy landscapes.

At a more affordable price point, China, South Korea and Japan are traditional markets, but always attract a lot of attention.

Mr. Pham Anh Vu, Deputy General Director of Viet Travel Company, said: "The Christmas and New Year 2025 period recorded a significant increase in the number of customers booking tours abroad to see snow, up more than 30% over the same period last year, especially for Northeast Asian destinations."

Explaining this growth, Mr. Vu said that visitors have an increased demand for unique experiences such as skiing and snow viewing. In addition, this year's visa policy is more favorable for Vietnamese visitors, becoming a major reason for tourists to travel to enjoy the snowfall.

Harbin becomes a 'star'

Ms. Tran Bao Thu, Marketing and Communications Director of Vietluxtour, said that besides traditional destinations, Harbin is one of the emerging tourist routes in China that has attracted many tourists in the past 1-2 years, especially during Christmas and New Year.

This place is of interest to many tourists thanks to its coverage on social networks with many attractive reviews, the highlight being the snowy landscape and beautiful ice sculptures.

"Coming to Harbin, tourists will be able to participate in many special experiences such as the world's largest ice festival, visiting Tuyet Huong village, experiencing activities such as skiing, dog sledding on the glacier, fishing on the glacier,... With more time and cost savings compared to the Northern Europe tour, this destination is especially attractive to tourists," Ms. Thu shared.

Experiences associated with ice and snow such as dog sledding on the glacier, fishing on the glacier, throwing hot water to turn it into ice, making snowmen, etc. bring new feelings, attracting tourists. Photo: Dang Thuy Duong.

In addition, the connection and expansion of flight routes from Vietnam to China makes it convenient for tourists to travel, leading to increasingly better tour prices. The 5-6 day Harbin itinerary has a price range of 31-36 million VND/person.

Ms. Thu said that because this is a new route, it has attracted a lot of attention from tourists, but the number of customers booking official tours is still not much compared to traditional tours to Yunnan, Sichuan - Chengdu or Shanghai - Beijing due to harsh weather and climate conditions.

Meanwhile, Max Vu, tour program manager of FIT TOUR, said that this winter the unit recorded a 20% increase in the number of customers booking tours abroad to see snow, with Harbin tours being the main product, reaching 70% of the set plan.

Currently, this unit offers 2 tour products to Harbin including a 6-day tour with a light exploration program and an 8-day tour for active guests who can withstand the cold well, combined with exploring the North Korean border.

In addition, FIT TOUR also adds a snow-watching tour in Kashmir (India) to give customers more choices and enhance their experience.

Thailand, Hong Kong are still 'hot'

Meanwhile, Ms. Tran Phuong Linh, Marketing Director - Information Technology of BenThanh Tourist, said that typical products such as tours to Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Japan... are still attractive markets for tourists.

"The occupancy rate of Christmas - New Year 2025 tours is quite good, reaching about 75-85% depending on the route, in which Hong Kong and Japan are the hottest markets we have recorded," Ms. Linh shared.

Japan is a top destination loved by many Vietnamese tourists in all seasons. Photo: Ngo Tran Hai An.

Meanwhile, a representative of Du Lich Viet travel agency said that this year's New Year holiday is short and falls in the middle of the week, so the company's business plan is expected to not increase compared to the same period last year and focus more on domestic tourism routes.

"In addition to the trend of choosing high-end tours, watching fireworks, and countdowns in coastal cities like Phu Quoc, Da Nang, etc., we also recorded a trend of looking for exclusive services and unique experiences such as hunting for ice in Sa Pa or Ha Giang at the end of the year," said Mr. Pham Anh Vu.

Currently, Da Lat and Sa Pa are two destinations receiving the attention of many tourists. It is expected that these two routes will quickly fill up in the next 2 weeks.

Mr. Vu added that currently, tour routes requiring visas such as Japan and China have reached 60%, long-distance tours such as Europe, Australia, etc. have reached 80% of the plan. The peak registration period for Christmas and New Year tours of this unit usually falls in late November and early December.

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