Due to the long holiday, many Vietnamese tourists choose to travel abroad during Tet with tours starting on the 26th of the lunar calendar to China, Japan, and Thailand.
On January 26 (27th of Lunar New Year), tourist groups participating in the Tet tour of Viet Travel Company began to depart. The day before, three groups with more than 100 guests also departed for Thailand, Japan and China.
Mr. Manh Khanh, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City, and his family of five traveled during Tet for the first time, with the destination being Japan. He said that in the past, his family usually waited until after Tet to travel, but this year, because the holiday was longer, they decided to go before Tet.
"My husband and I work and the children go to school, so we were busy before Tet. Now that we have a longer holiday, the whole family decided to leave and return on the first day of Tet, so we still have time to visit relatives," said Mr. Khanh.
Ms. Phan Thuy, a tourist from Hanoi, currently in Chengdu (China), said that this was the first time she traveled during Tet and felt many new things. She commented that Chengdu is a big city but does not have a clear Tet atmosphere like in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. "There is no music, no flowers, nothing to remind me of Tet here," Ms. Thuy said.
According to a representative of Viet Travel Company, this year's Tet holiday, the company served about 10,000 guests with nearly 200 tours, of which 20% were tours during Tet (taking place on New Year's Eve and the first day of the festival). The number of guests increased by 15% compared to last year, focusing mainly on families, young people and overseas Vietnamese.
The most popular foreign tours are still to China, thanks to many new programs, reasonable prices and convenient transportation. Danh Nam Travel and its alliance served 200 tourists to China during the Lunar New Year. Tour groups to Chongqing - Jiuzhaigou departing from January 23 to 28 (24 to 29 of the Lunar New Year) and Lijiang from January 22 to 26 (23 to 27 of the Lunar New Year) were all fully booked, thanks to tourists' demand for snow viewing.
Director Nguyen Ngoc Tung of Danh Nam Travel said that tours returning before the 29th of Tet are usually about 30% cheaper than tours during the holiday. In addition, customers who buy tours can return before Tet to celebrate the new year in Vietnam.
However, this group only accounts for about 30% of the number of customers, the majority still prioritize tours departing on the first day of Tet and returning before the 6th day even though the price is higher. For example, the 6-day Lijiang - Shangri La tour, departing on the 27th of Tet of the alliance, is still fully booked with 20 customers even though it costs nearly 21 million VND per person - twice as expensive as the Lijiang tour subsidized by shopping destinations, departing on the 23rd of Tet.
Yunnan Group Tours - a unit specializing in routes to Yunnan, China - served about 1,200 guests during the Lunar New Year with 6 groups departing before Tet, the earliest group going on the Kunming - Kieu Tu Snow Mountain route from the 23rd of Tet. Most guests still chose to depart on the morning of the 2nd day of Tet despite being warned that the Chau Hong Ha or Kunming routes would be as crowded as every year.
"Many customers still like to shop or are busy with work, so not everyone can go out before Tet," said Ms. Hoang Tuyet, representative of Van Nam Group Tours.
According to Ms. Tuyet, groups departing before Tet have the most complete experience because most of them have completed their year-end work, immigration procedures are quick, they can return home in time to celebrate New Year's Eve, and they also successfully "hunt" for snow at Kieu Tu Mountain and Kunming City.
Among the destinations during Tet, the Kunming route attracts Vietnamese tourists thanks to its price of less than 10 million VND, with new attractions such as the Tiny Kingdom. In addition, the demand for snow hunting among Vietnamese tourists is still very high and the program to experience Kieu Tu Snow Mountain is often priced at 30% of the price of the tour to Lijiang to see Ngoc Long Snow Mountain.
In the domestic tour market, travel agencies have recorded very few individual customers buying tours during Tet, so they hardly develop products and only sell on demand. However, the group of corporate customers tends to increase as many companies organize teambuilding and conferences 5-10 days before Tet.
"Services are not yet at their peak, so companies are taking advantage of the opportunity to organize year-end parties and vacations for employees," said Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu, representative of Vietluxtour.
Source
Comment (0)