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The rising cost of travel hasn't
deterred people from making plans for
the long weekend that accompanies Viet
Nam Unification Day (April 30) and
Labour Day (May 1), even with prices
jumping 20 to 50% over the holiday,
according to domestic tourist agencies.
The agencies reported that the price of
tours to regional countries such as
China, Malaysia and Singapore have gone
up dramatically around that period.
Tours to Thailand for six days and five
nights rose from US$347 to $408 per
person. Tours to Singapore for four days
and three nights increased by $70.
The prices weren't scaring away eager
travellers, according to a
representative from Viettravel who said
their number of clients booking tours to
foreign countries still increased by
15-20%.
The representative said that 6,000
tourists came to his company to book
outbound tours and some were full by the
end of last month.
This year, demand to visit China has
increased the most.
Fiditour tourism company said that
around 30% of the 70 foreign tours they
offer are visits to China. Around 40% of
their clients chose China as a
destination for the long weekend.
Demand for tours to domestic
destinations also increased over the
holiday.
An official from TransViet tourist
company in the capital city of Hanoi
said that anyone looking to go to Sapa,
Da Lat, Hoi An or Hue should make other
plans because all hotels and planes were
full.
Compared with the same period last year,
Mai Lan from Viettravel said the number
of tourists visiting domestic
destinations increased by 20%, even with
the price of domestic tours at this time
increasing by VND100,000-300,000 because
of higher hotel and fuel charges.
Nguyen Ngoc An from Fiditour agreed that
the price of domestic tours in his
company increased by 15% around this
time, while the number of tourists also
went up by 20%.
Building up to the holiday, many people
have bad trouble buying train and bus
tickets to go to cities such as Hue, HCM
City, Lao Cai and Nha Trang although the
long weekend is still two weeks away.
Phung Thi Ly Ha, deputy head of Ha Noi
Station, said that recently, many
tourism companies have asked for tickets
to tourist destinations over this
holiday, but they could meet only 30% of
the demand.
Bus stations are also under pressure as
they expect the number of passengers to
increase by 300%. Stations are planning
to release more buses to meet to
increased demand.
Source : Viet Nam News |
