Tourists “spin like a pinwheel”
Although they had been planning for a change during the April 30 holiday since the exchange proposal from the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Mr. Do Tuyen’s family (Thai Binh City) was still confused. when searching for destinations, as well as booking hotels. “Initially, my family planned to go to Hai Phong to go on a “food tour” for two days. Then we turned to go to Da Nang, because it is rare for the family to have the opportunity to stay at home for this long. However, when I went to flight booking applications, I was quite surprised because the closer the holiday got, the higher the airfare prices became.”
Mr. Tuyen said that even though he only flew regular class and applied discount codes from ticket booking applications, the cost of round-trip airfare for a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children) has increased. to more than 13 million VND. This is a price nearly double the price one week before the holiday. Besides, booking a hotel room is also quite difficult, when the rooms with beautiful views and near the center are all sold out.
“So, my family changed direction to go to Sam Son beach (Thanh Hoa), traveling by sleeper bus and staying at a homestay near beach B,” Mr. Tuyen shared.
The change of plans makes it difficult for tourists to find accommodation.
The issue of high airfare prices is also something that Ms. Vu Hai’s family (Vinh Long) is considering. Ms. Hai said that her family plans to travel to Sa Pa as soon as there is information about 5 consecutive days off. However, Ms. Hai also changed direction at the last minute because with a family of 5, round-trip air tickets during the holidays cost up to over 15 million VND, not including the cost of traveling by car from Vinh Long to Ho Chi Minh City and from there. Noi Bai airport to Sa Pa.
“Even though the children were very excited, we still had to postpone the trip to the North because the costs were going up too much. Instead, the whole family will go on vacation to Vung Tau, because this place has both the sea and many interesting attractions. Luckily, we were still able to book a room for our family. Currently, my husband and children and I are making detailed plans for suitable destinations and places to eat,” Ms. Hai said.
As for Mr. Manh Hung (Cau Giay, Hanoi), the only change in his travel plan was the vacation time, extending from 3 days to 5 days. Mr. Hung informed: “Because taking the whole family out has been in my plans since the beginning of the year, luckily I was not much affected by ticket prices. With a large family of more than 20 people, I went to travel companies and soon “hunted” for a cheap tour. There was a little problem with extending the room rental time and changing tickets, but I didn’t have to pay too much extra. From here, we see that booking a tour early is very important.”
The difference in tour booking rates is large
According to tourism businesses, during this year’s April 30 – May 1 holiday, tourists tend to choose to go abroad more, especially tours that can be taken by road. Changing holidays does not put too much pressure on travel agencies, because most of them already have “existing” products, with their own fund allocation from the beginning of the year.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Trang, Head of Domestic and Outbound Department, Best Price Travel Company said: “The proportion of customers booking international tours in particular during the April 30 holiday this year at our company increased by more than 30% compared to with last year. Best Price Travel always has a series of long-term tours available to meet this April 30 holiday. This is an expectation given when the current trend of customers booking tours is not too early and they decide to buy products very quickly.”
“Faced with the increasing price of domestic air tickets, instead of air tours, we focus on exploiting tours by road such as Ho Chi Minh City – My Tho – Can Tho 2 days 1 night price. about 3,050,000 VND/guest; Dalat 3 days 2 nights costs about 5,060,000 VND/person for guests departing from Ho Chi Minh City. In Hanoi, 2 days 1 night Ha Long cruise tours cost 2,050,000 VND/person; Ha Giang 3 days 2 nights costs about 3,350,000 VND/person, receiving a lot of interest and booking contacts because of the cost savings and convenience of transportation,” Ms. Trang added.
Many summer tourism stimulus programs have been previously prepared by travel companies.
Similarly, at Postum Travel, Mr. To Van Them, Head of Sales, said that before the official 5-day vacation schedule, the sales of international tours were quite slow, but after that, the number of customer inquiries increased dramatically. So routes to Thailand, Singapore – Malaysia, Phoenix Ancient Town, Korea, Dubai for 5-7 days… were immediately full. Domestic tours to Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, and Da Lat also “sold out” because they cannot “ask” for more cheap air tickets.
“The change in schedule requires us to adapt quickly, to promptly finalize services at destinations, arrange cars and guides for the group. In addition, the company also increased human resources to handle destination services. Currently, we stop accepting passengers on both domestic and international air tours because they are full and only accept passengers on road tours lasting 2-4 days,” Mr. Them informed.
Noting at HonGai Tours Quang Ninh, Ms. Nguyen Hai Yen, Deputy Director of the Company, said that summer 2024 is the time to attract tourists to Ha Long when there is the Carnaval festival on April 28. Quang Ninh is also a suitable location near Hanoi, easily accessible by road, so there will be local overload during the event regarding accommodation services. However, travel agencies still have enough backup plans and diverse types of services to meet customer needs.
Ms. Yen commented: “Associating with travel companies will offer “group” products that are competitive in price and good quality on the market. This form helps participating units easily reach customers, ensure profits, and share risks in difficult economic times. At the same time, there are new products that help customers freely choose alternatives for the market directly affected by air ticket prices.”