Pham Ha, president of Lux Group, said in early 2023, Lux Travel DMC, a subsidiary of Lux Group, made hectic preparations to receive a group of 30 Italian travelers, who planned to stay in Vietnam for 16 days. 

However, the travelers decided to cancel the tour because of high airfares and the lack of non-stop flights between Vietnam and Italy.

A group of British travelers also canceled a plan to tour Vietnam because of expensive flights. 

“When I attended the WTM London and ITB Berlin trade fairs, I realized that air tickets from Vietnam now are twice as high as before 2019,” Ha said. 

“Travelers have few choices because of high airfares. This affects travelers’ decisions not to come to Vietnam,” he said. 

A workshop discussing cooperation between the aviation and tourism sectors  was held on April 25 in Khanh Hoa province. General director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Ha Van Sieu noted that the number of foreign travelers to Vietnam has not been as high as expected. 

Only 2.7 million foreign travelers came in the first quarter of the year, or 60 percent of the same period in 2019. 

Foreign travelers to Vietnam by air always account for the highest proportion (80 percent in 2019).

High airfares also make domestic attractions less competitive. A representative of the Kien Giang Tourism Association said that expensive flights are  barriers because travel plans need to be finalized very early.

In general, travel firms try to obtain tickets at the best prices and offer tickets to travelers who book tours early. However, Nhu Thi Ngan, CEO of Hanoi Tourism, noted that in some cases, air carriers lower airfares just several days before departure.

“This affects travel firms' service quality,” she said.

Closer cooperation 

Sieu said high airfares, especially during holidays, will affect travel firms’ tour pricing strategies.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Doan Van Viet suggested that air carriers join forces with travel firms to form original products and together advertise these on flights and at destinations, and run media campaigns on each other's systems.

Nguyen Van Tan, member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Tourism Association, believes the aviation and tourism sectors need to identify key and target markets; cooperate to plan tourism products; build advertising and marketing plans, and cooperate with sale channels to create products with consistent standards throughout travel journeys from the beginning to the end.

Vietnam’s air carriers have representatives overseas, and they have good relations with tourism partners. 

Management agencies should ask them to help airlines join the tourism service supply chain.

Ngan said sale promotion programs launched by airlines will be important in travelers’ decisions.

In current conditions, the air ticket price increases for both domestic and international flights are a big disadvantage for Vietnam which has to compete fiercely with other destinations in the region. 

To solve the problem, travel firms want airlines to consider opening new air routes to offer more choices to travelers and provide chartered flights on routes with no commercial flights.

Ngoc Ha