Mai Linh, 31, in HCM City, has booked a tour to Bromo volcano in Indonesia. The tour, costing VND25 million, is expected to last five days and five nights with departure in mid-June.

Linh said she is willing to spend the amount of money which is twice as much as her monthly salary to travel abroad, provided that the trip is interesting and brings good experiences.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thanh Sang, 25, in Dong Nai, has booked resort rooms for his 7-member family. The total cost is over VND20 million, not including air tickets. Sang said instead of heading for low-cost tours, he would rather pay more to enjoy better services.

The choices by Linh and Sang are what travel firms have predicted. Nowadays, people tend to think carefully when designing their trips. They choose short-term but high-quality tours.

Asked about revenue prospects of the summer travel season, a representative of a tourism company in HCM City said economic difficulties still exist, but some families have booked outbound tours worth hundreds of millions of dong in June. Meanwhile, other families choose mid-end outbound tours and book tours very early so they can depart at the time they want.

According to Travel Confidence Index of Booking.com, Vietnam ranks second in the world in eagerness to travel again after the pandemic, with 85 percent of Vietnamese travelers planning to travel in the next 12 months.

Notably, 62 percent of surveyed people said they plan to have one or two tours this year, and 45 percent said they like to visit famous points 3-8 hours away by air from Vietnam.

HSBC TravelOne Credit Card noted that there was a sharp increase in spending on aviation, travel agents and hotels in the first quarter of 2023 in comparison with last year.

The total number of active credit cards issued by HSBC is increasing sharply with two-digit growth rate compared with the same period last year.

Lai Minh Duy, president of TSTtourist, commented that in the context of economic difficulties, Vietnamese travelers, who are always very careful, tend to check information from many sources about the trips. Travelers are interested in high-end tours and they tend to be more demanding. If they pay more for services, they demand high service quality.

Experts said summer 2023 is the most important travel season of the year. As the temperature is high, 32oC on average, travelers tend to visit the sea or green places to avoid summer heat. Foreign destination points will be chosen.

Therefore, TSTtourist will focus on providing outbound tours to clients’ orders. The travel firm is now offering the France – Switzerland – Italy tour, 11 days and 8 nights (VND99.98 million); tour to Greece, 8 days and 5 nights (VND88.98 million); Sweden – Norway – Denmark, 9 days and 6 nights (VND83.98 million); and Japan, 6 days and 4 nights (VND48.88 million).

The company has two or three departures a month to destinations in Asia, and 1-2 departures to Europe, Australia, the US and Africa. Outbound tours now account for more than half of the total tourism products the company is providing.

Saigontourist has launched 365 domestic and outbound tours for summer. These include tours to Brazil–Argentina (South America) which last 11 days (VND179.99 million); to Hungary – Slovakia – Austria – Czech which lasts 10 days (from VND89.99 million); and to Hawaii (VND99.99 million). 

Meanwhile, tours to Asia are cheaper, from VND9.99 million for tours to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Bali.

Meanwhile, domestic tours designed by Saigontourist focus on well known destinations such as Da Nang, Hoi An (Quang Nam), Phu Quoc Island (Kien Giang), and Sa Pa (Lao Cai). In general, the tours abroad are more diverse than domestic ones.

In Phu Quoc City, the representative of a hotel in An Thoi ward, said the room occupancy rate on the April holiday was low, just 40-50 percent of the same period last year.

One of the reasons behind the unsatisfactory occupancy rate was the increased airfare. The expensive air tickets caused many travelers to change their decisions before departure.

Many people canceled tours to Phu Quoc and booked outbound tours, because some outbound tours were even cheaper than domestic ones. The hotel had to slash room rates to offset airfare increases.

Other hotels and resorts there have also announced special sale promotion programs. Mövenpick Resort Waverly Phu Quoc has launched a Wellness Package for couples with some preferences. The time for booking is within May and rooms can be occupied until the end of October.

Ngoc Ha