Vietnamese people are opting for holidays overseas for Reunification Day on April 30 and International Labour Day on May 1 because of unattractive domestic tour prices.

Nguyen Van Khanh, head of Vietravel's Public Relation Department, said many people had booked tours. Vietravel expects to serve 24,000 customers this holiday, an increase of 20% compared to same period last year. Three to five-day tours are preferred thanks to the long holiday.

For domestic tours, most customers have booked trips to Phu Quoc Island and destinations in the northern mountains and north central coast. Outbound tours to Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, Japan and South Korea are attracting a huge number of customers.

Saigontourist reported a high number of customers to the central coast, especially for tours to see the International Firework Festival in Danang. It expects to have 25,000 customers this holiday. At Viet Media Travel, tours abroad are selling faster than inbound tours. 

Three to four-day trips to Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore-Malaysia are the most popular. Most of outbound tours to Japan, South Korea or to Europe at TST Tourist have also fully booked. According to TST Tourist, trips abroad are cheaper than last year. Charter flights to Bhutan have been fully booked a long time ago and TST Tourist had to open new flights in June and August for the summer holiday. 

Meanwhile, the number of Vietnam tour customers haven't increased as expected. Customers are seeing better value travelling abroad after flight ticket prices in Vietnam increased from April 1. The prices of Vietnam Airlines’ flight tickets for children are now 90% of the adult fare.

Nguyen Minh Man from TST Tourist, said, "Inbound tour prices including ticket prices to attractions, accommodation or restaurant fees, are already less competitive than outbound tour packages. With increased flight tickets, they are becoming even less attractive."

For the Reunification Day holiday, a four-day Hue-Quang Binh-Quang Nam-Danang tour cost VND8m (USD351) per person while a Bangkok-Pattaya tour with a free ticket to the Nanta Show also costs VND8m. A four-day Siem Reap-Phnom Penh tour costs just VND5m.

Dtinews/Nguoi Lao Dong