More and more Vietnamese travel abroad

Just two or three years ago, a tour of South Korea cost VND20 million or more, and the cheapest tour to Japan VND30 million. Now, outbound tours have become affordable to many more Vietnamese as tour fees have decreased significantly.

The senior executive of a travel firm in Hanoi said that tours to South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and China are just a little more expensive than tours to Southeast Asian countries.

A tour to South Korea which lasts five days and four nights, for example, costs VND11.5-12 million. Travelers pay VND21-22 million to travel Japan for four days and four nights. Some travel firms offer low-cost tours to South Korea and Taiwan at VND8-9 million only.

According to Tran Thi Bao Thu from Fiditour, outbound tours are getting cheaper  thanks to a series of new direct air routes opened by low-cost carriers. Tourism promotion agencies in other countries, aware of the strong rise of the Vietnamese market, are organizing promotion campaigns to attract Vietnamese travelers.

South Korea often runs programs to stimulate demand and cooperates with travel firms to launch attractive products. Singapore props up expenses for big groups of travelers. 

Meanwhile, Taiwan is applying a loosened visa policy, under which Vietnamese travelers do not have to prove their financial capability.

The policy on giving support directly to Vietnam’s travel firms in promoting tourism applied by tourism agencies of other countries has also helped make outbound tours cheaper.

Truong Thi Thu Giang, deputy director of Vietravel, Taiwanese, South Korean and Japanese local management agencies usually have working sessions with every travel firm in Vietnam.

“They prop up promotion expenditures per year, per campaign and offer discounts for excursion tickets if travel firms bring tourists to their localities,” she explained.

With tours to Japan at good prices (less than VND30 million), travelers transit in Singapore, or take direct flights to Nagoya instead of Tokyo or Osaka.

As for Southeast Asian markets, the tour fees have been stable for a few years because the service fees have remained unchanged, while the airfare has become cheaper because air carriers have increased the flight frequency and number of seats.

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), 383,000 Vietnamese traveled to Taiwan in 2017, up by 95 percent over the year before.

Statistics all show the steady increase in number of Vietnamese traveling abroad. The number of outbound travelers has accounted for more than 60 percent of travelers for some years. To attract travelers to domestic tours, the tour fees need to be more competitive.

US$1=VND22,000

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