Travel firms said bookings of their domestic and international tours this summer, especially those to seaside destinations and islands, have expanded by 25-30%.

Tourists are seen at a beach on Phu Quoc Island off mainland Kien Giang Province. Travel firms said bookings of their domestic and international tours this summer have expanded by 25-30%

Tran Thi Bao Thu, marketing and public relations director at Fiditour, said the HCMC-based company had seen bookings of domestic trips rising by almost 25% and those of outbound tours leaping by 30% year-on-year. Fiditour is looking to growth of 35-40% in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Vietrantour targets 10,000 guests this summer, up 30% against the same period of last year. The company said it has realized 70% of the target though the 2016 summer holiday has just begun.

Other tour operators including Hanoi Redtours and ITC Travel reported growth of 25-30% in bookings against last summer. Demand for tours to islands off the central coast has grown steadily despite the impact of mass fish deaths in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces in early April.

Travel firms credited higher tour sales to their summer promotions comprising discount airfares.

Vietravel said demand would often peak in the period between June and August when students enjoy their summer break and companies organize summer activities for their employees to relax and take part in team building programs.

Fiditour said more holidaymakers are heading for beaches this summer. Many families have booked tours to places like Phu Quoc Island in the south; Nha Trang, Phan Thiet and Ba Na Mountain in the central region; Ha Long Bay, Co To and Cat Ba islands in the north.

Destinations with cool climate like Dalat City in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, and Sa Pa town and Mai Chau in the north have attracted large numbers of vacationers.

Apart from outbound trips to Japan and South Korea which are often fully booked during summer, sales of tours to popular Asian countries like Thailand, Myanmar and Singapore have grown well due to reasonable prices.

A couple of travel firms have launched special tours to places featured in movie hits like South Korean drama Descendants of the Sun in Greece and South Korea’s Seoul and Gangwon, and The Lord of the Rings in New Zealand’s Matamata.