Overseas destinations attractive to Vietnamese despite economic difficulties

Despite the economic slowdown, many Vietnamese continue to travel to destinations in the US and Europe, and this trend is on the rise.

Several airlines have opened direct routes to overseas destinations, lowering prices and simplifying visa procedures.

In order to meet rising demand, Vietravel has planned to add 100 vacancies in November when is the season of sales-off in the US.

Tran Thi Viet Huong, Vietravel’s communication manager, said that previously there were only few groups who booked tours to these destinations, but that is changing. The company has seen a 15% to 20% increase in the number of tourists going on long overseas trips.

“We’ve recently opened an office in the US and hope to have an office in France soon,” Huong said.

Saigontourist said that tours to far off destinations account for 27% of their total business. The company's marketing manager said, "Prices for a tour to the US or Europe used to be over VND100 million, but now it would only cost VND40 million or VND50 million."

Many people who would have gone to Japan or South Korea in the past are now finding that the US or Europe are within their price range.

Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, communication manager at Ben Thanh Tourist, said the low prices are a result of the global economic downturn,  as it forced airlines to give bargains.

Jetstar Pacific launches Hanoi-Vinh roundtrip flights

Budget carrier Jetstar Pacific has announced the launch of roundtrip flights between Hanoi and Vinh as of October 27 using Airbus A320 aircraft with 180 economy class seats.

The once daily flight departs from Vinh at 9.25am and returns at 10.45am the same day.

Tickets go on sale October 2 and can be purchased at website www.jetstar.com or ticket offices in Vietnam.

The airline is offering special discounts for tickets purchased from 12am to 12.59pm on October 2. A two-way ticket is priced at VND450,000 per person for flights scheduled from October 27 to December 11.

Jetstar Pacific also announced it will launch an international air route from Hanoi to Singapore this coming October 27 and to Bangkok (Thailand) on December 10.

Tourism sector aims to tap new markets

Local travel agencies are cannoning attention to new markets including Indonesia, India and Russia beside traditional ones such as the US, Europe, China and Japan as the former group is forecast to generate great numbers of visitors, the Saigon Times Daily reported.

Phan Dinh Hue, Director of Viet Circle Travel, said the company has turned to Indonesia and India since the beginning of this year with positive results. Partners from each of the nations have booked four or five trips for one month.

Similarly, some other travel firms said they can open short-term tours for Indonesian tourists thanks to affordable air fares and high frequency of flights between the two countries.

More and more local companies are now also seeking to tap India as a new market. They expect a surge in the number of Indian tourists when Vietnam Airlines launches direct air routes linking the two countries in the near future.

For the new markets, Russia remains the fastest-growing visitor-generating market for Vietnam.

Hoang Thi Phong Thu, Chairwoman of Anh Duong Co., said the company is working with Russia’s travel firm Pegas Touristik to further tap this fast-growing market. By the end of this year, Russian tourists will come to Vietnam in droves by chartered flights with an estimated seven or eight trips a day.

“By the end of this year, we should have catered to 250,000 Russian visitors,” she was quoted as saying.

On the contrary, the number of Chinese people booking tours to Vietnam has yet to recover fully following a sharp decline since May due to the East Sea tensions triggered by China’s illegal placement of an oil rig in Vietnam’s waters.

Arrivals from other traditional markets have been in decline as well.

Bui Viet Thuy Tien, Managing Director of Asian Trails Co., Ltd, said the number of year-end tours booked in advance at her company dropped in August and September due to fewer tour buyers from Europe. As such, the company is likely to cut this year’s growth rate to less than the targeted 5 percent.

According to the General Statistics Office, foreign arrivals in Vietnam were over 6.06 million in the January-September period, a year-on-year rise of 10.4 percent thanks to the strong growth recorded in the year’s first half

Can Tho plans new air routes to boost tourism

The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho will begin direct air services to Lam Dong and Khanh Hoa provinces next year to promote tourism, according to its Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Centre.

The city hopes that the new routes will bring more foreign as well as domestic visitors from these places.

Also next year the city plans to develop tourism services and products and organise events to attract foreign tourists.

This year the city hopes to welcome 1.3 million visitors, an increase of four percent over last year.

Vietravel cited ‘Best Vietnam Travel Agency’

For the fourth consecutive year in a row, Vietravel has been honourably awarded the title “Best Vietnam Travel Agency”, by leading Asia Pacific TTG Asia Magazine.

The award was presented at the 25th Annual TTG 2014 Travel Awards ceremony,which took place in Bangkok, Thailand on October 2.

In the nine months leading up to October,Vietravel’s revenue surged 25% to VND 3,500 billion over last year’s same period. Vietravel is set to turn itself  into the first multinational travel operator in Vietnam between 2015 and 2020.

The Asia-Pacific travel’s coveted awards aim to celebrate the amazing feats of organisations and individuals who have rocketed the industry to greater heights.

Vietnam’s tourism in 2013 draft report introduced

A workshop was held in Hanoi on October 2 to introduce a draft report on Vietnam’s tourism in 2013, the first of its kind built following international practice.

The report is developed by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism with the assistance from the EU-funded Environmentally and Socially Responsible Tourism Capacity Development (ESRT) Project, with the aim of building a methodical and professional tourism statistic system.

It will provide valuable information about both domestic and international tourism activities for the Government, potential investors, State management offices and travel agencies across the country.

The report is also expected to serve as a basis for relevant sides to define tourist trends in the future and contribute positively to the sector’s development.

It is designed to have seven chapters in both Vietnamese and English, coming up with an overview on the sector’s achievements gained in 2013, tourism activities around the globe as well as marketing and promotion activities, with the highlight being contributions of the tourism sector to the economy. Difficulties and challenges facing the sector in the future are also mentioned in the report.

The EUR11-million ESRT project aims at mainstreaming responsible principles into Vietnam’s tourism sector in order to enhance the competitiveness of the industry.

The project will help Vietnam launch the annual tourism report 2014 by May 2015, which will involve businesses.

RoK promotes MICE tourism in Hanoi

The Republic of Korea (RoK) held a seminar on MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition) tourism at the Lotte Hotel in Hanoi on September 30 with the participation of around 180 Vietnamese and Korean delegates.

Vietnam is the second destination, after Shanghai in China, the RoK has introduced such kind of tourism which is aimed at promoting high economic efficiency tourism between tourists of the two nations.

Speaking at the workshop, Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) Chief Representative  in Vietnam Kang Sungghil hoped that the stronger tourism development of the two countries in the future will provide an opportunity for Vietnamese and Korean tourists to enjoy the best travel services at reasonable prices.

In the first eight month of this year, the Republic of Korea has welcomed 95,488 Vietnamese visitors while around 600,000 Korean tourists travelled Vietnam.

Vinpearl to launch new island resort

Vinpearl Joint Stock Company (Vinpearl) will launch the five-star Vinpearl Resort&Villas 1 in Hon Tre Island, Nha Trang, the coastal province of Khanh Hoa, in April 2015.

Vinpearl Resort&Villas 1 is the company's new luxury resort, following the two previous successful projects on the island, namely Vinpearl Resort and Vinpearl Luxury.

The resort, now under construction, will include a "two in one" complex combining 500 five-star hotel rooms with 160 luxurious villas.

Vinpearl Resort&Villas 1 offers chances for its guests to enjoy nature's beauty in one of the world's 30 most beautiful bays. It also opens opportunities for property investments and is expected to be launched after seven months of construction

Vietnam greets higher numbers of tourist arrivals

Over 6 million international visitors arrived in Vietnam during the first nine months of 2014, an increase of 10.42% compared to the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office.

Of the total, over 3.6 million arrived in the country for leisure, up 8.8%; over 1 million for business purposes, up 10.8%; over 1 million were visiting relatives, up 14.2 % and the others were in Vietnam for ‘other’ purposes.

Of the total foreign travellers to Vietnam, over 1.5 million visitors came from China, an increase of 13.5%; 618,500 from the Republic of Korea, up 10%, and 486,400 from Japan, up 8,1%.

Domestic tourism was estimated at over 32 million in the first nine months and helped boost the country’s revenue from tourism to VND179 trillion, up 8% year-on-year.

Khanh Hoa unveils new tourism attractions in Nha Trang

The Khanh Hoa Province Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has added a number of new attractions and facilities to attract more visitors to Nha Trang.

They include a dolphin show at Vinpearl Land and the country's first ever Flyboard, a water jetpack that propels people fearless enough to try it metres into the air.

The tourism sector has also studied eco-tours on the Cai River and rural tours.

The province plans to develop handicrafts and fine arts facilities through 2020 to attract visitors.

It is preparing for the 2015 Sea Festival and 2016 Asian Beach Games, with a focus on infrastructure, content, and tourist services.

In the first nine months of this year Khanh Hoa received more than 2.7 million visitors, up 21 per cent over last year. Of them 608,000 were foreigners, a 26 per cent increase.

VNS/VOV/VNA