Reports from travel firms showed that Ha Long Bay cruises were a favorite tourism product. Mustgo, a well known hotel room booking platform with 2,000 hotels throughout the country, was fully booked, mostly by foreigners, by the end of December 2023.

Bui Thanh Tu, marketing director of Best Price, said the travel firm had recorded 1,000 room bookings with 3,000 travelers in total.

Also according to Tu, mountainous provinces in the north, including Sa Pa (Lao Cai), Ha Giang, and Moc Chau (So nLa), had high booking rates.

The room occupancy level at five-star hotels in Sa Pa had reached 70-80 percent by that time, while low-cost rooms had sold out. There were nearly no rooms available at 3-4-star hotels.

Preliminary reports of the Ha Giang provincial Tourism Association showed that many hotels in the locality were full, especially on December 30, 2023 – January 1, 2024.

According to Ha Giang Statistics Office, 3 million travelers came to Ha Giang in 2023, up 32 percent over 2022, which brought turnover of VND7 trillion, up VND2.55 trillion over 2022.

World Travel Awards 2023 has named Ha Giang as one of the leading destinations in Asia. Meanwhile, New York Times put Ha Giang at the 25th position out of 52 most attractive destinations in the world. 

VIVU Journeys reported that coastal cities, including Da Nang, Hoi An, Nha Trang and Phan Thiet, were the favorite destinations for travelers during the New Year holiday.

Mustgo reported that the hotel room occupancy level in Da Nang had reached 40-60 percent on average (the level was higher at coastal hotels), while the figure reached 90 percent in Hoi An. 

In Nha Trang, five-star international hotels had an occupancy rate of 90 percent, and Vietnamese owned five-star hotels 30 percent. In Phan Thiet, the figure was 45-60 percent.

The average occupancy rate of over 80 percent had been reported for 5-star hotels in Phu Quoc, and nearly 100 percent for 3-4-star rooms. However, Vietnamese travelers  just accounted for 20 percent of total bookings.

Tu of Best Price also confirmed that Phu Quoc was a favorite destination for foreign travelers during the 2024 New Year holiday.

Of the 10 destinations for Vietnamese tourists under Google Search Year 2023, Ha Giang was in the fourth position. The three others were foreign destinations, including Taiwan, Thailand and Europe.

Regarding travelers’ spending, VIVU Jouneys reported that Vietnamese travelers’ spending decreased by 40 percent compared with last year because of economic difficulties.

Ngoc Ha