Travel businesses strive to attract many types of customers

The peak summer tourist season is approaching, while airfares are rising, posing a difficult problem for travel businesses nationwide in general and Thanh Hoa in particular. Faced with the requirements, many travel businesses in the province have changed their market approach plans, proactively stimulating demand, and at the same time promoting connections to exploit diverse customer streams.

Travel businesses strive to attract many types of customers Le Gia Trade and Tourism Joint Stock Company ( Thanh Hoa City) promotes and attracts customers to intra-provincial tours.

There is only 1 month left until the April 30 and May 1 holidays, but information from some travel agencies in the province shows that up to now, the number of passengers on air tours is very limited. Part of the reason is that airfares tend to increase, and on the other hand, flights from Thanh Hoa currently only connect to Ho Chi Minh City, not many options for customers.

According to Mr. Vu Van Binh, Director of Trust Viet Company Limited (Thanh Hoa City): “With the current situation of high airfares, it is difficult for travel agencies to reach the market of customers with high spending capacity, and many agencies are even very cautious in offering air tours. For example, in our company, in mid-March, some groups booked air tours, but before finalizing the contract, the ticket price increased by 600,000 VND/ticket on the same day. Therefore, although the demand of tourists does not show any signs of decreasing, most travel agencies are currently shifting to promoting road tours.”

In fact, since the beginning of the year, airfares have shown no signs of cooling down, so agencies have advised customers to “be decisive when booking tours”, “book tours early when booking flights”… Faced with this situation, travel agencies have changed their market approach plans, focusing on partnerships to attract a diverse range of customers. Specifically, many agencies are promoting land tours (package tours for travel agencies) and road tours.

Commenting on this opportunity, Deputy Director of Le Gia Trade and Tourism Joint Stock Company (Thanh Hoa City) Phan Thi Ha said: “Airfares usually account for about 50% of the value of each tour, so shifting to exploiting road tours, intra-provincial tours and welcoming connecting tour groups from neighboring provinces will be the trend in the coming time. In particular, when air travel is limited, bringing tourists from Thanh Hoa to other provinces will face many difficulties, so travel businesses will promote the exploitation of tourists to Thanh Hoa to achieve business efficiency. From another perspective, we think this should be seen as an opportunity for Thanh Hoa to promote the exploitation of tourist flows from key tourist destinations in the North and promote intra-provincial tourism. On the part of restaurant and hotel service businesses in the province, it is necessary to quickly introduce flexible cooperation policies and incentives specifically for intra-provincial travel agencies to stimulate tourism demand and increase competitiveness with neighboring destinations”.

To "compensate" for the shortage of tourists, most travel agencies in the province are currently making efforts to promote cooperation with partners in some provinces and cities in the Northern region and some key tourist destinations in the Central and Southern regions. In particular, focusing on implementing previously signed cooperation agreements and introducing new tourism products of Thanh Hoa. In addition to traditional destinations and tours that have attracted visitors from these markets, travel agencies will focus on exploiting the high-end beach resort segment, targeting visitors with high spending ability and long-term stays. In particular, for the Central and Southern markets, some travel agencies have launched a number of road and rail tours connecting to new resorts and destinations in the province to create a difference, bringing visitors interesting experiences.

Faced with the impact of airfares, travel agencies in the province have been making more efforts to stimulate tourism demand and attract a variety of visitors from key domestic and international tourism markets. State tourism management agencies in the province need to closely follow the actual situation to support and guide businesses in advertising, promotion and market access. It is expected that in April, Thanh Hoa province will organize a survey and tourism development cooperation with provinces and cities in the Red River Delta region. In particular, creating conditions for travel agencies in the province to participate in promoting, selling products and signing cooperation agreements on tourism development, aiming to attract visitors from this market.

Article and photos: Hoai Anh

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