On forums and social media platforms, tourists talk about the reason why Phu Quoc is not a popular destination due to expensive airfares. In addition, the prices of services, especially food and drink, are many times higher than in other localities.
The family of Nguyen Thanh Tuan ( Hue City) of 4 people just had a trip to Phu Quoc, said that the round-trip airfare alone cost nearly 40 million VND/4 people. Eating, sleeping, visiting the islands, using some services, plus traveling in Phu Quoc also cost his family more than 30 million VND for a 4-day, 3-night trip.
Having traveled to many places in the country and other countries in Asia, Mr. Tuan thinks that the general spending level in Phu Quoc is quite expensive. For example, a 4-day, 3-night trip to Thailand for his family only cost about 50 million VND. He also got to explore new lands and eat many delicious and new dishes. Regarding domestic tourist destinations, Mr. Tuan thinks that there is no locality that costs as much as Phu Quoc for a similar trip.
That is also the reason why domestic tourists have chosen other localities, including the Central provinces, instead of Phu Quoc during the recent holiday and is forecasted for this summer.
In Hue, the recent holiday coincided with the Hue Traditional Craft Festival 2023, attracting a significant number of visitors. The Traditional Craft Festival alone attracted about 300,000 visitors. Revenue from activities in craft villages and culinary festivals is estimated at about 20 billion VND... At tourist attractions in the Hue Monuments Complex, on May 1 alone, more than 24,000 domestic and international visitors came to visit, with revenue reaching more than 3.5 billion VND. Also thanks to the good recovery after the pandemic, the number of tourists to Hue has increased, so since the beginning of the year, the revenue of the relic industry is estimated at more than 121 billion VND, with nearly 800,000 domestic/international visitors.
According to tourism statistics, the number of visitors to Hue during the recent holiday doubled compared to the same period in 2022, equivalent to about 800,000 arrivals, including 42,000 overnight guests, with room occupancy reaching over 95%. Some neighboring localities also recorded growth in the number of visitors and revenue, such as Da Nang welcoming more than 300,000 arrivals, an increase of 26.6% over the same period. Quang Nam welcomed more than 155,000 arrivals, an increase of more than 6%. Binh Dinh welcomed about 249,700 arrivals, an increase of 8.3% over the same period in 2022, with total revenue estimated at more than 257 billion VND, an increase of 13.3% over the same period in 2022...
In reality, almost all localities with tourism strengths in the country have seen growth in the number of visitors and revenue... Only Phu Quoc is an exception. Many reasons have been analyzed, in addition to high prices, there is also lax management in allowing some individuals and businesses to operate in a "ripping-off" manner, causing tourists to come once and never return. That is probably also a common lesson for destinations that want to build a friendly and hospitable image, need to have tighter management, promptly detect and prevent offensive behaviors and actions that damage the image of tourism in the province.
Hue has also been repeatedly reported by tourists for touts and "ripping off" tourists. Whenever they hear a strange accent, they raise the price. For example, a loaf of noodles with meat or sausage sold to Hue people costs only 10,000 VND, but when they hear a Southern or Northern accent, the price is raised to 15-20,000 VND. A bowl of beef noodle soup for Hue customers costs only 25-30,000 VND, while for tourists it costs 40-50,000 VND... Fortunately, the above situation is no longer common. Restaurants have posted prices. Tourists are also more knowledgeable, asking for prices for services in advance to avoid being overcharged. When using a service, it means they have accepted the price.
Another advantage that tourists commented on on Hue review sites is that the prices of services are almost the cheapest in the country. For example, food and drink, on average each breakfast dish plus a cup of coffee costs about 100,000 VND/person, but in Hue it is sometimes less than half that. There was a group of tourists who ate mussel rice for only 12,000 VND/bowl and were very surprised because it was so cheap. Then roasted coffee at normal shops costs only about 15,000 VND.
Hue also has many other advantages in terms of landscapes, mountains, rivers, seas, lagoons that cannot be fully explored in just one or two days. Recently, Terminal T2 - Phu Bai International Airport has been put into operation, which is also a very good condition to attract more flights. Tourism has more opportunities to welcome visitors.
The problem is how to make Hue always the number 1 choice of tourists. To do that, in addition to avoiding incidents such as the failure of selling electronic tickets to visit relics, making tourists wait for hours like recently, we also need more new programs and festivals; unique and special destinations and higher-class services.
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