Airfare prices are shocking again
More than 3 months until Lunar New Year 2024, but the demand for family reunions and travel has increased, causing Tet flight ticket prices on some routes to skyrocket.
Not only are the prices of air tickets expensive on busy routes when thousands of workers and laborers return home for Tet, but the heat of airfares from Hanoi /Ho Chi Minh City to tourist destinations such as Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, Da Lat, Da Nang,... during the Tet holiday of Giap Thin also increases rapidly.
Typically, according to the latest survey by PV. VietNamNet, the airfare for the flight departing on February 11, 2024 (ie the 2nd day of Tet) and returning on February 14, 2024 (ie the 5th day of Tet) from Hanoi to Phu Quoc is the most expensive, fluctuating from 6.8 to more than 8.3 million VND/round-trip ticket (including taxes and fees). The prices for the remaining routes are also high, such as Hanoi to Nha Trang/Da Lat from 5-7 million VND, to Da Nang from 3.3-5 million VND...
From Ho Chi Minh City, Tet flight ticket prices are cheaper when Phu Quoc route is from 3.7-3.9 million VND/round trip ticket; to Nha Trang is only from 2.8 million VND but the flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang is up to 4.9 million VND...
Ms. Pham Thi Dong, an agent selling airline tickets and hotel rooms, said that a few days ago, she booked a flight to Phu Quoc for a Hanoi customer on the 5th day of Tet (meaning the Tet holiday was over and she was preparing to go to work), but the round-trip ticket price from Hanoi to Phu Quoc was still 5.5-5.6 million VND/ticket.
She commented that this year, customers bought tickets early, so some routes, typically Hanoi - Phu Quoc, were more expensive and sold out faster. Last year, the price of tickets for this route during Tet was only about 4 million VND.
“It’s expensive but still has many bookings. However, I and some agents do not dare to take on many bookings because we are afraid that near Tet, airlines will increase flights, add thousands of seats, and then the price will be cheaper than booking early,” she said.
Tourist demand is very high during holidays and Tet, but in reality, many famous destinations in Vietnam are in a slump due to the impact of airfares. Sky-high airfares make tourists not dare to go out, or if they do go, they change to a nearby location, choose other means of transport such as trains, private cars, etc.
Typically, during the April 30-May 1 holiday this year, although it was preparing for the peak summer season, because the airfare was too expensive, from 6-10 million VND/round trip ticket from Hanoi to Phu Quoc, 3.5-4 million VND for the Ho Chi Minh City - Phu Quoc route,... the occupancy rate at many hotels in Phu Quoc was less than 50%.
Only when airfares drop (about 10 days before the holiday) do booking rates in Phu Quoc start to increase. This shows that airfares play a big role in whether tourists choose to travel or not.
However, Phu Quoc tourism during the April 30-May 1 holiday period still saw a serious decline, with only 112,000 visitors during the 5-day holiday, down 11.5%; total tourism revenue reached VND132.5 billion, down 24.3% over the same period. This is also completely understandable because ticket prices fluctuate, only decreasing when the holiday is near, making tourists "unable to react" or have already made plans to travel abroad or to a more convenient and cost-effective destination.
Entering his 6th year of operating a travel agency in Phu Quoc (Kien Giang), Mr. Pham Quang Hau, CEO of Rooty Trip, admitted that the Pearl Island has never had as few visitors as it does now. At 8-9am, the streets are still deserted. The Hon Thom cable car system has also stopped operating until November. Of course, because Phu Quoc is in the rainy season, it is also the low season, but every year at this time there are still visitors (about 2,000 people), but this year the number of visitors has decreased by half.
However, Mr. Hau is concerned that the high price of airfare to Phu Quoc during the Lunar New Year will certainly affect tourists' decision to go or not. Customers are also reluctant to book early, waiting until the day is closer with the expectation of cheaper fares. While airlines are still balancing supply and demand, the number of tickets sold is very low. Tour routes therefore have few customers, to put it bluntly, almost no customers.
Travelers continue to "cry for help"
When airfare prices increased during the April 30-May 1 holiday this year, Mr. Dang Thanh Tung, Director of New World Travel Joint Stock Company, told the press that airfare accounts for a large part of the tour price, greatly influencing tourists' decision to book a package service.
He analyzed that a round-trip air ticket to Phu Quoc costs up to tens of millions of VND, tourists will switch to other places, especially foreign countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore,... because the package tour price is only 8-10 million, flying on 4-5 star airlines, 4-day itinerary with interesting sights, central hotels, good food, professional service,...
Thus, Vietnamese tourism lost right at home when it "lost" a large number of domestic tourists.
Concerned that the lack of tourists will repeat itself during the upcoming Tet holiday, Mr. Tran Quoc Nguyen, Director of Phu Quoc Tourism Investment and Development Joint Stock Company, recently sent a letter of appeal to the leaders of Kien Giang Provincial People's Committee and domestic airlines.
The document stated that the number of tourists to the Pearl Island has dropped significantly, especially since the April 30-May 1 holiday and the recent National Day holiday on September 2. According to the Kien Giang Tourism Association, the number of visitors to Phu Quoc during the summer only reached over 50% compared to the same period last year. Room occupancy rates at accommodation establishments, especially 3-5 star hotels, only reached 20-30%, and in some places, even below 10%.
This is an extremely low rate and shows no signs of recovery, even though local businesses have been applying many forms of incentives, room discounts, travel support, sightseeing...
This company believes that the unstable price of air tickets to Phu Quoc is one of the reasons that directly affects customers' choice of tourist destination.
“Tourism activities in Phu Quoc depend heavily on airlines because this is the main transportation route. The instability of airfares affects customers’ psychology, affects the attraction of tourists to Phu Quoc and reduces the competitiveness of tourism on the Pearl Island,” the document said.
Therefore, he suggested that the People's Committee of Kien Giang province and airlines operating domestic flights to Phu Quoc soon have a direct meeting to jointly review, find causes and solutions for a stable and reasonably priced airfare mechanism to promote tourism development in Phu Quoc.
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