Airfares during Tet are still increasing sharply, making round-trip prices equal to an entire package tour abroad, posing a difficult problem for the domestic tourism industry.
Since late July, airlines have started selling air tickets for the Lunar New Year. According to most travel agencies, prices are still as high as usual, especially for flights from the South to the North. After Tet, airfares from the North to the South are also high because a large number of passengers return to work.
According to statistics from Best Price, ticket prices for flights from Ho Chi Minh City during Tet increased by about 170-298% compared to normal days, and from Hanoi increased by about 150-265%. When trying to book tickets on the afternoon of October 4, the flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Thanh Hoa in November cost about 1.4 million VND per passenger. However, if purchased on the 29th or 30th of Tet (February 8-9, 2024), the ticket price is about 3.4 million VND. The flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh costs about 1.2 million VND on normal days, and increases to 3.5 million VND on Tet.
From Hanoi, flights to Da Nang cost about 727,000 VND on weekdays, increasing to 1.6 million VND during Tet; flights to Phu Quoc ( Kien Giang ) cost 914,000 VND per passenger on weekdays, and about 2.8 million VND during Tet.
Mr. Nguyen Huu Cuong, General Director of Trang An Travel, commented that currently "cheap tickets are very rare", especially for flights departing from Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City during Tet. According to Mr. Cuong, round-trip domestic airfares of airlines on some routes during Tet are equal to, or even higher than, package tour prices to Singapore, Thailand, and Cambodia at the same time.
"High airfares are one of the reasons why tourists switch to international travel during the Tet holiday instead of domestic travel," said Mr. Cuong. "This has a negative impact on domestic tourism. I think many departments need to get involved to solve this problem."
According to a survey by VnExpress, a 5-day, 4-night tour to Thailand, departing from Hanoi on February 14 (the 5th day of Tet) costs 10-11 million VND. For a similar itinerary, a round-trip airfare from Hanoi to Phu Quoc (good weather) costs about 6-7 million VND, while during bad weather, the price fluctuates around 5-6 million VND. The cost of a 3-star hotel in Phu Quoc during this period costs about 400,000-500,000 VND per night. If traveling on a budget, tourists will spend at least 6.5-9 million VND on travel and accommodation, not including food, entertainment and shopping.
A 5-day, 4-night tour departing from Ho Chi Minh City to Taiwan (Taipei - Taichung - Nantou - Kaohsiung route) on the 1st, 2nd and 8th of Tet is being sold by a large travel agency for 12 million VND per person. Meanwhile, a tour from Ho Chi Minh City to Quy Nhon and Phu Yen at the same time is being sold by this company for about 9.5 million VND.
"Domestic tour prices this year have increased by about 30% compared to normal, mainly due to the increase in airfares," said a representative of Trang An Travel.
Mr. Cuong said that in March 2022, when tourism had just reopened, domestic airfares were "dancing continuously". The "dancing" of airfares at that time was acceptable because tourists did not have many options when international destinations had not opened, and the demand for travel after two years of staying at home increased. In 2023, many international routes will open, prices will be stable, especially the Chinese market will also open to Vietnamese tourists. Therefore, when airlines push domestic airfares up, tour prices will increase, and domestic tour products will find it difficult to compete with short-haul international products.
According to travel agencies, Vietnamese tourists tend to choose destinations near Vietnam such as Thailand, Singapore, Singapore-Malaysia routes, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. Of these, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand are likely to be the main products because these markets have maintained their appeal over the past time, and the flight times are not too long.
Currently, many travel agencies have not opened domestic tours because demand from customers is still low. Most of them focus on exploiting autumn and winter products such as tourism in the North and West.
However, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thien Tong - an aviation expert - said that the high airfares during Tet every year are due to "market relationships". The aviation industry also depends on tourists, so they also have to calculate the increase to make a profit and have customers.
Vietravel Airlines CEO Vu Duc Bien said that Vietnamese airlines are still facing many difficulties and are in a situation where revenue from ticket sales is not enough to cover operating costs. The airline’s planes during Tet are mostly full of passengers on one way, and the other way is almost empty.
According to Mr. Tong, the attractiveness of a destination depends on many factors such as landscape and services, not just aviation. To balance interests, the aviation and tourism industries certainly need to sit down together. However, the locality itself and destination investors also need to step in and intervene with economic measures to support.
Mr. Tong gave an example of a past corporation that had a good price policy for tourists if they bought both air tickets and accommodation in their system. Customers could save several million VND compared to booking separate services.
"The destinations themselves must have support policies to help airlines reduce costs. The tourism industry cannot complain but do nothing," he said.
In late September, Thai AirAsia, a Thai airline, called on the government to help reduce travel costs for tourists. Santisuk Klongchaiya, CEO of Thai AirAsia, said rising fuel costs and other factors were “putting pressure on airlines’ operating costs.”
Airlines will not be able to reduce airfares in the near future. However, if they are subsidized with other airport costs such as navigation fees and excise taxes on jet fuel, the story may be different.
According to vnexpress.net
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