Vietnamese tourists spend hundreds of millions of VND celebrating Christmas in Norway and Finland.

With Christmas and New Year approaching, many tourists are deciding to splurge on snow-viewing tours abroad. Northern Europe and Northeast Asia continue to be popular destinations.

Vietnamese tourists are willing to spend tens of millions of dong to have a unique experience with ice and snow. Photo: Dang Thuy Duong.

This year, Hang Bui (from Hanoi ) decided to go to Norway and Finland to celebrate Christmas and New Year. She will be traveling with friends, and the estimated cost for 15 days in Northern Europe is around 120 million VND.

"We're planning a trip with activities like aurora viewing, exploring snow villages, and ice fishing...", Hang said.

Similarly, Nga Muoi (from Ho Chi Minh City) said she was looking for a snow-watching tour in China. After posting in a travel group on Facebook, she received many offers for tours with diverse destinations and experiences at competitive prices.

"China is quite popular this year, with affordable costs. I plan to spend around 12 million VND on a trip to this country this Christmas to see and touch the white snow for myself," she shared.

Witnessing the aurora borealis, glaciers... these are some of the experiences tourists seek when traveling abroad to see the snow during Christmas. Photo: Bui Truc Phuong.

With Christmas just over a month away, many Vietnamese tourists are busily planning trips abroad to see the snow and experience the vibrant festive atmosphere. Finland, the home of Santa Claus, is a top destination with its impressive snowy landscapes.

At more affordable price points, China, South Korea, and Japan are traditional markets, but they always attract considerable interest.

Mr. Pham Anh Vu, Deputy General Director of Viet Travel Company, said: "The Christmas and New Year 2025 holidays have seen a significant increase in the number of tourists booking tours to see snow abroad, up more than 30% compared to the same period last year, especially for destinations in Northeast Asia."

Explaining this growth, Mr. Vu said that tourists have increased demand for unique experiences such as skiing and snow viewing. In addition, this year's more favorable visa policies for Vietnamese tourists have become a major reason encouraging travelers to go and experience the snowfall.

Harbin becomes a 'star'

Ms. Tran Bao Thu, Marketing and Communications Director of Vietluxtour, said that besides traditional destinations, Harbin is one of the emerging tourist routes in China that has attracted a lot of attention from tourists in the last 1-2 years, especially during Christmas and New Year.

This location has attracted a lot of tourists thanks to its popularity on social media with many appealing reviews, highlighted by its snowy landscapes and stunning ice sculptures.

"In Harbin, tourists can participate in many special experiences such as the world's largest ice sculpture festival, visit the Snow Village, and experience activities like skiing, dog sledding on the ice, ice fishing, etc. With more time and cost savings compared to Northern Europe tours, this destination is especially attractive to tourists," Ms. Thu shared.

Experiences associated with ice and snow, such as dog sledding on glaciers, ice fishing, playing games where hot water turns into ice, and building snowmen, offer a novel and attractive experience for tourists. Photo: Dang Thuy Duong.

In addition, the connection and expansion of flight routes between Vietnam and China make travel more convenient for tourists, leading to increasingly better tour prices. A 5-6 day trip to Harbin costs between 31-36 million VND per person.

Ms. Thu said that because this is a new route, it has attracted a lot of interest from tourists, but the number of customers officially booking tours is still not as high as traditional tours to Yunnan, Sichuan - Chengdu or Shanghai - Beijing due to harsh weather and climate conditions.

Meanwhile, Max Vu, tour program manager at FIT TOUR, said that this winter the company has seen a 20% increase in bookings for overseas tours to see the snow, with Harbin being the flagship product, having already reached 70% of its target.

Currently, this company offers two tour packages to Harbin: a 6-day tour with a relaxed exploration program and an 8-day tour for active travelers who can tolerate cold weather well, combining exploration of the North Korean border.

In addition, FIT TOUR has added a snow-viewing itinerary in Kashmir (India) to give customers more options and enhance their experience.

Thailand and Hong Kong remain popular.

Meanwhile, Ms. Tran Phuong Linh, Director of Marketing and Information Technology at BenThanh Tourist, said that typical products such as tours to Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Japan... remain attractive markets for tourists.

"The occupancy rate for Christmas and New Year 2025 tours is quite good, reaching around 75-85% depending on the destination, with Hong Kong and Japan being the hottest markets we've recorded," Ms. Linh shared.

Japan is a top destination favored by many Vietnamese tourists in all seasons. Photo: Ngo Tran Hai An.

Meanwhile, a representative from Viet Travel said that this year's New Year's holiday is short and falls in the middle of the week, so the company's business plan is not expected to increase compared to the same period last year and will focus more on domestic tours.

"Besides the trend of choosing high-end tours, watching fireworks, and countdowns in coastal cities like Phu Quoc and Da Nang, we have also observed a trend of seeking exclusive services and unique experiences such as ice hunting in Sa Pa or Ha Giang during the end of the year," said Mr. Pham Anh Vu.

Currently, Da Lat and Sa Pa are two destinations attracting a lot of tourists, and it is expected that these two routes will quickly be fully booked within the next two weeks.

Mr. Vu added that currently, tours requiring visas, such as those to Japan and China, have reached 60% of their target, while long-distance tours to Europe and Australia have reached 80% of their plan. The peak booking period for Christmas and New Year tours at his company usually falls in late November and early December.

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