During the April 30-May 1 holiday, tourists flock to travel abroad, avoiding domestic flights

Having just booked a tour to Thailand for the April 30 - May 1 holiday, Ms. Nguyen Thu Trang (Hanoi) said that this was the choice her group of friends changed at the last minute.

Initially, Trang’s group of 5 people planned to travel domestically together, with Nha Trang as the chosen destination. However, when they learned that the airfare was up to 7 million VND/person, accounting for more than half of the planned cost of the trip, the group discussed and recalculated.

After that, Ms. Trang was offered a 5-day, 4-night tour to Thailand for more than 10 million VND/person. The whole group quickly agreed to this cost.

"With more than 10 million VND, if we go to Nha Trang, we have to spend more than half to buy plane tickets. The remaining small amount of money is not necessarily enough to rent a hotel, experience cuisine and have fun because during the holidays, all costs are more expensive. But with the same amount of money, the Thailand tour is an all-inclusive package, we get to visit another country, clearly this option is more reasonable and economical," said Ms. Trang.

Ms. Vu Hong Hanh's family (Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi ) is also planning a 5-day, 4-night trip to China by road with a cost of less than 5 million VND/person.

Previously, Ms. Hanh and her husband had planned to travel to Phu Quoc, but when they saw the airfare was over 8 million VND/person, Ms. Hanh and her husband immediately changed direction and decided to book a tour to China by road.

With about 4 million VND, Ms. Hanh and her husband can travel to places such as Hekou, Binh Bien, Kien Thuy, Khai Vien and Mong Tu in China for 3 days and 3 nights. According to the schedule, the tour will use sleeper buses to travel, departing from Hanoi.

Many people choose to travel to neighboring countries such as China, Thailand... during the April 30 - May 1 holiday. (Illustration photo)

Mr. Nguyen Hoang, a civil servant in Hanoi, also had to inform his family that he chose a tour to Thailand, after surveying airfares for the trip to Phu Quoc. The airfare alone for 4 people cost more than 33 million VND, and transferring to Nha Trang would cost nearly 27 million VND.

“ A price of 4-5 million VND/person is still acceptable, but with that price, you will run out of money after traveling. Just the airfare alone costs tens of millions of VND, not to mention countless other expenses ,” he said.

Overseas tours are sold out

Informing VTC News , Mr. Tran Dang Thanh, CEO of Orion Travel, said that currently many foreign tours are "sold out", travel businesses are continuously opening more tours to meet demand.

“ The most popular market is China, a series of 5-day, 4-night road tours cost only from 4 million to 10 million VND, air tours cost only from 11 to 18 million VND but include the whole package. Thailand tours cost just over 10 million VND, a little higher than the ticket price to Phu Quoc. These tours are in high demand, as soon as they are opened, they are full, we have to work with partners to open many more tours ,” said Mr. Thanh.

CEO of Orion Travel revealed that many small travel businesses have completely stopped selling domestic tours at this time to focus on selling foreign tour products.

Commenting on this phenomenon, Mr. Le Hong Thai, Director of Hanoitourist Travel Company, emphasized that this is only a solution to solve the immediate economic problem, during the time of sudden increase in visitors. In the long term, the domestic market is still the main market, suitable for business development.

“ This is the business orientation of each enterprise. However, some large enterprises like us, still have to open sales to all tourism markets such as domestic, outbound or welcoming foreign visitors to Vietnam (Inbout). These customers, regardless of which market they are in, can be future customers of other markets.

For example, if domestic customers go this time, they may come to us next time to go abroad. If we ignore domestic customers, we will ignore other sources of customers in the future. Therefore, to maintain a long-term business strategy, it is necessary to continue opening tours in all markets ,” Mr. Thai stated his opinion.

Hanoitourist CEO further analyzed that the reason why foreign tours are "hot" is partly due to the high cost of domestic tours, including expensive airfares.

“ With the same amount of money spent or a little more, tourists have more cultural experiences, so they easily switch to neighboring countries ,” said Mr. Thai.

High airfares make domestic travel expensive. (Illustration photo)

Ms. Hoang Thu Trang, an employee of Vitamintours Hanoi agency, also informed that her unit is currently focusing on developing foreign tours for the April 30-May 1 holiday because of the sudden increase in the number of visitors.

“ Customers tend to choose tours with reasonable costs, so tours to China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia... are popular. Unlike previous years, Malaysia and Singapore also recorded a decrease in the number of visitors because customers are afraid that shopping costs in these countries will push up travel costs ,” said Ms. Trang.

According to Ms. Trang, due to increased customer demand, businesses are forced to follow the market, therefore, foreign tours are being given top priority.

“ Recently, Vitamintours launched many tours to China through border gates such as Lao Cai, Huu Nghi (Lang Son), Dong Hung (Quang Ninh). We have scheduled to welcome about 200 guests by road. With air routes, the occupancy rate also reached 100%.

Currently, tours on sale on April 26 and 28 are fully booked. For road trips, customers prefer 3-4 day itineraries, and for flights, it is 5-6 days ,” Ms. Hoang Thu Trang informed.

Regarding domestic tours during the April 30 - May 1 period, Mr. Le Hong Thai said that the number of visitors is currently only about 80% compared to last year, the tours with the highest occupancy rate are mainly short-term itineraries, while some tours with high prices such as Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, Quy Nhon, etc. are still empty.

“Airfare accounts for about 60% of the tour price structure. Therefore, the high airfare during the April 30 - May 1 holiday has caused tour prices to increase accordingly. Tourists will have to consider economic issues, they choose destinations that can be reached by other means such as trains and self-driving cars,” the CEO of Hanoitourist analyzed.

Mr. Tran Dang Thanh also said that currently this company has only sold a few dozen tours to tourists to faraway destinations such as Phu Quoc, Nha Trang... during the April 30 - May 1 holiday.

“Customers tend to travel nearby, so cheap tours from 2 to 5 million VND to destinations like Hoa Binh, Quang Ninh, Sa Pa... are purchased a lot, in complete contrast to tours that require traveling by plane,” said Mr. Thanh.

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