People are willing to spend lavishly to enjoy the Christmas season.

Shopping malls, entertainment venues, restaurants, bookstores, and streets are bustling with visitors during the peak Christmas and New Year season.

This year's Christmas decoration market offers a wide variety of designs and stable prices - Photo: THANH HIEP

The Christmas season is entering its peak, with a bustling atmosphere filling every corner of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi . Christmas-related services such as parties, makeup, and entertainment events are operating at full capacity.

The restaurant has been fully booked for... half a month now.

The Christmas atmosphere in Ho Chi Minh City in 2024 is becoming lively, with restaurants fully booked and shopping malls crowded. Notably, high-end restaurants stopped accepting reservations two weeks in advance, surprising many and forcing them to change their plans.

For example, Ms. Nguyen Thi Diem Huong from Go Vap district, despite being a regular customer, was unable to reserve a table at a restaurant on Ton Duc Thang street. When she went to another restaurant on Nguyen Hue street, she only had options available after 8:30 PM.

While upscale restaurants were fully booked, more affordable eateries and those in shopping malls were equally bustling. Areas like Diamond Plaza, Vincom Plaza Ba Thang Hai, and Dong Khoi shopping center were all packed with customers.

Restaurants serving Vietnamese dishes such as pho, conveyor belt hot pot, and grilled meat attract a large number of diners with affordable prices, ranging from a few hundred thousand to over 1 million VND for a family of 4, or about 250,000 - 300,000 VND per person.

Many people choose shopping malls as their Christmas destination because of their convenience. As Ms. Thanh Huong (District 12) shared, having all the entertainment and dining activities in one place helps avoid traffic jams and the need to travel to multiple locations during the crowded holiday season.

It can be seen that despite the economic difficulties, people are still willing to spend money on entertainment and dining during Christmas, the only difference being that they adjust their choice of location and spending level to suit their financial circumstances.

Shopping malls attract customers through events.

For Christmas 2024, shopping malls and entertainment venues in Ho Chi Minh City are implementing many attractive promotions and events to attract customers. In particular, many businesses have adjusted their strategies to suit the current economic situation.

At Van Hanh Mall, Ms. Le Thuy Truc Ngu - marketing director - said the mall is implementing a discount program of up to 70% along with many practical offers. The highlight is a lucky draw program with a 100% winning rate and a series of events lasting 15 days, including a Santa Claus parade on December 21st, 22nd, and 24th.

Diamond Plaza and Park Hyatt are equally vibrant with exciting entertainment activities on weekends. Notably, the Christmas Ball will feature DJ Victor B and trumpet player Juan on December 24th and 25th.

Amusement parks such as Dam Sen Cultural Park and Suoi Tien Cultural Tourist Area have increased the number of special programs they organize. Suoi Tien also combined this with the opening of the metro line to create a highlight for the festive season.

River tourism services have also seen strong growth. Les Rives plans to increase its frequency to 10 trips per day, serving 150-200 passengers, mainly international tourists, with ticket prices ranging from 2 to 5 million VND per person. Saigon Cruises is also offering dinner on the river at prices from 500,000 to 2.5 million VND per person.

The children's gift market is booming.

In anticipation of the 2024 Christmas season, children's toy stores are busy preparing goods to meet parents' shopping demands. Many Christmas-themed toys such as musical snowmen, modular Christmas trees, and dolls dressed in Christmas outfits are very popular. In particular, new and trendy products like Baby Tree and Labubu are also well-liked and widely available during the Christmas season.

Focus on decorating your home rather than buying clothes.

As the year draws to a close, people are increasingly looking to decorate their homes for Christmas or New Year's Day. However, this increased demand doesn't extend to clothing or fashion items.

"Tet, Mid-Autumn Festival, Halloween, Christmas... are occasions for families to experience a moment, a milestone of a major festival. Instead of spending a few million dong taking the kids to buy clothes, I can spend 4-5 million dong on a Christmas tree and materials and accessories for the whole family to get together and create the atmosphere, decorating the house. Then we can go out to have fun and eat together."

"As for buying clothes, most families buy them year-round. Because now there are many promotional programs everywhere. Not to mention that any day of the week you can stay home and buy clothes online," Ms. Le Thi Huong (Tan Binh district) shared the reason why she didn't go shopping for clothes during Christmas.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nguoi-dan-chiu-chi-vui-mua-giang-sinh-2024122123363173.htm