Many tours depart throughout the Tet holiday.

With the long holiday, many Vietnamese tourists choose to travel abroad during Tet, with tours starting from the 26th day of the lunar month to China, Japan, and Thailand.

On January 26th (the 27th day of the Lunar New Year), tour groups participating in the Tet holiday tour organized by Viet Travel Company began their journeys. The day before, three groups with over 100 customers had already departed for Thailand, Japan, and China.

Mr. Manh Khanh, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City, and his family of five are traveling during the Lunar New Year holiday for the first time, with Japan as their destination. He said that in the past, his family usually waited until after the Lunar New Year to travel, but this year, because the holiday is longer, they decided to go before the holiday.

"My wife and I work, and the children are in school, so we were busy before Tet. Now that we have a longer holiday, the whole family decided to travel and return on the first day of Tet, still having time to visit relatives," Mr. Khanh said.

Mr. Khanh during his trip to Japan on January 25th. Photo: Provided by the interviewee.

Ms. Phan Thuy, a tourist from Hanoi currently in Chengdu (China), said this is her first time traveling during the Lunar New Year holiday and she has experienced many new things. She commented that Chengdu is a large city but lacks the distinct Lunar New Year atmosphere found in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. "There's no music, no flowers, nothing here that reminds me of the Lunar New Year," Ms. Thuy said.

According to a representative from Viet Travel Company, this year's Tet holiday saw the company serving approximately 10,000 customers with nearly 200 tours, of which 20% were tours spanning the entire Tet holiday (taking place on New Year's Eve and the first day of the Lunar New Year). The number of customers increased by 15% compared to last year, primarily consisting of families, young people, and overseas Vietnamese.

The most popular overseas tours remain to China, thanks to its many new programs, reasonable prices, and convenient transportation. Danh Nam Travel, along with its alliance, served 200 tourists traveling to China during the Lunar New Year. Tours to Chongqing – Jiuzhaigou departing from January 23rd to 28th (24th to 29th of the Lunar New Year) and Lijiang from January 22nd to 26th (23rd to 27th of the Lunar New Year) were fully booked due to the demand for snow viewing.

According to Nguyen Ngoc Tung, director of Danh Nam Travel, tours departing before the 29th day of the Lunar New Year are usually about 30% cheaper than tours during the holiday period. Additionally, customers who book these tours can return home before Tet to celebrate the New Year in Vietnam.

However, this group only accounts for about 30% of the customers; the majority still prefer tours departing on the first day of Tet and returning before the sixth day, even though the price is higher. For example, the 6-day Lijiang - Shangri-La tour, departing on the 27th day of Tet, offered by the alliance, still has 20 customers booked despite costing nearly 21 million VND per person - twice as expensive as the subsidized Lijiang tour, departing on the 23rd day of Tet.

Yunnan Group Tours, a company specializing in tours to Yunnan, China, served approximately 1,200 customers during the Lunar New Year holiday, with 6 groups departing before the holiday. The earliest group, departing for the Kunming – Qiaozi Snow Mountain route, left on the 23rd day of the lunar month. Most customers still chose to depart on the morning of the 2nd day of the Lunar New Year, despite warnings that the Honghe Prefecture or Kunming routes would be as crowded as in previous years.

"Many customers still have a shopping mindset or are busy with work, so not everyone can travel before Tet," said Ms. Hoang Tuyet, representative of Van Nam Group Tours.

According to Ms. Tuyet, tour groups departing before Tet have the most fulfilling experience as most have completed their year-end work, immigration procedures are quick, they can get home in time for New Year's Eve, and they can even successfully "hunt" for snow in Kieu Tu Mountain and Kunming city.

Vietnamese tourists in Jiuzhaigou on January 26. Photo: Danh Nam Travel

Among the destinations during the Lunar New Year holiday, the Kunming route attracts Vietnamese tourists thanks to its price under 10 million VND and the addition of new attractions such as the Miniature Kingdom. Furthermore, the demand for snow-seeking tours among Vietnamese tourists remains very high, and the tour to see the snow-capped mountains of Qiaozi is usually priced at 30% of the cost of a tour to Lijiang to see the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

Regarding the domestic tour market, travel companies have noted very few individual customers purchasing tours during the Tet holiday, so they are hardly developing any new products and are only selling on demand. However, the number of corporate clients is trending upwards as many companies organize team-building activities and conferences 5-10 days before the Lunar New Year.

"Since the service season hasn't reached its peak yet, companies are taking advantage of the opportunity to organize year-end parties combined with employee vacations," said Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu, representative of Vietluxtour.

Source