Enhancing the attractiveness of domestic tourism.

The recent surge in domestic airfares has had an adverse impact on the aviation and tourism industries, as well as on the economic sectors and livelihoods of people in many localities. Analysis suggests that the global shortage of aircraft, coupled with significant fluctuations in exchange rates and fuel costs, has affected supply capacity, forcing airlines to adjust and increase airfares.

In recent times, many solutions have been proposed to lower airfare prices, and this issue has also been discussed in the National Assembly. Although prices have decreased somewhat, they remain high. This significantly impacts the rights of tourists as well as the development of Vietnam's tourism industry.

Therefore, diversifying transportation methods and not relying entirely on airplanes will be an effective and sustainable solution to promote tourism development.

Promoting the development of railway tourism.

According to Ha Van Sieu, Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, in the first six months of 2024, Vietnam's tourism sector had fully recovered, with many tourism statistics reaching and surpassing the 2019 levels (before the Covid-19 pandemic).

Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, Ha Van Sieu, spoke about the potential for developing railway tourism.

According to Mr. Ha Van Sieu, tourism has not only recovered in terms of quality and quantity, but the overall picture of the tourism industry has shown a change in market structure, reflecting the industry's adaptation to the new era.

In terms of tourist transportation, given the current high airfare prices, the spending patterns of tourists have changed, opening up opportunities for other tourist transportation options, one of which is rail transport.

The Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration affirmed that railways make a significant contribution to tourism. Not only do they transport tourists from one point to another, but along the journey itself, railways can also create new experiences for tourists.

"Every year we have over 40 million hours of passenger travel on trains, which is a huge resource to exploit for tourism and services," said Mr. Ha Van Sieu.

According to Mr. Dang Sy Manh, Chairman of the Board of Members of Vietnam Railways Corporation, with the advantage of owning a railway system over 3,000km long passing through 34 provinces and cities, including many beautiful routes where tourists can admire the beauty of Vietnam through the train windows, and with many stations located in key national tourist destinations, Vietnam Railways Corporation aims to transform the train journey for passengers into an experience, an integral part of their travel.

Mr. Dang Sy Manh stated that in recent times, the Corporation has continuously improved and innovated to enhance service quality and introduced many new products to serve passengers. A series of new products aimed at serving tourists, such as the high-quality trains SE19-20; SE20-21; the Hue - Da Nang Heritage connecting train; the Da Lat - Trai Mat night train; the Hanoi - Hai Phong Food-tour train... have been well received by the public and tourists.

In addition, Vietnam Railways Corporation has organized cultural, culinary, and artistic activities at train stations to transform them into "destinations" for the public and passengers. 2024 witnessed a boom in the trend of choosing railways as a means of travel.

To enable railway transport to contribute more to the nation's tourism, Vietnam Railways Corporation will strengthen cooperation with the Vietnam National Tourism Administration. Mr. Dang Sy Manh hopes this cooperation will bring many benefits to domestic and international tourists, contributing to the tourism industry's achievement of the goals approved by the Prime Minister in the Tourism System Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2045.

A passenger train of Vietnam Railways Corporation runs through Lang Co Bay in Thua Thien-Hue province - Photo: Vietnam+

According to Mr. Ha Van Sieu, when combining with tourism, the railway industry first needs to conduct more in-depth research into customer needs and preferences, especially their preferences when spending time on trains. From there, they can develop additional services to capitalize on the time passengers spend on trains, allowing them to enjoy and experience the culture, cuisine, and interact with the destinations.

In addition, the railway industry needs to apply technology to help customers easily access information on trains. Furthermore, there must be convenient connectivity and payment services for travelers.

In particular, the railway industry, along with the tourism industry, must strengthen coordination to promote tourism products associated with the routes, as well as promote the train carriages and services on board so that passengers are aware of and can experience them...

Flexibility in developing tour packages

Besides choosing rail as an alternative to air travel, opting for shorter tours and tours using road transport is the way tourism service providers are adapting to meet the needs of tourists.

Recently, a series of nearby, road-based tourism products have been offered to tourists by tourism businesses.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Hoan, General Director of Flamingo Redtours, said that to adapt to rising airfares, instead of long-distance routes, tourism businesses have shifted to developing regional tourism products using cars, focusing on destinations such as resorts around the area, and nearby coastal routes like Ha Long, Cat Ba, Hai Tien, Cua Lo… to attract tourists.

Double-decker buses in Hanoi allow tourists to enjoy panoramic views of the city from above - Photo: Internet

The high cost of airfares has made it difficult for tourism businesses to develop tours, especially those aimed at stimulating domestic tourism via air travel. To adapt, many tourism businesses have become more flexible in developing tour packages, diversifying transportation methods, and not relying solely on air travel.

However, to capitalize on the opportunities for developing road tourism amidst high airfare prices, travel businesses need to improve and enhance the quality of road and rail transportation services; strengthen marketing and promotion of domestic destinations; and boost cooperation to create attractive and convenient tour packages.

Promoting domestic tourism development through road and rail transport could turn a crisis into an opportunity, especially given the persistently high cost of domestic airfares.

>>> Lesson 3: Linking for Growth

Source: https://toquoc.vn/tang-suc-hut-cho-du-lich-noi-dia-bai-2-da-dang-hoa-phuong-tien-van-chuyen-khong-phu-thuoc-vao-may-bay-20240728111635394.htm