Although there are still more than three months until the 2024 Lunar New Year holiday, a number of travel companies have already started selling hundreds of tour packages and travel products in advance.
Many early bird discounts available.
Prior to the 2024 Lunar New Year holiday, Saigontourist Travel Service Company conducted a survey of over 500,000 customers who had taken tours at more than 20 events and tourism fairs. The results showed that service quality, tour itineraries, and tour prices were the top three concerns for tourists.
Responding to this demand, Ms. Doan Thi Thanh Tra, Director of the Marketing Department of Saigontourist Travel, said that as early as October 2023, the company had launched more than 300 tour programs to celebrate the Lunar New Year 2024 with early booking and group discounts. Customers can receive a discount of up to 10 million VND per person and an additional 2 million VND discount for groups of 4 when booking early.
Maintaining stable tour prices and increasing promotions to stimulate demand is also a trend being implemented by tourism businesses in the context of cost becoming a major concern for customers.
Tourists inquire about this year's Tet holiday tours. Photo: BINH AN
Ms. Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang, Deputy General Director of Vietravel Company, said that the company has just launched a promotional program to welcome the Lunar New Year 2024 with the message "Tet - Connecting with countless joys" from about 100 domestic and more than 200 international travel products. "It is expected that during Tet 2024, the company will serve more than 150,000 customers, a 15% increase compared to Tet 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic). The company has focused on working with partners early to maintain stable prices along with large-scale promotional programs to stimulate travel demand," Ms. Phuong Hoang said.
Vietluxtour Travel Company is also implementing the "Quality Tours, Great Prices" program for Tet 2024. Customers who book tours in groups or early will receive a discount of 1-3 million VND per person, depending on the market. Thanks to preparing their year-end business plan quite early, from the end of Q2/2023, the company had already secured a series of (large deposits) of airline tickets and services with good departure times and prices, allowing Vietluxtour to offer competitive tour prices.
It's not uncommon for customers to book tours costing 200 million VND per person.
Currently, TSTtourist, Vietluxtour, Vinagroup, Ben Thanh Tourist, Viet Travel, and others are offering hundreds of tour packages for this Tet holiday.
Mr. Tran Thanh Vu, General Director of Vinagroup Tourism Company, said that the demand for Tet holiday tours this year is not as strong as in previous years, but there is still a certain level of demand. Currently, individual customers have booked tours abroad, focusing on markets such as South Korea, Japan, Europe, and the United States.
"The trend is that customers with relatively high incomes still choose overseas tours. Tour price is one of the things customers care about, so businesses always strive to negotiate to keep prices stable. Overseas tours this year are stable, and some routes have lower prices than before the COVID-19 pandemic," Mr. Vu said.
BenThanh Tourist has worked with airlines and service providers early on to secure favorable deals. Depending on the route, Tet holiday tour prices will increase by approximately 5%-10% compared to normal prices, and will not differ significantly from last year's Tet prices.
Reporters observed that while tour bookings haven't been particularly active yet, some customers have already inquired about tours and prices for the 2024 Tet holiday. Overseas tours are attracting significant interest. The head of a travel company stated that a customer recently booked a tour costing 200 million VND per person to travel abroad for Tet, and such high-end bookings are not uncommon, demonstrating the diverse needs of tourists.
However, according to Mr. Nguyen Minh Man, Director of Communications and Marketing at TSTtourist, some businesses have started selling Tet tours but are not setting overly high expectations. Short-distance tours using cars may sell slowly, so TSTtourist is focusing on introducing long-distance Tet tours in the high-price segment with destinations in Europe, Australia, and the US...
Destinations near Ho Chi Minh City or within a radius of about 200-300 km to Vung Tau, Long Hai, Ho Tram, Phan Thiet, Nha Trang, Da Lat... are experiencing high demand for travel, but mostly from independent travelers after the opening of expressways. Travel companies are primarily targeting group tours and corporate clients rather than individual travelers as before. Furthermore, domestic tour prices during Tet (Lunar New Year) are facing competition from international tours due to the high cost of domestic airfares during this period.
Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu, Director of Communications at Vietluxtour, believes there will be many changes in the international tourist market share thanks to the new, more favorable visa policy. Vietluxtour has strengthened product innovation and marketing methods to effectively exploit new markets. Their city tour product lines in Ho Chi Minh City focus on cultural, historical, culinary, and nighttime tourism experiences.
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