Vietnam - Domestic tours cut prices to woo customers

Nearly twenty travel agencies under the Ho Chi Minh Tourism Association (HTA) have joined hands with national carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) to unveil a tourism promotional program targeting domestic tour packages between now and year-end.

VNA will slash airfares by 40 per cent for services connecting HCMC and Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Phu Quoc, and Da Lat to tour organizers, under the condition that the latter pledge to offer discounted travel packages to promote domestic tourism, according to Nguyen Thi Viet Thu, deputy head of the sales development department.

Specifically, round-trip tickets for the HCMC-Hanoi route will be VND3 million a passenger, while the respective rates for the HCMC-Da Nang and HCMC-Phu Quoc will be VND1.9 million, and VND1.6 million per passenger, she said.

HTA deputy chairwoman Nguyen Thi Khanh said her institution and VNA have selected 19 travel agencies to join in the program, each of which will offer at least six discounted packages.

The participants have booked airfares from VNA, while some have begun to reduce prices for their services since April 20, added Khanh.

“At a time when prices of almost all commodities have shot up, VNA’s lower airfares will greatly encourage tour organizers,” said Tran The Dung, deputy director of The He Tre Travel Co.

“If travel agencies cut their service prices by another 8 – 10 per cent, tourism package prices can be reduced by at least 22 per cent from the current rates.”

Cut prices further

Tran Van Dong, director of Phu Quoc-based Huong Bien travel agency, said he will encourage local hotels and 3- and 4-star resorts to cut accommodation fees by 40 – 50 per cent.

These discounted services, plus the lower air ticket prices, will create an impulse for the island’s tourism, he said.

Similarly, Da Nang-based Vitour Co also negotiated with its partners to cut service prices by at least 10 per cent to “initially introduce at least six discounted tour at prices 25 – 30 per cent lower than usual,” its director Cao Tri Dung said.

“VNA will provide particular assistance to tour organizers to enable them to offer the best prices for tourists,” promised VNA deputy CEO Trinh Hong Quang.

Tuoi Tre

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