More Vietnamese people tended to opt for
outbound tours during recent holidays, while domestic travel fared poorer,
according to HCMC’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Domestic
segment posted a 10% year-on-year increase in bookings during the Reunification
Day and International Labor Day while the bookings for outbound tours went up
more than 30% from the same period last year. High and stable prices are the
key factors making local visitors opt for outbound tours.
“The
statistics are collected from 20 leading tour operators in HCMC. They not only
reflect tour sales during the holidays but also point out common travel trend
at the current time,” said an official of the department.
The
prices of outbound tours taking in popular overseas destinations such as
Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are only equal to prices of domestic tours to
the central and Northern regions, driving up bookings for outbound tours.
The
next reason is that outbound tour prices and service quality remain stable
while tour operators and tourists face overcharging or surcharges in case of
taking domestic tours during big holidays.
In
addition, foreign tourism authorities have launched promotion campaigns
highlighting their signature destinations appealing to Vietnamese travelers.
However,
travel firms reported it was getting harder to sell package tours and long-haul
tours due to the tough economy. Tourists arrange short-haul tours by themselves
rather than book long-haul tours from travel agencies.
The
report showed the best-selling tours are tours to Phu Quoc Island, Nha Trang,
Dalat, Phan Thiet and Con Dao Island. Tours taking in the Mekong Delta
registered a 30% increase in bookings from last year.
The
number of bookings of airborne tours to the Central and Northern destinations
such as Hoi An, Danang and Hanoi sank by 40%. There are fewer tourists choosing
tours traveling by air given higher transportation costs.
The
prices of tours taking in the Central and Northern regions edged up 20-30% due
to rising input costs. Specifically, transportation cost grew by 15%, while
hotel room rates advanced 20-30% or even 100%, pushing up prices of those
tours.
RoK
airline helps promote Vietnam’s world heritage
Asiana
Airlines of the Republic of Korea has pledged to promote Vietnam’s central
region heritage sites on its international flights.
This is
major focus of the project, “Promoting World Heritage sites in Vietnam’s
Central Region” launched on May 8 in the Quang Nam central province’s Hoi An
ancient town.
The
project, funded by Asiana Airlines through the Korean National Commission for
UNESCO (KNCU) and UNESCO Hanoi office, aims to connect three World Heritage
sites in the region, including Hue Monuments Complex in Hue city, Hoi An
ancient town and My Son sanctuary in Quang Nam province.
Asiana
Airlines will also fund solar energy lighting systems at all three sites, with
the system in Hoi An scheduled to be put into operation this year.
At the
launching ceremony, Tran Minh Ca, Vice Chairman of the Quang Nam Provincial
People’s Committee, spoke highly of the support from Asiana Airlines, which
launched a new route in December, 2011 linking the RoK capital, Seoul with Da
Nang . He expressed his belief that thanks to the Asiana promotion, the world
heritage site in the central region will be broadly presented to international
tourists.
Ca said
that with Hoi An ancient town, My Son Sanctuary and Cham Islands Biosphere
Reserve, the province has received strong cooperation and support from
international agencies, organisations and individuals on heritage site
conservation and sustainable tourism development.
SGT/VNA
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