Foreign tours are about to return after a long time of “freezing”. However, because the price is pushed up, the tour to Thailand is showing signs of losing compared to long distances.
Since Vietnam reopened international flights, Thailand – as usual – remains the top destination of interest for tourists. However, compared to the pre-epidemic period, the tour price to Thailand has doubled (from about 5 million VND/person to 11-12 million VND/person). This makes visitors wonder in choosing a tour to the land of the Golden Temple.
Southeast Asia tour, Northeast Asia lost
That is the opinion of many travel businesses about the international tour market at this stage. In the past, Thailand was known as an affordable tourist destination, with many experiences… An important reason why tours to Thailand had good prices in the past was the subsidy program from the Government or commercial center. However, the pandemic has left many shopping malls unopened. The subsidy policy is not as good as it used to be.
“Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia tours are losing their advantage. Many tourists are interested in long-distance itineraries like the US and Europe,” said Dang Duy Khanh, Sales Director of Group Tours.
At the Vietnam International Tourism Fair 2022 (VITM Hanoi 2022), the interest in tours and combos to Thailand is still high. However, the tourists are somewhat hesitant because the price is too high compared to before.
The Best Price side said that if buying at the fair, visitors can own a 5 day 4 night Thailand tour for 12 million VND/person – instead of 14 million VND/person as now. Although the price has dropped, many tourists are still not ready to spend more than 10 million VND just to go to Thailand.
Travel agencies are also aware of this situation. Sharing with Zing, a representative of Flamingo Redtours said that the company will focus on selling Free&Easy packages (including air tickets, hotel rooms) to destinations like Thailand or Southeast Asian countries. The reason is that these spots have easy travel policies. Guests can book and go by themselves without much help from the travel agency.
They promote the sale of long-distance tours such as Europe, America, etc. because these destinations require visa regulations. Many guests who are afraid of the procedure or are not proactive will need to go to a travel agency.
“We noticed that customers are interested in tours to Dubai, Turkey or European countries such as France – Switzerland – Italy or Denmark – Norway – Sweden – Finland. Tours to Dubai, Turkey The basic program does not have many new features, but the price is reasonable”, said the company representative.
In addition to European tours, the US is also a favorite destination of Vietnamese tourists because the demand for visiting relatives and traveling is very high. This is also a product that many travel companies focus on at the fair. According to a survey by Zing, the price for a 10-day tour to the US with 4 destinations including New York – Washington DC – Las Vegas – Los Angeles costs about 72 million VND/person.
Korea is busy
At this year’s fair, the Korea Tourism Organization in Vietnam (KTO) and the Jeju Island Tourism Promotion Department both held booths. Their main purpose is to provide Korean tourist information to Vietnamese tourists.
As noted by the reporter, the number of visitors to these two stalls is quite large, mainly young people. In addition to looking up information, they also enjoy experiencing the culture of the land of kimchi such as wearing hanbok, making Korean souvenirs.
“It is not when coming to VITM Hanoi 2022 that tourists are interested in Korea. On KTO’s fanpage, we also receive many questions from Vietnamese tourists about returning to Korea. We are connecting with travel companies to have policies to support tourists when Korea returns,” said Ms. Nguyen Thu Ha, Head of Communications of KTO.
Talking to reporters, Ms. Ha said that when Korean tourism reopens, Vietnamese tourists will still be the most important market in Southeast Asia. In 2019, the number of Vietnamese visitors to South Korea ranked second in Southeast Asia, after Thailand.
Meanwhile, the Jeju Island Tourism Promotion Agency hopes to welcome Vietnamese tourists from May and June. Therefore, they consider this to be the right time to provide information to Vietnamese tourists before Korea reopens to the public.
Ms. Le Hai Linh, media representative of the Jeju Island Tourism Promotion Agency said: “In the past 2 years, although not open to international visitors, Jeju is still a favorite destination of Korean domestic tourists. In the near future, Vietnamese tourists can see a different Jeju, not just a pristine island.”
Both of these units confirmed that the number of Vietnamese tourists interested in Korean tourism information is very large again. However, the issue of tourist visas that have not been re-issued and isolation regulations are major obstacles. Representatives of KTO and Jeju Island Tourism Promotion Agency expect that the second quarter will be the time when Vietnamese people can travel to Korea like before.
@ Zing News