Tours to domestic destinations attract travellers

The number of travellers who have booked tours for 2010 New Year and Tet is relatively higher than non-holidays and higher than the same period last year, travel firms have said.
The total number of travellers who have booked tours via Saigontourist for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays has reached 7,000, an increase of eight percent over the same period from last year. Meanwhile, Ben Thanh Tourist has reported an increase of 10-15 percent.
Meanwhile, according to Nguyen Minh Man, senior executive of Vietravel, the travel firm will service 2,000 clients over Christmas and the New Year; so far 50 percent of this number have confirmed tours.
Domestic destinations have been the choices of many travellers. Southerners like travelling to the north and the central regions, choosing the tours to Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Sapa, Hue City and the coastal tourist spot Nha Trang.
Travel firms said that though prices have increased by five to 10 percent on average due to the higher service fees over the festival season, the number of travellers is still higher than the previous year.
Explaining the increase in the number of tourists, Nghia (FULL NAME) from Ben Thanh Tourist said that it is because of the preferences offered by travel firms and the policies of the State which aim to stimulate the demand.
Trips to the north via air have attracted clients because the ticket prices have decreased by two million dong. Hanoi is an attractive destination because it is preparing for its 1,000th anniversary, which will October 10, 2010, though celebrations have been planned throughout the year.
Meanwhile, Da Lat City is preparing for the Da Lat flower Festival which will take place between January 1 - 4, 2010.
30 percent more Vietnamese people travel abroad on Tet
It is estimated that the number of clients to travel abroad during the 2010 New Year and Lunar New Year, known as Tet, will increase by 20 - 30 percent over 2009. Some travel firms said they have stopped accepting bookings for the 2010 New Year and have begun accepting bookings for Tet.
Travel firms say that the tour fee has increased by 20-35 percent, but firms are still seeing an increase in tourists.
The problem that causes headache to travel firms is the lack of air tickets which has forced them to stop accepting booking for some tours.
Saigontourist has 2,500 clients who booked outbound tours on the 2010 New Year. It still does not have final information about the bookings for Tet. However, the main office of the firm in District 1 of HCM City has reported the increase of 30 percent in the number of travelers in comparison with Tet last year.
Hoan My Travel has got 1,000 clients for Tet, up by 30 percent over the previous Tet.