Tour prices set to rise during Lunar New Year

The cost of international tours is set to increase during the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) festival by up to 30-40 per cent compared to the end of last year, tourism companies nationwide have announced.
According to Vietsky Travel, the price of a five-day tour to Thailand has increased from US$290 to around $430. Meanwhile, the price of a four-day trip to Singapore has increased by nearly $100 to $590.
Tours prices to Hong Kong had also gone up by $100, it added.
High air travel prices are cited as the main reason.
"As usual, the prices of tours over the Tet holiday are higher then normal. The main reason is that airlines often raise their prices on seeing high demand," said Duong Mai Lan, a representative of Vietravel in the capital city of Ha Noi.
Agreeing with Lan, Dao Thu Hien, director of Vietsky Travel, said that plane ticket prices increased by 30-50 per cent at Lunar New Year.
In some instances, she added, the price of a flight to Thailand at Tet increased to $160 from $70. Despite the fact that tour prices keep rising, demand has not stopped increasing.
"This year, many customers want to travel because they have six days off at Tet. Moreover, Valentines day falls during the festival so it is bound to make for a hectic year," said Lan.
Recently, many tourism companies have had to turn away customers as they are fully booked.
Saigontourist announced that the number of customers looking to book holidays had increased by 15-18 per cent over the same period last year.
Meanwhile, Vietravel said that many of their outbound tours were almost full.
"About 70 per cent of Vietravel Ha Noi’s tours have been sold out, 90 per cent of tours to Thailand and other tours to China, South Korea and Japan booked by many tourists," said Lan.
This year, tours to regional countries and territories such as Thailand, China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan are still in high demand.
Some visitors book trips to the US and Australia to visit their relatives but not that many. While many people book outbound tours for the Tet holidays, inbound tours have not seen a big change.
According to Lan, at the moment the number of inbound tours booked is only about 30 per cent of the predicted figure.
"Visitors often leave it till late to book inbound tours. Moreover, they can organise inbound tours by themselves," Lan said.
Popular domestic destinations still include Sa Pa, Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An, Yen Tu, Ha Long, Nha Trang, Phan Thiet, Con Dao and Phu Quoc.
This year especially, many tours to discover northern regions have been organised to welcome Ha Noi’s 1,000th anniversary.