Airfare discounts drag tour prices down further

     Tour prices are expected to fall soon after Vietnam Airlines cut fares by 60 percent on some major routes for 17 tourist firms under a national campaign to boost tourism.
For tour operators, the round trip fares on the Ho Chi Minh CityHanoi/Vinh flights is VND1.4 million (US$80) until May 31, while from HCMC to Hue and Da Nang, it is VND810,000 ($46).
Tran The Dung, deputy director of the HCMC-based The He Tre Travel Company, said following the carrier’s discount, his company can offer 30-40 percent discounts on tours if hotels cut their fares by 10-20 percent.
On www.impressivevietnam.vn, which the government launched to introduce its eponymous campaign, travel agencies including Saigontourist, Ben Thanh Tourist and Hanoi Toserco, have been offering discounts of up to 50 percent on a clutch of packages.
Budget airline Jetstar Pacific has announced 50,000 cheap tickets to customers while Indochina Airlines has offered 30-40 percent discount to tour operators.
But while tours by airplane are becoming 50 percent cheaper, those by road and rail are only 10-15 percent down.
Dung said at a meeting last Monday that the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism should work with the transport sector so that road and sea transport fares are also cut.
The tourism sector, which employs more than 10 percent of the nation’s workforce, expects to attract 4.5 million foreign visitors this year.