Tourism reaches fever pitch for Reunification Day

Many people are finding it hard to book tours during national Reunification Day (April 30) as travel firms have closed their books.
Due in part to the long holiday, a lot of families have made plans for domestic travel. Especially popular destinations are Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Nha Trang, Sapa, Ha Long, Cat Ba and Phu Quoc.
Big travel firms such as Saigontourist and Hanoitourist said tours including Hanoi-Saigon-Phu Quoc-Con Dao are full. There are only a few vacancies for tours of Hanoi-Danang-Saigon, Hanoi-Nha Trang-Dalat.
Because of higher travel demand between April 28 and May 2, some airlines have run out of tickets.
Budget airlines such as Jestar and Mekong have no more return tickets for Hanoi-Saigon tour for those dates.
The sharp rise in demand and a ticket scarcity may drive up prices during the holiday.
With higher ticket prices, tour rates may be also pushed up. A Hanoi-Saigon-Nha Trang-Dalat tour is offered for up to VND8.4 million (USD401), not including ticket price.
In order to save expenses, some people are opting to book air tickets by themselves to avoid service fees from travel firms.
“I booked airplane tickets for my family on a tour from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City during the holiday a month in advance, as I guessed that ticket may run out,” said Ms. Huong from Khuong Thuong, Hanoi.
Other people who have more money have decided to travel abroad during the festival. Tours to Asian destinations such as China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and India have been choice destinations.
Mai Thanh, Managing Director of Bao Son Travel said together with ticket prices, international tours are also higher compared to a year earlier.
Prices of tours to Hong Kong have been raised from USD558 to USD709, Thailand is up from USD392 to USD449, and to Singapore-Malaysia increased from USD609 to USD700, she add.