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Tourists travelling this April 30
holiday will have to pay 10-15% more for
domestic tours and $30-70 more for
outbound tours due to high inflation,
travel firms say.
The number of tourists travelling on the
April 30 holiday is expected to increase
by 30% compared to last year as tourists
will have a long holiday this year.
Tran Thi Viet Huong, Deputy General
Director of Vietravel, said that clients
began booking tours many days ago. Some
85% of tours have been booked to date,
two weeks before the holiday. The travel
firm is not accepting any more bookings
for tours to Nha Tran, Phu Quoc Island,
the central region’s heritage road,
though more clients still want to book
these tours. The same situation is
occurring with outbound tours to
Australia and the US.
Huong said that the travel firm may
provide additional tours for May 2 and
3, after the holiday.
Domestic tour fees have increased by
10-15%, while travellers going abroad
will have to pay $30-70 more for
outbound tours. And despite the higher
tour fees, clients still have to book
tours soon if they don’t want to have to
cancel tours because of no air tickets.
Travel firms have attributed tour fee
increases to high inflation. A
representative of Vietravel said that
air tickets, restaurant, transport fees
all have increased, and travel firms
have no other choice than requiring
higher tour fees.
Hotels said that they would keep hotel
room rates unchanged compared to the
low-season fees. However, all the hotel
rooms are occupied, mostly by travel
firms.
In order to attract more clients, travel
firms have been trying to offer many new
tours with new attractive destinations
besides traditional places.
Vietravel, for example, has launched 50
tours, domestic and outbound for 2-10
days. The tours have been diversified to
meet the diversified demands of clients
(eco-tourism, sports tourism).
Travellers abroad will have the chance
to go to Australia flying on the hotel
Airbus 380, to Japan to admire cherry
blossoms.
HCM City-based Ben Thanh Tourist has
launched a new cruise tour in which
tourists will have the chance to go
along the seashore from Nha Trang to Ha
Long on the Hoa Sen ship. Hoa Sen has
the capacity of 500 passengers, tonnage
of 7,500DWT and average speed of 21
miles an hour.
Moroever, Ben Thanh Tourist also offers
more choices for tourists: 4-6-day tours
to Nha Trang (VND1,725,000), Ha Long Bay
(VND7,785,000), 6-day Da Nang – Ba Na –
Hoi An – Hue – Phong Nha (VND6,494,000).
In general, tourists prefer tours on the
sea to other destinations this holiday.
Kim Toan
Source : Viet Nam Net |
