In the northern mountainous region, destinations such as Sa Pa continue to attract a large number of tourists right from the early days of spring.
As of February 19th (3rd day of Tet), Lao Cai province is estimated to welcome about 250,000 visitors, including 23,000 international visitors. Sa Pa ward alone welcomed about 71,600,000 visitors, including 58,000 domestic visitors and 13,000 international visitors, accounting for the largest proportion of the whole province.
Some localities such as Lao Cai ward, Mu Cang Chai commune, Dong Cuong commune, and Tu Le commune also attract a large number of tourists. Provincial occupancy rate reached 70-80%; Sa Pa nearly 90-95%, Mu Cang Chai and Tu Le reached 80-85%.
On the 4th day of Lunar New Year, many tourist areas and attractions in Son La recorded a high increase in the number of visitors. From early morning, crowds from all over flocked to visit and experience.
According to Lao Dong's records, at Moc Chau National Tourist Area, a large number of visitors are concentrated at points such as Hang Tau, Mu Nau Farm, Moc Chau Island (Moc Chau ward). Many tourists have to queue to visit.
Some roads leading to Hang Tau and Ta So experienced local congestion. Tourists had to park their cars on the main road and then hire motorbike taxis to transfer them to the sightseeing spot.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, Chairwoman of Moc Chau Ward People's Committee, informed that from the 2nd to the 4th day of Tet alone, the locality is estimated to welcome over 12,000 visitors, an increase of about 30% compared to the same period last year.
“We have built a plan to welcome guests before Tet, strengthened the police and militia forces to divert traffic and ensure security and order. Accommodation establishments are required to publicly list prices, not to let overcharging occur,” Ms. Hoa said.
In Trang An (Ninh Binh), the overload situation is even clearer. According to Lao Dong's records on the afternoon of the 3rd day of Tet, this eco-tourism spot welcomed nearly 80,000 visitors per day, causing the ticket area and boat wharf to be overloaded. Tourists had to queue to board the boat for sightseeing for 60-90 minutes during peak hours, and at the parking lot, cars lined up waiting to enter the sightseeing spot.
In Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa), the sea and island tourism atmosphere during Tet this year is very vibrant. From December 29th to the 2nd day of Tet, Nha Trang tourist wharf welcomes about 10,000 visitors every day, creating a bustling flow of people.
On the 4th day of Tet, many tourists lined up to buy tickets and board the ship to the island, causing traffic in the central area and around the pier at times to be locally congested.
Today, a large number of tourists continue to move to the Vung Tau area (HCMC) for spring travel. Real-world records show that the number of tourists in Vung Tau has increased significantly compared to previous days.
A large number of vehicles moved to Vung Tau, causing many intersections on 3/2 street - the main road to Vung Tau ward - to be congested in many places, especially at red light intersections. In some places, vehicles were congested for nearly 1 km. At the same time, the number of passengers leaving Vung Tau was quite large, causing minor congestion in the direction out of Vung Tau on this route.
As for the central area of Vung Tau, from early morning to the afternoon of the 4th day of Tet, vehicles gathered very crowded in the Bai Sau and Bai Truoc areas. Many main roads such as Thuy Van, Hoang Hoa Tham, Quang Trung, Tran Phu... continuously experienced traffic jams.
The peak is around 4 pm - 6 pm, nearly 3 km on Thuy Van street (Bai Sau area) is packed with vehicles. Many branch routes are also jammed due to quite a lot of vehicles turning in to find a way out. Parking lots arranged by the locality in this area are always overloaded.
According to the Vung Tau Ward Public Service Supply Center, on the 4th day of Tet, the locality is estimated to welcome more than 66,000 visitors to spring festivals.
Phu Quoc continues to be a "hot" destination with a very large number of passengers in the South. On February 18 (the 2nd day of Tet), Phu Quoc International Airport welcomed nearly 17,000 passengers through 93 flights, a high increase compared to the same period last year. This is one of the days with the highest passenger volume ever.
Congestion and overload mainly occur locally in the destination area and wharves/service concentration points, instead of prolonged "stakes". This is partly thanks to traffic regulation plans from local authorities and functional forces, as well as the arrangement of additional ticket counters, transit vehicles and directing traffic diversion right on the spot.
This reality once again reflects the challenge of infrastructure capacity, especially at famous tourist destinations during peak season. Roads to mountain scenic spots, sea tourist wharves or large-capacity airports are sometimes under strong pressure, posing requirements for upgrading, expanding and even applying technology to coordinate visitor flows more effectively in the near future.
