According to Lao Dong, early in the morning of August 31 - the first day of the September 2 holiday, thousands of tourists lined up at the Lao Cai border gate, preparing to leave for China for tourism. Many people were there from 4-5am waiting to complete procedures.
Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu - General Director of Vitamin Tours & Events, estimated that there were about 5,000 tourists leaving China by road through Lao Cai border gate on August 31. Among them, his travel agency also had many tour groups departing, with hundreds of participants.
"For road passengers, we have been picking up passengers since 11:30 last night (August 30), moving from Hanoi to Lao Cai border gate. In the early morning, passengers do personal hygiene and move to the border gate.
Because we have arranged staff to queue and reserve seats in advance, the procedure is quick, taking only about 1-2 hours to complete customs clearance procedures.
For groups of guests who do not prepare in advance or individual guests, the customs clearance process takes longer, about 3-4 hours," said Mr. Hieu.
According to records, by around 9:30 a.m. on August 31, many groups of tourists had not been able to clear customs. Thousands of people were still waiting in line in the hot weather.
Despite the large number of visitors, according to Mr. Hieu, there is little jostling at the border gate and security is quite good. Tourists are mainly private groups. Foreign tourists and group tourists usually go 1-2 days in advance to avoid crowds.
Businesses say that the number of Chinese tourists visiting during the September 2nd holiday this year is on par with the April 30th-May 1st holiday and much higher than the same period last year. The reason is that the holiday is longer and customers have more destinations.
"Half a month before, we had already finalized many China road tours because the number of registered guests was already high. Guests often booked tours to Honghe County - the autonomous region of Miao Province in Yunnan; Kunming - Dali; Lijiang - Sangrila (Yunnan Province - China)... In addition, guests can go from Lang Son border gate to Nanning, which will be less crowded," Mr. Hieu shared.
A representative of a business based in Dong Da District (Hanoi) said that during the 2.9 holiday this year, the number of tourists from Vietnam to China generally increased compared to the same period last year. Partly due to the high price of airfares and service costs at some domestic destinations, tourists are shifting to travel to China because there are many competitively priced tours.
Some destinations in China have competitive tour prices of about 7-10 million VND for air travel, and cheap road tours are only from 3-5 million VND.
In China, tour guides and shuttle buses have been carefully prepared by the travel company in advance, ensuring a smooth journey for tourists.
To help the group clear customs quickly, Mr. Hieu noted that tourists should prepare their passports and travel books or visas, and follow the instructions of the tour guides and specialists at the border gate.
In addition to traveling by road, many tourists choose to fly to China. Mr. Hieu said: "On August 31, our business alliance had the first charter flight from Hanoi to Guizhou. During this holiday, we have a total of 3 flights (August 31, September 3, September 5) with a total of about 500 passengers. Everything has been prepared in detail so that tourists can have the most convenient trip."
