Sharing with Lao Dong about the business results of the summer tourism in 2024, the leader of a travel company in Ho Chi Minh City said that this year's peak summer tourism season was a failure. Accordingly, the company only attracted visitors to destinations near Ho Chi Minh City by road, while the number of tourists traveling by domestic air decreased by 70-80%.
The leader of another travel agency also complained that during the peak summer tourist season, revenue was not enough to cover expenses, leading to the company having a negative cash flow. According to the leader of this travel agency, the reason was that airfares were high during the summer, causing many tourists to choose to travel abroad instead of domestically.
"Previously, with a distance of over 300km, tourists often chose air travel. But this year, the expressway system was completed, so tourists are willing to switch to traveling to nearby destinations by car or traveling abroad. At this rate, if there are no changes and effective solutions, domestic air travel will increasingly lose ground," said the leader of this travel business.
Mr. Do Van Thuc - Deputy Director of Dat Viet Tour commented that to attract tourists to tourist destinations located far from Ho Chi Minh City, the solution is to increase night flights to reduce ticket prices, and at the same time, accommodation units need to reduce room rates by up to 50%.
"Travel businesses, airlines and accommodation establishments need to join hands to develop together. When airlines increase night flights, ticket prices will decrease, accommodation establishments also need to reduce room rates by up to 50%, then tour prices will decrease, and of course these tourist destinations will attract visitors again" - Mr. Thuc shared.
The leader of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism said that the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism has coordinated with the City Tourism Association and Vietnam Airlines Corporation to organize a meeting with travel businesses and accommodation establishments on cooperation to promote tourists to use night flights in Ho Chi Minh City.
According to the leader of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, as of July 2024, 16 tourist accommodation establishments in the city have registered to participate with a reduction of 20% to 100% of room rates for the first night. Vietnam Airlines Corporation has also organized a number of flights from 9:00 p.m. the previous night to before 6:00 a.m. the following morning with attractive prices.
Currently, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism is updating and re-evaluating the effectiveness of this solution to increase night flights and reduce accommodation prices, to propose future implementation directions for greater effectiveness.
According to a report from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, the total air passenger transport market during the National Day holiday of September 2 reached more than 763,000 passengers, down 2% compared to the same period in 2023, with 2,700 flights.
Notably, this year's international passenger transport increased by 14.5% over the same period in 2023, reaching more than 406,500 passengers, while domestic passenger transport decreased by 15.6% to more than 356,500 passengers.
