Renting out traditional Vietnamese dresses and providing parking services earns millions of dong during Tet.

Parking fees are 4-5 times higher than usual, and renting a traditional Vietnamese dress for photos costs between 50,000 and 100,000 VND, yet these services are still bustling with customers during Tet.

On the second day of Tet (Lunar New Year), Ms. Thai (Long Bien, Hanoi) took her whole family to Hoan Kiem Lake (Hanoi) to celebrate the New Year. As soon as she stopped at a parking lot on Hang Gai Street, she was quoted a price of 50,000 VND per motorbike, five times more expensive than usual.

"Normally, I often bring my children here to play, and parking in the Nguyen Xi area only costs 10,000 dong, but during Tet, the price increases fivefold, which is really... exorbitant," said Ms. Thai. Despite being ripped off, she had no choice but to park there because "otherwise, I wouldn't know where else to park my motorbike."

While not experiencing the exorbitant parking fees seen around Hoan Kiem Lake, Mr. Phong (from Khuong Dinh, Hanoi) still had to pay 20,000 VND to park his motorbike at Phuc Khanh Pagoda when he and his family visited the temple on the afternoon of the second day of Tet. He said that paying the high parking fee wasn't as annoying as being harassed by touts; as soon as they saw customers, several people would rush over to "invite" them to park. Besides the doubled motorbike parking fee, car parking in this area also increased to 80,000-100,000 VND per vehicle, with limited spaces and customers having to walk a considerable distance to find a parking spot.

In the city center, makeshift parking lots have sprung up, charging 20,000 VND per motorbike.

Making a fortune from parking services isn't limited to prime locations like Hoan Kiem Lake; areas surrounding shopping malls and parks also yield huge profits. Toan, the owner of a parking lot near a shopping mall on Tay Son Street (Hanoi), said that on average, there are about 300-400 parking requests per day, but during Tet (Lunar New Year), this number can reach 600-700. At 10,000 VND per parking session, double the usual price, after deducting rent and labor costs, Toan earns an average profit of 3-4 million VND per day.

In Hai Phong, in central areas near the city's Grand Theatre such as Tran Phu, Nguyen Duc Canh, or Tran Hung Dao streets, makeshift parking lots have sprung up like mushrooms.

This is the second year that Mrs. Hoan's family (Nguyen Duc Canh Street, Hai Phong) has offered a parking service during Tet (Lunar New Year). This seasonal work helps her family have a comfortable Tet holiday but is also extremely hard work. Last year, from the 29th of the lunar month to the 6th day of the new year, her family earned nearly 20 million VND. With a parking fee of 20,000 VND per motorbike and electric bicycle, Mrs. Hoan estimates that this year's revenue will only be around 10-15 million VND due to the shorter Tet holiday and the absence of fireworks on New Year's Eve, which also reduced her parking business's income.

"From 9 a.m. until late at night, all three family members are constantly stationed on the street, waving down customers to park their cars. Although it's hard work, it helps the whole family earn millions of dong every day," Mrs. Hoan recounted.

Besides parking services, the traditional Vietnamese dress (áo dài) rental service for photoshoots also rakes in money during Tet (Lunar New Year). Wearing áo dài for photos during the spring season has become a trend among young people in Hai Phong in recent years. A popular spot frequented by young people is the area around the city's Grand Theatre.

Renting modernized ao dai (traditional Vietnamese dress) for photoshoots has become very popular this Tet holiday. The rental price is 100,000 VND per adult ao dai and 50,000 VND per child's ao dai.

Taking advantage of the traditional ao dai costumes from her family photo studio, and to satisfy the needs of her customers, Ms. Thoa (Tran Phu, Hai Phong) invested in several dozen new modern ao dai and ethnic dresses. With the advantage of being directly opposite the city's Grand Theater, her ao dai rental and sales shop is constantly bustling with customers. Each children's ao dai costs 50,000 VND to rent, and adult ao dai costs 100,000 VND, bringing her over a million VND in revenue each day.

While trying on a traditional Vietnamese dress (áo dài) for her daughter, Ms. Hanh (from Ly Tu Trong Street, Hai Phong) said that she and her daughter wanted to capture images of the Lunar New Year in traditional áo dài attire, so they chose to rent one for a photoshoot. “Renting an áo dài is quick and affordable. For just 100,000 VND per rental, with no time limit for the day, we can take as many photos as we want, saving much more than spending millions of VND to buy or have one made,” Ms. Hanh calculated.

According to Ms. Thoa, most of the customers who rent ao dai are young people, and there are even some foreigners. During Tet (Lunar New Year), red and yellow ao dai are the most frequently requested, as these two colors are believed to bring good luck in the new year and also help the wearer stand out amidst the vibrant spring flowers.

According to VNE