Tourists enjoy one-day spring tours

Many tourists choose to visit pagodas for only 1 to 2 days, focusing on famous pagodas such as Huong Pagoda, Bai Dinh Pagoda, and Yen Tu Pagoda.

Ms. Linh Anh (36 years old, in Hoang Mai district) shared that every time after Tet, she has a habit of going on pilgrimage to famous temples and pagodas in the North to ask for luck, pray for a good new year and peace in everything. Therefore, every year, she and a group of friends register for domestic pilgrimage tours through travel companies.

Yen Stream and Huong Pagoda are romantically beautiful all year round. Coming here during the festival season, you will not be able to relax like this because it is too crowded. Photo: Pham Le Trung

Understanding the psychology of Vietnamese tourists for many years, companies have opened spiritual tours according to the needs of customers. However, tours combining pilgrimage and other experiences are being exploited such as: taking the cable car to the top of Fanxipan and visiting Ong Hoang Bay Temple (Lao Cai); pilgrimage to Bai Dinh Pagoda combined with boat trip to visit Trang An...

"This year, in addition to routes such as Huong Pagoda (Hanoi), Bai Dinh Pagoda (Ninh Binh), Tay Thien (Tam Dao)..., the company opened a new tour to Ba Vang Pagoda (Quang Ninh) which is also quite attractive to tourists," said Mr. Nguyen Tien Dat, Deputy Director of TransViet Company.

According to him, in just the first few days of the year, the company has organized pilgrimage tours for about 1,000 tourists. It is expected that there will be many more tourists because of the festivals scattered until the end of March. Up to this point, the number of customers booking tours has increased by 15-20% compared to last year.

According to Ms. Hoang Phuong Anh, APT Travel Company, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh... are the company's regular routes. In the first days of spring, the number of customers traveling on these routes increased dramatically, many units had booked a month in advance. It was only the first few days of spring but the number of customers booking tours reached several thousand people.

"The company has a hard time mobilizing tourist vehicles and prices are high, there are often not enough vehicles, especially on weekends. Therefore, the company encourages tourists to register for tours early," said Ms. Phuong Anh.

A survey of some travel companies shows that designing tours of only 1-2 days is very suitable for the time and budget of tourists. Routes with a large number of bookings such as Huong Pagoda, Tran Temple - Phu Giay, Bai Dinh - Trang An, Tay Thien, Con Son - Kiep Bac, Lang Son - Mau Temple, Yen Tu with a one-day schedule attract a large number of tourists. In addition, Yen Tu - Ha Long tour (2 days) is also the choice of many tourists.

These tours cost from 500,000 VND to over 1 million VND, so they are chosen by many tourists, with many tours and different times. To reduce the load on holidays, some companies have reduced the tour price by 10 - 20% if tourists book on weekdays.

Crowded scene at Yen Tu, Quang Ninh. Photo: Minh Cuong

According to representatives of travel agencies, in recent years, in addition to the number of customers renting their own cars, the number of customers booking spring tours has also increased. Despite early planning, many companies still cannot mobilize enough cars to serve tourists. Statistics show that after Tet, the number of customers taking pagoda tours of Vietravel Hanoi increased by 30% and APT Travel increased by about 35% compared to the same period last year.

According to many travel companies, the festival season lasts until the end of March, so the number of customers booking tours through travel companies will continue to increase. Also due to overcrowding, services at tourist destinations are not guaranteed as usual, so many tourists complain about the quality of service, many people have to wait for hours to get on the cable car to Dong Pagoda in Quang Ninh, or the situation of delayed departures also occurs due to lack of vehicles.

Travel agency representatives recommend that tourists book tours early and travel on weekdays to avoid service overload during the festival. If traveling on their own, they should prepare food and drinks carefully to avoid being "ripped off". They should also be wary of theft and pickpocketing and should ask for prices before buying or selling at tourist attractions.

According to VNE