Where to go for New Year's Day?

The 2015 New Year's holiday, with four consecutive days off from January 1st (Thursday) to January 4th (Sunday), will see a significant increase in passenger travel demand.

Tourists admire the caves in Ha Long Bay.

The number of tourists booking tours has increased.

Many travel companies reported that by December 26th, bookings for New Year's Day tours were fully booked, with a significant increase in demand.

According to Mr. Tran Van Long, Director of Viet Travel Company, compared to regular tour prices, New Year's Day tours this year have only increased by about 5-10%, lower than the same period last year (which increased by about 20%). Many services such as food, transportation, and hotel rooms that make up a tour have recently seen slight price reductions in line with fuel prices. Long-term vehicle rental prices for tours in the North have also decreased; for example, a 5-day tour for a 45-seat bus now costs 10-12 million VND, compared to 15 million VND previously. In some places, room and food prices have even decreased by 10-15%. However, due to high airfare prices, companies are still unable to significantly reduce tour prices. For overseas tours such as Singapore and South Korea, prices have also decreased by 3-5%. “We have sold 2,500 Vietnamese customers to domestic and international tours during the New Year's Day holiday,” Mr. Long said.

However, price reductions for services and transportation are not uniform across the country. Mr. Tran The Dung, Deputy Director of The Young Generation Tourism Company, said that because he signed the vehicle rental contract a few months ago, when fuel prices decreased, he renegotiated the price but it was not much. For example, the company booked a 29-seater bus to take tourists on a 3-day tour in Dak Nong for 10 million VND, but the owner only agreed to a "friendly" reduction of 300,000 VND. Recently, the company rented another 29-seater bus from a different company to take tourists to Dak Nong, and the price was even higher. Restaurant and hotel prices have decreased only slightly in some places, while others have maintained their previous prices. "However, we are not increasing tour prices during the holiday season, whereas in previous years we usually increased them by 20-30%," Mr. Dung said.

Other companies also experienced a surge in customers. Ms. Lam Thi Quynh Thu, representative of Saigontourist Travel Service Company, said that with the holiday lasting up to 4 days, Saigontourist served a 10-15% increase in customers compared to the same period last year. “The number of customers who purchased our services during the New Year holiday so far is over 17,000,” Ms. Thu stated. According to Ms. Tran Bao Thu, representative of Fiditour, the number of customers registering for holiday tours with the company increased by approximately 28%.

Increase the number of trains and buses.

Saigon Railway Station announced that additional trains will run between Ho Chi Minh City and Phan Thiet, Nha Trang, and vice versa. Specifically, on December 31st, train SN4 (Saigon - Nha Trang) will run; on January 1st, 2nd, and 4th, train SPT4 (Saigon - Phan Thiet) will run; on January 3rd, train SN3 (Nha Trang - Saigon) will run; and on January 1st, 3rd, and 4th, train SPT3 (Phan Thiet - Saigon) will run. Tickets are sold directly at railway stations and ticket agents for trains departing in 2014; and directly at stations and on the dsvn.vn website for trains departing from January 1st, 2015 onwards.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the Western Bus Station has also planned to serve an estimated 28,000-30,000 passengers per day, an increase of about 25-30% compared to normal days. Routes with high passenger numbers include those from Ho Chi Minh City to Tien Giang and Ben Tre provinces, and routes to Vung Tau and Mui Ne. Transport companies have been instructed to deploy 100% of their vehicles, increase turnaround times, and redeploy buses from less busy routes to busier ones. The Eastern Bus Station also anticipates a 50% increase in passengers compared to normal days, and a 5-6% increase compared to the 2014 New Year holiday, and has planned to increase the number of buses. Passenger traffic is expected to mainly occur on short and medium-distance routes such as Vung Tau, Phan Thiet, Nha Trang, Da Lat, and Buon Ma Thuot... Ticket prices remain unchanged.

Specifically, from December 29th, the Vina Express hydrofoil service will increase from the current 4 trips/day (2 trips to, 2 trips back) to 8 trips/day (4 trips to, 4 trips back). Departure times from both ends of the route will be at 7, 9, 14, and 16:30 daily. Regarding ticket prices, from December 29th, the price on weekdays is 200,000 VND/person/trip, while the price on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays is 250,000 VND/person/trip (New Year's Day from January 1st to 4th will also be 250,000 VND/person/trip).

In Hanoi, Mr. Ly Truong Son, Head of Planning Department of Hanoi Bus Station Management Company, said that during this year's New Year's holiday, the demand for travel is expected to increase by about 20% compared to normal days, mainly concentrated on routes to Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Son La, Vinh, Lao Cai, etc. The company has planned to increase the number of trips and vehicles and ensure the quality of service during the busiest days. At the Southern Bus Station, the number of passengers during peak days increases by about 130-150% compared to normal days, reaching 25,000-30,000 passengers per day.

The number of buses is expected to reach 1,150 trips/day, a 1.3-fold increase compared to normal days. The increase is concentrated on routes to Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Ninh Binh, and Thanh Hoa. At Gia Lam Bus Station, the highest passenger volume during peak days is expected to be 13,000-15,000 passengers/day, a 200% increase compared to normal days. The number of buses is expected to reach 700, a 1.3-fold increase compared to normal days, concentrated on routes to Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Thai Nguyen, and Cam Pha...

At My Dinh Bus Station alone, it is estimated that 30,000 to 35,000 passengers are transported daily. The peak passenger volume is expected to arrive at the station from the afternoon of December 31, 2014, and January 1, 2015.

During this holiday period, due to the decrease in fuel prices, no bus companies requested a fare increase; instead, about 50 bus companies registered to reduce fares by 10%.

According to Thanh Nien newspaper.