Early bird promotion for New Year's Day 2016 tours.

Many tourists have a habit of hunting for last-minute tours when travel companies "clear out their inventory" to get discounts. However, this year many companies claim they have already reduced prices and stimulated demand from the start.

On the afternoon of December 18th, taking advantage of the time after work, Ms. Le Thanh Nga (Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City) went to Viet Travel Company to pay a deposit to reserve a Singapore - Malaysia tour (7 days, 6 nights) for her whole family during the 2016 Lunar New Year holiday.

"Learning from last year's experience, my family didn't plan ahead and only decided to go close to Tet, so many attractive tours booked up early," shared Ms. Nga.

A group of Vietnamese tourists visiting South Korea.

According to Ms. Nga, if you do some research beforehand, you'll find many discount and promotional policies for customers who book tours early. Some companies offer direct discounts on tours, while others give away free tours with the purchase.

In an effort to change the mindset of customers who book tours early, instead of organizing lucky draws for tourists, this year Viet Travel is switching to offering direct discounts to customers who register for tours in groups.

Accordingly, families and groups of friends traveling together will receive a refund of up to 6 million VND for domestic tours, and from 30-100 million VND for tours to Asia and the Middle East, long-haul tours to Europe, Australia, America, Africa, etc.

Similarly, a representative from Ben Thanh Tourist Company stated that customers purchasing Tet holiday tours will receive a complimentary tour to Sa Dec flower village to purchase ornamental plants for home decoration during Tet. Meanwhile, at Fiditour Travel Company, promotional policies to stimulate Tet holiday tours have been implemented since the end of November, offering discounts of up to 20% on some tours as well as corresponding gift giveaways.

According to Mr. Tran Van Long, General Director of Viet Travel Company, every year travel companies tend to hoard a large number of Tet holiday tour tickets, only to suffer significant losses at the last minute if they can't sell them all. To overcome this situation, many businesses have changed from the start by selling a moderate number of tickets at reasonable prices, and simultaneously launching promotions at the time of sale.

"Closing bookings early allows customers to proactively make arrangements, and gives travel companies and their partners time to prepare to provide the best service to tourists," Mr. Long emphasized.

Surveys at travel companies show that the initial stimulus policies have been very positive, with many customers confidently booking tours early. Some international tours such as Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Dubai, Europe, etc., are chosen early because the visa application process takes at least half a month, some tours even a month, not including the time for document processing.

According to zing.vn