Sky-high airfares, tens of thousands of tours on limited discount

Maximum discount is only 10-30%

According to travel agencies, up to this point, 90% of tours for the 5-day holiday on April 30-May 1 have been closed, especially tours to foreign countries. If there are any remaining, they are only domestic tours with a few seats to fill in the empty air tickets or mainly road tours.

Therefore, at VITM Hanoi 2023, the tourism products offered are mainly summer tours, with discounts not as high as in previous years, only 10-30%. Moreover, these tours are mainly sold early, in May for a week and long-distance tours, until September-October. Particularly in the peak summer season, June-July-August, there are almost no promotional or discounted tours.

For example, thanks to Bamboo Airways' 60% discount, Flamingo Redtours is offering a 30% discount on tours to Da Nang - Hoi An, Tuy Hoa - Quy Nhon, Ly Son Island, and some new destinations such as Diep Son Island and Vinh Hy Bay.

However, the departure dates are mainly early and mid-week next month, such as May 15, May 18,…

Tourists learn about summer tour information at VITM Hanoi 2023. (Photo: NVCC)

The company also offers an additional 10% discount for customers who buy tours when paying via Vnpay, with a discount of up to 40 million VND; at the same time, some group tours abroad also have deep discounts, but are only open for sale during fixed hours.

At the fair, Vietluxtour (HCMC) tourism company launched many diverse products, with many airlines and hotel standards from 3-5 stars to serve a variety of middle and high-end customer segments. Domestic tour products have preferential discounts from 1-1.5 million VND/person, depending on the route. International tours are also equally exciting with routes departing in June, July, August such as Thailand, Singapore, Korea, Japan, Europe, Bali, Phoenix Ancient Town,... with prices reduced from 2-3 million VND/person. In addition, the company also reduced 15% of the price of a cluster of 10 featured tours visiting HCMC, to attract customers from other localities.

During the 4 days of the fair opening from April 13-16, visitors also have the opportunity to choose from more than 20 domestic tours and 50 international tours with prices reduced by up to 30% from Vietravel. Along with that are combo packages of air tickets and hotel rooms, such as Da Nang combo from only 2.59 million/person for 3 days 2 nights, Quy Nhon combo from 4.49 million/person for 4 days 3 nights, Phu Quoc combo from 4.99 million/person for 4 days 3 nights,...

Viet Travel Company launched the 3-incentive program for customers registering for tours at the fair, applied to all tours with a discount of up to 2 million VND/customer, refund of up to 6 million VND/customer group.

On the aviation side, Vietravel Airlines launched more than 1,900 flight tickets with prices starting from only 9,900 VND or 0.5 USD or 16 Bath (excluding taxes and fees) for all flights the airline is operating on April 13-14.

Bamboo Airways reduces 20% of ticket prices for domestic flights, except for flights to Con Dao and Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City,...

Vietnam Airlines alone has a booth at the fair but has not announced the specific number of promotional tickets or the discount or promotion levels.

Airline tickets are expensive, so travel agencies have to cut profits.

If the VITM Hanoi 2022 fair had a 40% or even 60% discount on stimulus tours, this year the maximum discount is only 30%. Most travel companies say the reason is because of the high cost of airfare. The proportion of airline discount tickets for travelers is less, and the discount is not as high as before. Meanwhile, airfare accounts for over 50% of tour costs.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc An - Deputy General Director of Vietluxtour Travel, said that the number of stimulus tours this summer is very small. To get a discount of 10-30%, most travel companies have to reduce profit margins, or sell at prices below the break-even point. Meanwhile, the connection between units such as restaurants, hotels, transportation, etc. is still low, so to get preferential prices is a great effort of travel agencies.

Mr. Bui Thanh Tu, Marketing Director of Best Price Travel Company, commented that the company's tour prices are only reduced by about 20%, on the condition that customers must confirm and pay immediately. However, due to the high cost of airfare, in Phu Quoc, although hotels offer discounts of up to 70%, many people still do not choose them.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tien Dat, General Director of AZA Travel, travel agencies are also more cautious in buying group tickets with airline incentives. Because they will have to spend billions of dong, deposit 30% 30-60 days in advance, if they do not sell out, they will be fined by the airline. The economy is difficult, customers are tightening their spending, comparing and consulting everywhere before deciding, so many agencies accept reduced profits to "hold" tickets, or are afraid of risks and do not book.

An airline representative also revealed that the demand for air tickets this year, as of April 30-May 1, is still low. The number of buyers is only at a certain level, so even if airlines increase flights and add seats to reduce ticket prices, the number of passengers will not increase. Therefore, the possibility of air ticket prices decreasing is very low.

Therefore, Mr. Nguyen Cong Hoan, General Director of Flamingo Redtours, believes that discounts are no longer the top attractive factor, but more importantly, products with depth and high personalization.