After a 20% price hike announcement for domestic airfares, prices for local tours have accordingly been considerably increased, leading to a ridiculous state where domestic tours are more expensive than foreign ones.
A couple from Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City told Tuoi Tre that they decided to visit Thailand for a vacation this Tet (lunar New Year) instead of their original plan to tour northern Vietnam.
The reason is a six-day and five-night trip in Thailand (Bangkok - Pattaya) costs around VND9 million (USD428) per person while a tour to northern Vietnam (Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Sa Pa, Do Temple) costs at least VND12 million per person - 33% higher.
Their four-member family will save over $500 by opting for the foreign trip.
According to tour manager Tran Long, the unreasonably high fees will result in the loss of domestic customers and with it, a series of tourism-supporting industries will be affected like aviation and hospitality.
He called on the government to protect domestic tourism.
Under the current price quotations, tourists from Ho Chi Minh City will find it more expensive to have a holiday in the north of Vietnam than in neighboring countries like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, assuming similar service quality.
For tours to Cambodia (Siem Reap - Sihanoukville - Phnom Penh), it is roughly as costly as tours to central Vietnam (Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An).
30% price hikes for domestic tours?
Tran The Dung, deputy director of The He Tre tourism company said that after the price hike announcement by Vietnam Airlines, his partners including hotels, restaurants also announced price increases.
“Prices rise while quality is not ensured. This can lead to a price increase of 30% for domestic tours in 2012”, Dung complained.
Similarly, Nguyen Ngoc An, head of domestic tours at Fiditour company said that Vietnamese locals from southern localities will surely back away from tours to northern regions and vice versa and opt for foreign tours for cheaper price and better service.
Prices for domestic tours will definitely rise fast as air fares account for 60% of costs of a domestic tour while they account for just 40% at foreign tours, An added.
Meanwhile, Vietravel, Saigontourist, Fiditour and some popular tour agencies have stopped accepting orders for tours by airplane to Con Dao and Phu Quoc islands, two famous tourism hotspots in southern Vietnam.
