Kinhtedothi - To meet the travel needs of people during the Lunar New Year, airlines have simultaneously opened ticket sales for this occasion. However, the sky-high prices of Tet flight tickets make domestic tours difficult.
Ticket prices increase
To meet the increased travel demand of people during Tet, from September 2024, Vietnam Airlines Group including Vietnam Airlines, Pacific Airlines and VASCO will open early sales of nearly 1.5 million air tickets across the entire domestic flight network. Similarly, low-cost airline Vietjet Air also opened early sales of 2.6 million tickets; Bamboo Airways has also opened air ticket sales from January 15 to February 12, 2025.
Ticket office data from Viet Tourism Media Joint Stock Company shows that currently, round-trip airfare from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to domestic tourist destinations during Lunar New Year has increased by about 8-10% compared to last year, depending on booking time, flight time, and airline.
Specifically, the round-trip economy class ticket price for the Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi route (including taxes and fees) of Vietjet Air is 6.1 million VND, an increase of 2.3 million VND compared to the current time; Vietnam Airlines is more than 7.7 million VND, an increase of more than 2.7 million VND compared to the current time; Vietravel Airlines is 6.9 million VND, an increase of more than 2.6 million VND; Bamboo Airways is 7.5 million VND, an increase of more than 2.8 million VND compared to the current time.
At the same flight time (from January 24, 2025 to February 3, 2025), for the Ho Chi Minh City - Hai Phong route, the round-trip ticket price including taxes and fees of Vietjet Air is 7.7 million VND; Vietnam Airlines is 7.75 million VND. The prices of both airlines have increased by more than 4.5 million VND compared to the current flight time, an increase of about 2 million VND/round-trip ticket compared to the same period last year.
Other flights to the northern provinces also have sky-high ticket prices. Specifically, the Ho Chi Minh City - Thanh Hoa round-trip economy class ticket of Vietjet Air is 7.3 million VND; Vietnam Airlines is 7.5 million VND. The Ho Chi Minh City - Nghe An round-trip ticket price of Vietjet is 7.2 million VND; Vietnam Airlines is 7.8 million VND; Bamboo Airways is 7.4 million VND.
In fact, although it is the "hottest" holiday destination, Vietnam Airlines' flights from Hanoi to Phu Quoc during the Tet holiday are not rare, but the prices are quite "expensive" from 9-10 million VND/round trip ticket, only a few early morning or late night flights cost 7-8 million VND/round trip ticket. Meanwhile, Vietjet's ticket prices for the Hanoi - Phu Quoc route are from 6-8 million VND/round trip ticket.
In general, there is no shortage of air tickets during the Lunar New Year holiday this year as in previous years, but prices have increased by nearly 30% compared to normal days, and are mostly in the early morning or late night time slots. If you want to travel at a better time slot, you have to pay at least 500,000 VND more.
Domestic tourism is difficult to attract customers.
According to experts, the increase in airfares will affect domestic tourism during the Tet holiday. Vice President of the Vietnam Tourism Association Phung Quang Thang said that airfares usually account for about 30-40% of the tour price, but during the Lunar New Year, they have increased to 50-55%. This forces travel companies to adjust domestic tour prices by 10-20%, reducing the attractiveness of this market, affecting the image of Vietnamese tourism in attracting tourists.
In fact, the increase in domestic tour prices during the Lunar New Year holiday is causing consumers to switch to foreign tours such as Thailand and Singapore. During the Lunar New Year holiday of 2025, Ms. Hoang Minh Anh's family (Hanoi) plans to go to Harbin (China) during the snowy season. The reason is that the airfare to international tourist destinations during the Lunar New Year is not high, sometimes only equal to domestic airfare, so it is not too expensive.
General Director of Trang An Travel Nguyen Huu Cuong informed that the round-trip domestic airfares of airlines on some routes during Tet are equal to, or even higher than, the prices of package tours to Thailand and Cambodia at the same time, causing tourists to choose international travel instead of domestic tours.
“Currently, a 5-day, 4-night tour departing from Ho Chi Minh City to Taiwan on the 1st, 2nd, and 8th of Tet is being sold for 12 million VND per person. Meanwhile, a tour from Ho Chi Minh City to Quy Nhon and Phu Yen at the same time costs about 9.5 million VND, so customers choose to travel abroad instead of traveling domestically,” Mr. Cuong cited.
Similarly, Deputy Director of Vietravel Hanoi Branch Pham Van Bay said that the foreign tourism market during Tet holiday attracted more tourists than the same period last year. "High airfare is one of the reasons why tourists switch to foreign tourism during Tet holiday instead of domestic tourism. This has a negative impact on domestic tourism. I think many departments need to get involved to solve this problem" - Mr. Bay clearly stated.
To solve the problem of airfare prices, thereby attracting tourists to book domestic tours during the holidays, experts in this field believe that there needs to be cooperation between the aviation and tourism industries. From an expert perspective, Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research (Vietnam National Administration of Tourism) Nguyen An Tuan said that the aviation and tourism industries should consider long-term business together to avoid the situation of increasing transportation prices during peak seasons. To do this, the Government needs to participate in coordinating ticket prices so that they are not too low compared to the floor price or can compensate for losses.
“Thailand tourism receives great support from the “conductor” which is the General Department of Tourism, which acts as a link between aviation and tourism, thereby helping to reduce airfares and tours. They collect from tourists’ spending when traveling to Thailand. This approach should also be learned by the Vietnamese tourism industry. Only then can we stimulate demand and encourage people to travel during Tet, and further in the following years,” Mr. Tuan gave an example.
Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/gia-ve-may-bay-tet-tang-lam-kho-du-lich-noi-dia-hut-khach.html
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