Airline tickets increase in price, domestic tourism loses customers

Airline tickets are expensive

The information that workers can have 5 consecutive days off during the April 30 and May 1 holidays has attracted the attention of workers, because if they have time off, it will contribute to stimulating tourism, consumption, and economic recovery. At this time, many people have started looking for plane tickets for the holidays.

However, a survey by reporters from Kinh te & Do thi Newspaper shows that airfares for the April 30 and May 1 holidays are very high, especially on flights to famous tourist destinations. Currently, round-trip airfares for the Hanoi - Phu Quoc route departing on April 28 and returning on May 3 cost from 5-7 million VND/ticket (including taxes and fees). Specifically, Vietnam Airlines is 7.6 million VND/ticket, Vietjet Air is 5.5 million VND, Vietravel Airlines is 6.6 million VND/ticket, compared to the present time, this price is 2.5 million VND/ticket higher. Even if customers buy business class tickets, the selling price is up to 12-13 million VND/ticket.

Tourists check in at Noi Bai airport. Photo: Hoai Nam

Similarly, for the Hanoi - Nha Trang flight departing on April 28 and returning on May 3, the cheapest price is 3.9 million VND/ticket; round trip up to 7.7 million VND/ticket, 1.2 - 1.5 million VND higher than the current time. For the Hanoi - Da Nang flight departing on April 27 and returning on April 30, the cheapest price is 4.7 million VND/round trip ticket, 1.6 times higher than the price at the end of March. For the Hanoi - Da Lat flight on April 27, VietJet Air's airfare is 2.7 - 3.9 million VND/round trip ticket, while Vietnam Airlines' is 3.8 - 13.07 million VND/ticket.

Not only flights departing from Hanoi have increased in price, but flights from Ho Chi Minh City to tourist destinations Phu Quoc and Nha Trang are also in a similar situation. Currently, the lowest round-trip ticket price for the Ho Chi Minh City - Phu Quoc route is about 3.4 million VND/ticket of Vietravel Airlines, about 3.7 million VND/ticket of Vietjet. Meanwhile, Vietnam Airlines' price starts from about 4 million VND but many flights are full; business class tickets cost about 8.8 million VND. The Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang route during the April 30 holiday of Bamboo Airways, Vietjet Air, and Vietnam Airlines ranges from 2.7 - 3.2 million VND/round-trip ticket.

Explaining the reason for the high airfare prices, Director of BestPrice Travel Nguyen Van Dat said that air transport services are often seasonal, during peak periods such as summer or holidays, when travel demand increases suddenly, while supply is limited, leading to high ticket prices.

Vietnam-Laos tour attracts tourists. Photo: Hoai Nam

In addition, the aircraft fleet was short after aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney announced a recall of PW1100 engines for inspection and repair, which reduced the number of passenger aircraft by 25 compared to the same period in 2023.

Tourists abandon domestic tours to book international tours

The high price of air tickets has significantly affected the travel decisions of many people on the upcoming April 30 holiday. Ms. Quynh Anh on Nguyen Luong Bang Street (Dong Da) was hesitant about choosing a travel destination for the April 30 holiday. However, when she saw that the price of Vietnam Airlines tickets to Phu Quoc was too high compared to some international flights, she decided to choose to travel to Thailand because the price was cheaper than domestic tours.

Developing and diversifying types of transportation in Vietnam is extremely necessary, ensuring convenient and smooth connections, shortening time and increasing the experience time of tourists. When diversifying types of tourism, it will help reduce the cost of package tours, and at the same time create attractiveness for tourists' sightseeing journeys when connecting roads, trains and airlines so that tourists can enjoy the scenery on long journeys, from which they can see many different terrains including plains, plateaus, seas... Chairman of Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binh

In fact, it is not only Ms. Quynh Anh who has "turned around" and changed her destination from domestic tourism to countries that do not require visas such as Thailand and Malaysia. Because of the mentality that international tours are cheaper than domestic tours and you can enjoy a different feeling of going abroad.

Information from travel companies shows that currently, airfares account for 30-40% of tour product costs. Increasing airfares accounts for 50-60% of total tour prices, forcing travel companies to increase domestic tour prices by 15-20%, causing customers to switch to international tours.

Information from Vietluxtour Company shows that 70% of tourists booked tours abroad for the April 30 and May 1 holidays at Vietluxtour. Similarly, at Saigontourist Travel Company, the company expects to serve 110,000 visitors on the April 30 and May 1 holidays, but currently the number of visitors registering for tours abroad accounts for 60%. At Vietravel and Flamingo Redtours, the number of visitors booking international tours accounts for 60-70%.

Vietnamese tourists visit Thien Hau Pagoda in Malaysia. Photo: Hoai Nam

Explaining the reason why international tours are popular, General Director of AZA Travel Nguyen Tien Dat said that when planning a trip, customers will compare the prices of domestic tours and international tours to Southeast Asia and find that these tours are not more expensive than domestic tours. In the constant thoughts of many people, traveling abroad with the same price as domestic tours but more luxurious, a segment of customers tend to choose international travel instead of domestic travel.

“A 4-day, 3-night trip to Phu Quoc during the April 30 and May 1 holidays costs about 10 million VND/person, while a tour to Thailand is only nearly 7 million VND/person. Of course, tourists will choose to go abroad. Although in terms of attractiveness, destinations such as Thailand, Indonesia, etc. are not necessarily equal to Vietnam, cheap air tickets are the driving force to attract tourists to these countries,” Mr. Dat gave an example.

How to stimulate domestic demand

According to tourism experts, to attract tourists to use domestic tours requires travel businesses to adapt to reality and at the same time cooperate with airlines to organize discount and stimulus programs.

From a management perspective, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association Vu The Binh stated that, in order to cope with the increase in airfares, travel and service businesses should build new tour routes in the direction of increasing tours by high-quality vehicles on short journeys; combining flights, trains, and cars to tourist destinations... "But to be able to reduce domestic tour prices during the upcoming April 30 and May 1 holidays, the aviation industry needs to increase flight frequency and passengers should also accept night flights to get preferential prices" - Mr. Binh suggested.

The increase in airfares is a challenge for the tourism industry. Especially in the low season when it can reduce the attractiveness of domestic tourism, causing the domestic market to be hungry for customers, the localities will be the first to be affected . Tourists using domestic flights often travel between 10am - 1pm and 3pm - 6pm every day. Therefore, flights during these times are always overloaded, making airfares always the most expensive. To lower tour prices, we have to choose more suitable flight times to book cheap tickets. ( Director of Hanoitourist Travel Company Le Hong Thai)

To prevent domestic tours from being overshadowed by international tours, tourism experts say the aviation industry should coordinate with airline ticket agents to launch promotional tickets for early buyers and combo packages, thereby encouraging passengers to plan to buy tickets early to save costs and have more options.

Giving advice to attract domestic tours, Vice President of Hanoi Tourism Association Do Dinh Cuong suggested that airlines associated with travel agencies also spend money to reduce service prices, thereby not increasing tour prices, and the aviation industry does not have to reduce ticket prices too much.

For routes without commercial flights, the aviation industry encourages travel agencies to charter entire flights, thereby diversifying products and adding new options for tourists. This will bring benefits to all parties.

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