Outbound tours prove popular during April holiday

Vietluxtour, a local travel company in Ho Chi Minh City, reports the number of bookings for outbound tours for the coming public holiday has risen by 40% to 45% compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Travel agency TST Tourist’s figures indicate that outbound tourists have outnumbered inbound tourists, with 61% of 2,000 guests booking tours for the break choosing tours overseas.

28-year-old Hai Nam of Ho Chi Minh City is pondering whether he should spend the holiday in Thua Thien-Hue province or the Republic of Korea. What worries him most is that during the public holiday, domestic tourist destinations tend to be overcrowded, whilst airfares, food, and room prices also increase.

Furthermore, the open-door policies of many foreign countries can be viewed as the main reason in attracting an increasing number of Vietnamese travelers during the holiday period.

Local people tend to choose to go to Northeast Asian or Southeast Asian countries as it is suitable for a five-day holiday, noted Tran Bao Thu, marketing director of Vietluxtour.

According to Agoda.com data, since 2022 Vietnamese tourists have been very fond of travelling abroad, with their top 10 holiday searches all relating to international destinations. Among them, popular destinations include Bangkok, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Osaka, Jakarta, Taipei, Hong Kong (China), and Pattaya.

Travelling abroad involves visa procedures, meaning customers often register early for travel agencies to prepare the process for them, although many companies have stopped accepting travelers seeking to go to the European or Japanese markets due to a time-consuming process for visa issuing.

There are therefore only a few routes in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia which remain open to receive guests as no visa is required.