VietNamNet Bridge – Tour operators in HCM City have begun to launch travel promotions to welcome the Christmas and New Year 2013 holidays.

With many customers tightening their budgets because of tough economic times, travel agencies are promoting more short-term tours to a wide variety of destinations to give clients more options.

According to Doan Thanh Tra of Saigontourist, the buying trend this year indicates that customers want to save money, so most companies are organising short, inexpensive tours.

The most popular Vietnamese tour locations are Da Lat, Phan Thiet, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Hue, Phu Quoc, Ha Noi, and Sa Pa.

Tra said that her company had already launched 50 inbound and outbound tours for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Many of the inbound tours are priced at around VND3 million (US$140).

Lien Bang Travelink is also offering domestic promotions at only VND200,000 ($10) per person for groups of six.

Tra said that about 1,200 customers had bought tours in recent weeks, and she estimated that customer volume would increase by 15 per cent for the upcoming holidays.

More outbound tours are also being launched for the holidays, including tours to the US, Australia and EU, with slight price increases of 5-10 per cent.

Some travel agencies, however, have either lowered outbound tour prices or awarded gifts to customers to attract more sales.

Nguyen Thanh Nhan, a tour operator, said that the Christmas and New Year holidays were peak tourism times.

Many people want to travel abroad during this time to Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and Europe because of the high-quality tours and services that are offered.

VietNamNet/VNS