Travel firms join forces to boost sales

Eight travel companies in HCMC have teamed up to facilitate operations and improve products, launch tours with the best prices, run common advertising programs and create unanimous departure schedules to attract local and international travelers.

The group has been named Vietnam Consortium Group and it consists of VietJet Tours, Viking Travel, Asian Travel, OSC First, Saigon Travel, Lac Hong Voyage, Vietnam Travel and Viet A Au.

Cao Pham Hang, director of VietJet Tours, the group leader, said that as each enterprise has its own advantages, they have decided to cooperate to reach better prices during negotiations with air carriers and other service providers.

The group will also join hands in advertising. Customers selecting one of the eight companies will get the same tour prices, services and departure times.

VietJet Tours is a rare enterprise in HCMC providing tours to Jeju Island in South Korea without the need for visas. Therefore, it has negotiated with partners in South Korea to give this benefit to other members of the group.

In addition, VietJet Tours can offer seven-day trips to Sri Lanka at nearly VND30 million compared to other firms’ prices of VND38 million. Other members will be able to offer this tour and will also share their advantages with the company.

“Partners usually offer preferential policies to large travel firms, so the enterprises can offer tours at better prices. We, enterprises at medium scale, have cooperated to exploit advantages of each other, launching better services to lure customers and offer low tour prices to tourists,” Hang said.

The group currently is focusing on launching outbound tours. From March, the enterprises will promote domestic tours.

Twenty-four enterprises launching tours to Japan also met in Hanoi City on Sunday to create a group similar to the Vietnam Consortium Group.

A tourism promotion night was held in Danang city on December 17 with the participant of travel agencies from Danang and the Republic of Korea (RoK).

The event, co-organized by the RoK General Department of Tourism office in Vietnam and the Danang Department of External Affairs, provided a good opportunity for the two countries to introduce their direct flights and seek cooperation partners.

Danang city has great potential for developing deep seaports and large international airports to become an attractive destination for tourists coming to enjoy sightseeing along its clean, beautiful beaches.

The city has been listed among top 10 tourism destinations in Asia this year by the Smart Travel Asia magazine.

Last year, Danang welcomed 30,493 tourists from the RoK which was placed fifth in the list of foreign tourists to the city.

Most of them came on the direct flights of Vietnam Airlines, Korean Air, and Asiana Airlines from Seoul.

The number of Korean tourists is expected to increase in the coming time.

Singapore Airlines offers A330-300 service to HCMC

Singapore Airlines (SIA) will offer its clients passage on Airbus A330-300 aircraft for flights from and to Ho Chi Minh City starting January 1 next year, according to the Vietnam Investment Review.

The aircraft boasts 255 Economy Class and 30 Business Class seats, with more leg room for passengers than the Boeing 777-200 which is currently operating for the route.

To mark the launch of the new aircraft, Singapore Airlines is offering special fares on business and economy class seats from Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Danang to various destinations in Europe, Australia, Japan, India and Dubai.

The offer is valid for ticket purchases from December 4 to January 5 for flights between January 1 and April 10 next year. The company started its Airbus A330-300 flights in Hanoi in July.

The A330-300 incorporates Airbus’ latest technology, which includes its digital fly-by-wire flight controls, a high-efficiency wing, and more than 10 tonnes of lightweight composite structures in its airframe.

A lighter, brighter and more spacious cabin results from updated features that include smoother contours, new interior styling, state-of-the-art LED lighting and newly-designed air conditioning units.

The stretched-fuselage A330-300 matches twin-engine efficiency with increased passenger capacity – all while retaining the A330 family’s highly comfortable, low-noise cabin and operating commonality with the entire Airbus fly-by-wire product line.

This jetliner currently has a range of up to 5,570 nautical miles while carrying 300 passengers in a typical two-cabin arrangement, seating 36 in first or business class at a 60-inch seat pitch, and 264 in economy at 32-inch pitch.

The twin-engine A330 in 2013 has lived up to its motto as “the right aircraft, right now” with significant commercial milestones, a successful production ramp-up and introduction of a new version for domestic and regional passenger operations.

Among this flurry of activity was the delivery of Airbus’ 1,000th A330 aircraft, received in July by Cathay Pacific Airways – which together with its sister airline Dragonair is the world’s largest A330 operator. Also during the year, the aircraft surpassed the 100-operator mark.

GMS countries look to promote tourism connection

Member countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) will gather at an annual forum in Hanoi on December 19 to explore measures needed to embrace their tourism linkage.

Organised by the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Association for Economic Cooperation Development (VILACAED) and the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the event creates a good chance for GMS members to popularise their tourist products and potential in the field.

It also aims to review their cooperation in the arena in the spirit of the GMS development strategy for the 2012-2020 period, and seek ways to promote their collaborative work in the tourism industry, said VILACAED’s chief of development assistance committee Cao Van Ban.

GMS members include Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.-

The central province of Quang Binh has welcomed more than 1,1 million visitors in 2013, an increase of 9.1 per cent compared to the same period last year.

According to local Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the number of tourists staying overnight in the province has reached more than 970,000, also an increase of 9,6 per cent against the same period last year.

The province's total revenues from tourism this year are more than VND1.3 trillion (US$61 million), an increase of 11 per cent compared to last year.

The province has also introduced new tourism sites, such as Sinh Ton Valley – Thuy Cung Cave, Rao Thuong Spring – En Cave, Chay River – Dark Cave, Son Doong Cave and Tu Lan Cave.

Local tourism authorities have spared no efforts to enhance the quality of local tourism and co-ordinate services with neigbouring provinces.

HCM City to welcome four millionth tourist

The HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Tourism Association, and Vietnam Airlines will host a ceremony at Tan Son Nhat International Airport to welcome the four millionth international tourist to the city on December 24.

The city expects to serve 4.1 million international tourists this year, and gain VND81 trillion (US$3.8 billion) in tourism revenue, up 15 per cent year-on-year.

A similar event welcoming the first international tourist group will be held at the airport on January 1.

These activities are designed to promote HCM City as a dynamic, friendly and hospitable city, as well as an interesting and safe destination.

Vietnam Airlines increases flights to Moscow

Vietnam Airlines plans to increase its Vietnam-Moscow flights using A330 aircraft to seven a week in summer and eight in winter.

The information was announced by Nguyen Huu Tung, Vietnam Airlines’ chief representative at a conference in Moscow on December 16.

Tung said that Vietnam Airlines provided services for 160,000 passengers and achieved an estimated revenue of 47 million euro in 2013, 21% higher than last year’s figure.

In recent years, the number of Russian tourists to Vietnam has increased dramatically, and it is expected to reach 350,000 in 2015.

According to the Vietnam Administration of Tourism, the country received nearly 230,000 Russian tourists in the first 10 months of 2013, up 66.1% from a year earlier.

Source: SGT/SGGP/VNA/VNS