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Tour prices to jump 10% ahead of lunar new year
The price of Tet or Lunar New Year tours are set to jump by up to 10 per cent, forecast tour operators.
The operators attribute the prospective increases to growing demand and likely higher transport and accommodation costs.
The length of the break - seven days - and the arrival of overseas Vietnamese and international visitors were the major reasons for higher price, explained Vietravel Communication Department director Nguyen Minh Man.
"Customers for the 2011 Lunar New Year - from February 1 - will increase by 30 per cent," Man said.
"High demand will see accommodation and transport costs soar, so tour prices will jump by 7-10 per cent", he added.
A representative of the Lua Viet Tours Company agreed that tour prices would increase by Tet holiday because of higher air travel costs.
The company says the prices for air tickets out of Viet Nam have increased between US$50 and $150.
"Due to this, price of outbound tours has increased by about $50-100," said Ho Lan Vy, Head of the Lua Viet Tours Company's Inbound and Outbound Department.
Despite higher costs, tour operators are trying to keep prices down.
"More expensive air tickets are beyond our control. However, we've still managed to keep our tour prices low to avoid sudden changes in price," said Man.
Outbound tours to Hong Kong, mainland China, South Korea and Japan remain favourite destinations.
Tours to neighbouring countries remain popular due to their price of just VND10 million ($476). Moreover, these tours have not been affected by dong's devaluation, said Director of Lua Viet Travel Company Nguyen Van My.
Tour operators also predicted that the devaluation of dong would not affect tours at Tet holiday because the volume of remittances would increase after December.
The Viet Nam Railway Corporation is set to increase its prices 20-25 per cent on peak days over the Lunar New Year Festival.
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