Demand for overseas tours is booming.

Information from various localities and travel businesses indicates a readiness to innovate and enhance incentives to increase the attractiveness of domestic destinations for both domestic and international tourists.

Many unique tour options

During this year's peak summer season (June to August), the outbound tourism market has seen the emergence of many new tour products. Typically, tourism products to Inner Mongolia (China) and Mongolia capitalize on the demand from tourists seeking new destinations.

The tour's appeal lies in offering authentic cultural experiences of nomadic life on the grasslands. It also includes new destinations on the Inner Mongolia itinerary such as the Daoyu Eco-tourism Area, Shuidong Valley, and the Xiguan-Yinchuan Ethnic Culture Park.

In addition, tourists are also interested in the "Central Asian Silk Road" tour, which passes through five countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Of these, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan are destinations that have not yet received many Vietnamese tour groups. A current advantage is the availability of direct flights from Cam Ranh to Almaty (Kazakhstan).

Some travel companies are taking advantage of this opportunity to offer additional promotional services by providing free domestic flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to attract tourists. Another advantage is that Vietnamese tourists are visa-free to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. If you only want a short tour, you can easily visit these two countries.

Furthermore, South Korea, the "Land of Kimchi," remains a favorite destination for many Vietnamese tourists. Besides traditional tours, travel companies have recently added tours to Jeollanamdo, a region in southwestern South Korea, via flights from Muan and then connecting to Da Nang.

The main attraction here is that the tour includes many activities focused on nature and exploring local culture, such as exploring Suncheon Bay National Park, visiting Nangdo Mural Village, Naganeupseong Village, Boseong Tea Hill, and especially Banwol-do Island (the purple island)... In addition, Jeollanamdo is also considered the "culinary capital" of South Korea.

Within the ASEAN region, the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board is also promoting new tourist destinations. Besides Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh, Malaysia is actively promoting other destinations such as Kuala Selangor (near Kuala Lumpur) and Gua Tempurung Caves (near Ipoh), offering many new experiences. While these locations may not be familiar to Vietnamese tourists, they are already popular with both international and domestic Malaysian visitors.

Overseas travel costs are "more affordable" than domestic travel.

According to many experts, overseas tours will be the preferred choice for Vietnamese tourists during the summer of 2023. Currently, overseas tours account for approximately 60% of bookings, while domestic tours only account for about 40%.

Mr. Le Thanh Liem, a representative from the human resources department of a company in Hanoi, said that in July, they will organize a trip for all company employees, totaling over 100 people, for a planned duration of 4 days and 3 nights.

Accordingly, the company proposed two options: Option one was to go to Phu Quoc, costing 8-10 million VND per person, with no additional contribution from employees; option two was to go to Phuket (Thailand), costing approximately 13 million VND per person, with each employee contributing an additional 3 million VND. According to the survey, over 80% of the more than 100 people chose Thailand, citing the reason that "Contributing a little more but getting to travel abroad is still better."

Starting in May, many travel businesses predicted that the summer tour market would see a "boom" in overseas tours, especially packages to Southeast Asian countries.

"This summer, outbound tourism will be more prominent than domestic tourism, which is understandable given that we experienced a surge in domestic tourism last year. The travel mindset of Vietnamese tourists has changed this year due to the ever-changing trends each year," shared Ms. Nguyen Hien, a sales collaborator for Vietravel's Hanoi branch.

Direct competitors include a 5-day, 4-night all-inclusive Bangkok - Pattaya tour starting from only 5.99 million VND/person, a 4-day Phuket (Thailand) tour from 9.9 million VND/person, and Zhangjiajie - Fenghuang Ancient Town (China), Bali (Indonesia), and Singapore - Malaysia, all currently priced at 13 million VND/person.

Representatives from the companies also pointed out several advantages of traveling to Thailand, such as reasonable prices, simple procedures, and convenient transportation. Tours to China, after a period of closure, are also attracting customers this summer. The advantages include that most of these overseas tours do not require visas, offer superior service, and have many entertainment options for children and families.

Besides long-distance international tours, Vietnamese tourists are also very interested in tour products to distant markets such as Northern Europe (Finland - Sweden - Norway - Denmark), South Africa, Australia, etc.

According to business assessments, market demand this year will be highly diversified, with customers demanding higher quality and therefore willing to spend an additional few million to tens of millions of VND to purchase an overseas tour.

As can be seen, tour prices and service costs are among the factors influencing tourists' choices.

Ha Mai Trinh