The wave of tourism to France continues despite the high tour prices.

Recently, images of Vietnamese tourists checking in and having fun in France have flooded online forums and social media sites. Having just returned from a trip to France, Switzerland, and Italy, Ha Trang (Quang Ninh) said she had planned to visit Europe for a long time, but had to postpone it due to the Covid-19 pandemic: "When people think of going to Europe, France is usually the first country that comes to mind. After the Covid-19 pandemic, traveling to France is now very convenient; the travel company handles all the procedures, and I only need to prepare some basic documents."

The latest data from the Agoda platform also shows that France ranks 3rd in the top 5 most popular international destinations for Vietnamese tourists this summer, only behind neighboring destinations like Thailand and Singapore. According to data from TradingEconomics, the number of Vietnamese tourists visiting France began to increase from January 2022 and has surged from April to the present. It is estimated that in June 2022, approximately 237,000 Vietnamese tourists visited France, an increase of over 30% compared to May 2022.

These figures are consistent with the assessments of outbound tour operators in Vietnam. Mr. Nguyen Huu Cuong, General Director of Trang An International Travel Company (Trang An Travel), said that the number of customers booking tours to Europe has been gradually increasing since April 2022 and has seen a surge in the following months. France is the most popular destination because it is a world-leading attraction and also serves as a gateway to Europe for Vietnamese tourists.

"France is a particularly popular destination for Vietnamese tourists, so European tours often allocate a significant amount of time to this country. This is also because France has a more favorable visa policy compared to other European destinations, coupled with the rapidly increasing demand for overseas travel among Vietnamese people. We anticipate that tourism to France will continue to grow, so we are maintaining our France & Europe tour departure schedule until February next year," said Mr. Nguyen Huu Cuong.

Although Covid-19 restrictions have been eased, air connections between Vietnam and France have not fully recovered, resulting in relatively high prices for tours to France compared to pre-pandemic levels. According to several major outbound travel companies such as Vietravel, Saigontourist, Trang An Travel, and Pan American Travel, the price of a European tour including France is currently no less than 50 million VND per person. These companies advise travelers planning trips to Europe to plan early to secure reasonable prices and ensure sufficient visa processing time.

Phuong Thao is an editor at Travellive magazine. She is passionate about traveling and enjoys capturing moments with her camera in every place she visits. Travel, art, and lifestyle are Phuong Thao's favorite writing topics.

Phuong Thao