These habits have influenced Vietnamese tourists' choice of travel destinations during the September 2 holiday this year.
Booking data on the Booking.com platform shows that beaches and coastal cities continue to be the top choice of Vietnamese tourists when traveling (61%), followed by big cities (60%).
This is reflected in the list of 10 most searched destinations for upcoming vacations, with 6/10 destinations being top coastal cities in Vietnam.
Accordingly, the 10 domestic destinations most searched by Vietnamese tourists from September 2 to 4, 2023, ranked in order of preference by tourists, include: Da Nang, Vung Tau, Nha Trang, Da Lat, Ho Chi Minh City, Mui Ne, Hanoi, Ha Long, Phu Quoc and Hoi An.
Ho Chi Minh City's inner-city tourism products promise to attract visitors during the September 2 holiday.
For overseas trips during the last long holiday of the year, Vietnamese tourists tend to choose nearby international destinations such as Thailand and Singapore. Then they go to Seoul (South Korea), Taipei (Taiwan), Hong Kong, Tokyo (Japan), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Australia.
Mr. Varun Grover - Country Director of Booking.com in Vietnam - said that looking at the choice of destinations, it can be seen that Vietnamese tourists have a greater demand than usual for the type of resort called "staycation", which means traveling near or right in the city where they live. And the second is "drivecations" (traveling by car and staying in the car) to locations not too far away.
This result is also consistent with the situation of booking tours through travel agencies in Ho Chi Minh City. This year's holiday season will continue to be a challenge for destinations such as Ha Long or Phu Quoc, which were very "hot" last season but are now becoming less popular due to the lack of new products.
Ms. Pham Phuong Anh - General Director of Viet Travel Company - said that there is a trend of traveling in groups of friends and family during the September 2 holiday because airfares are no longer too high for domestic flights.
The habit of booking tours close to each other also affects the number of air tickets and the number of domestic tour seats available for sale. However, customers still prefer to drive themselves or choose destinations near where they live rather than choosing destinations far away. Most customers choose short-term island tours, hotel stays...
Purchasing power has not increased dramatically, so room prices are only high in some "hot" spots, while prices for other services are quite stable.
The study was commissioned by Booking.com and conducted independently by Milieu Insight on a sample of 8,800 respondents in 11 countries and territories across APAC (800 respondents from Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam). To participate in this survey, respondents must be 18 years or older.
The study calculated the index based on specific metrics such as travel willingness, potential travel expenditure, duration, number of intended trips and, notably, travel trends in the current macroeconomic situation.
Other areas the research explores are travel and booking considerations, perspectives on sustainability and other market-specific questions.
