Thailand is one of the 10 potential international tourist markets to Thua Thien - Hue. According to estimates from the province's tourism industry, there are about 1,000 Thai tourists coming to Hue every day.
But recently, a situation has emerged that these groups of tourists only come to visit and take pictures outside the relics without buying tickets to visit the Imperial City like before. Every 5-10 minutes, a group of Thai tourists on a tour arrives in front of Ngo Mon Square and Ngu Phung Tower. At first glance, tourists on a tour choose to visit the relics. But when observing more closely, many groups of tourists arrive, following the instructions of the tour guides, they quickly line up to check-in. And after taking enough photos, the groups of tourists will move towards Quang Duc gate. Very few groups buy tickets to enter the Imperial City. This phenomenon has been happening for a while and is mainly tourists from Thailand, while other markets still visit normally.
Tourists only came to take pictures and refused to buy tickets to enter Hue Imperial City.
Talking about this situation, a male tour guide said: "Recently, many Thai tourist groups coming to Hue do not want to buy tickets to enter the Imperial City because they know that Thai Hoa Palace is under renovation. Thai people are very interested in this palace, because they cannot visit it, they only stop by the Imperial City gate to take pictures, and spend the rest of the time visiting other relics."
Another tour guide also shared the reason why Thai tourists refused to buy entrance tickets: "Thai tourists who previously entered the Imperial City only wanted to visit Thai Hoa Palace, then take the tram outside. Now that the palace has been renovated and the ticket price has not decreased, they do not want to go in."
The Thai tourist market is heavily influenced by tour prices. Because Thai Hoa Palace is under renovation but the entrance fee remains the same, many tourism businesses have decided to "cut" tours to Hue. And worse, not only the Imperial City but also some other destinations that sell tickets in the Complex of Hue Monuments, Thai tourists do not choose to visit. Many groups go to Hue for sightseeing, have lunch, take a cyclo and then return to Da Nang during the day, the revenue from this type of tourist is very low.
"Instead of the previous 4-day tour for tourists to stay in 3 provinces and cities Quang Nam - Da Nang - Hue, now we 'cut' the destination in Hue, only coming here to have fun, visit, eat and drink during the day and then return to Da Nang," said this tour guide.
