International travel reopened: Most Vietnamese tourists have not yet departed.

After more than two years of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam will officially reopen its tourism sector completely on March 15, 2022, resuming international flights as usual. Consequently, the demand for overseas travel among Vietnamese people has immediately increased sharply; however, it will still take more time for this market to return to its pre-pandemic levels.

International flights have resumed.

Since the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam lifted restrictions on the frequency of international flights, domestic airlines have responded positively, showing their readiness for the return to international airspace. Currently, Vietnam has reopened international routes to and from 20 countries and territories.(Before the pandemic, there were 28 countries and territories), including: Cambodia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Laos, China, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Australia, Russia, and the United States.

Vietnam Airlines, the national airline, has restored 22 routes to 13 international markets in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States. Currently, flight frequencies remain modest due to strict pandemic prevention requirements. However, the airline believes that demand will increase proportionally with the speed of vaccination and disease control.

"Vietnam Airlines immediately planned to resume flights on routes we previously operated, as well as increase frequency on existing routes. We expect to restore most international routes to Vietnam to their previous levels by April, while increasing frequency to 95 flights per week," said Mr. Nguyen Quang Trung, Head of Planning and Development, Vietnam Airlines.

Similarly, Vietjet Air has also resumed ticket sales and operations for international commercial flights between Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City and Taipei, Thailand, while increasing the frequency of regular international commercial flights to 3-4 flights/week for the Hanoi - Tokyo (Japan) route from February 18th; the Hanoi - Seoul (South Korea) route from February 16th; and the Ho Chi Minh City - Singapore route from February 10th. International passengers on Vietjet flights from Ho Chi Minh City will still receive a free Covid-19 PCR test package at designated testing sites. Vietjet also plans to open more routes to India, Russia, and other destinations in the near future.

International tours are ready.

Following the decision to reopen international borders, many travel companies have begun resuming sales of overseas tours to ensure they are ready for customer bookings. Not only have they quickly resumed sales, but many travel agencies have also launched a series of exciting tour packages to attract tourists.

Fit Tour, a company specializing in unique and experiential tours, recently launched its "luxury Nepal" tour at the end of April. This 8-day itinerary offers luxurious experiences such as helicopter rides and stays in 4-star resorts with panoramic views of the legendary mountain ranges. In addition, Fit Tour also offers tours to Ladakh, Pakistan, Türkiye, and Egypt, scheduled to depart in the fall of 2022. These tours only require a minimum of 8 participants to depart.

In addition, many tour packages are ready to depart for tourists as early as the end of February. Ms. Nguyen Nguyet Van Khanh, Deputy Director of Marketing at Vietravel, said that on February 26th, the company will have a group of 180 tourists going on a pilgrimage to India, departing from Hanoi, and on March 4th, another 45 tourists will go to Dubai. Vietravel is also selling tours to Qatar to watch the World Cup in the last two months of 2022. On the same day, February 26th, Dat Viet Tour will organize a tour to Cambodia to watch the AFF U23 Cup Final.

In March and April, Hanotours had 8 departure dates to Dubai, with the March tour already fully booked and the April tours 40% booked. The company is developing programs for France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, or France, Switzerland, and Italy, as these countries have announced they are accepting visas from Vietnamese citizens. Saigontourist travel company has also reopened its outbound market.(Taking Vietnamese tourists abroad)With two main tours that are very popular with tourists being the USA and Maldives, followed by Bangkok, Pattaya (Thailand) and Cambodia.

Most tourists have plans but haven't set off yet.

Although travel companies are currently selling many international tours, the number of tourists shows no sign of a significant increase, and is even relatively low. At present, most tourists traveling abroad at this time are visiting relatives or have urgent business to attend to, while many others, despite wanting to travel, prefer to wait rather than rush to go.

There are several reasons for this situation, most notably the fact that many people are still hesitant about the entry procedures and quarantine requirements when traveling abroad. Furthermore, some countries only accept tourists with long-term visas.

However, the issue that concerns many people most at the moment is the skyrocketing price of airfares and overseas tour packages, with increases of approximately 30% compared to before the pandemic. Previously, a tour to Cambodia could be done by land, through border crossings, for only about 5-6 million VND per person, but now, travelers are forced to fly, at a cost of up to 20 million VND per person. Even flights to...Mongolia- A country that has just opened its borders and lifted many strict restrictions on tourists is still keeping airfare prices up to 40 million VND, and even has no direct flights, forcing tourists to make connecting flights with quite long flight times.

Many travel enthusiasts also believe that now is not the right time to depart, as they still want to focus on completing unfinished tasks before returning to the new travel season. Instead, they have already planned trips abroad in the near future, such as traveler Le Tu, who intends to "take a road trip through the snow-capped mountains of Ladakh in North India, admiring the golden leaves of autumn," or Hoang Le Giang, who is preparing for a trekking trip to Nepal during the upcoming April 30th holiday...

Overall, overseas travel hasn't been able to attract many Vietnamese people immediately after reopening, but there are already initial signs of improvement. Perhaps the upcoming April 30th holiday will be a busy period for both domestic and international tours, and this will lead to hopes for a resurgence of tourism this summer.

Khanh Ha