Oxalis: Efforts to create opportunities for domestic tourists

In recent years, Vietnam has consistently ranked among the countries with the strongest tourism growth in the world. However, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic caused tourism to temporarily "hibernate" for many months. Nevertheless, this was a common situation worldwide, and Vietnam, thanks to effective disease control, was able to reopen tourism earlier than other countries, seizing a golden opportunity to revive the tourism market.

Many solutions aimed at quickly boosting the tourism market have been implemented nationwide, such as the "Vietnamese people travel in Vietnam" campaign launched by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; the continuous development of programs to stimulate domestic tourism between localities and businesses; and the announcement of discounts on entrance fees, tours, hotels, airfares, and many other tourism services by localities and businesses.

In this general context, Oxalis Adventure was one of the first companies to implement initiatives to stimulate tourism, and has achieved initial success. As a company providing unique adventure tours such as those to Son Doong Cave, the Tu Lan cave system, Tien Cave, En Cave, Va Cave, Nuoc Nut Cave, etc., with high-quality professional services, Oxalis decided to monitor the Covid-19 situation to plan its return. This included preparing human resources, reassessing the market, changing some policies to suit the situation, and proposing to the Quang Binh provincial government to reduce various fees to create a basis for implementing a discount program to stimulate tourism under the motto "Tour prices reduced - Quality not reduced". These are very quick and timely measures to mitigate the damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, while helping to restore the company's operations as well as the tourism industry of the entire province as soon as possible.

Specifically, the Son Doong Cave Expedition program has been reduced from VND 69,800,000/person to VND 58,000,000/person, while other programs have seen price reductions of VND 400,000 - VND 1,700,000/person/tour. Room rates at Chay Lap Farmstay, which averaged VND 1,500,000 - VND 2,000,000/night in previous years, are now only VND 640,000/night.

Mr. Nguyen Chau A, Director of Oxalis Company, shared: “The key to reducing service prices to stimulate tourism while maintaining quality is to consider all the cost components of the service price. Reducing each component slightly will create a basis for price reduction while still ensuring quality. For example, a 4-day, 3-night tour of Central Vietnam includes preliminary cost components such as transportation, airfare, hotels, entrance fees, food, organizational service fees... and profit. To reduce prices, a small reduction in each category will create significant value in stimulating demand.”

In addition to tour discounts, starting May 25th, 2020, Oxalis will operate a free shuttle bus service connecting the Oxalis Phong Nha office and the Oxalis Dong Hoi office. This will allow Oxalis guests in Phong Nha, as well as guests of member companies such as Chay Lap Farmstay and Di Di Thoi, to easily enjoy the mountainous landscape while also swimming in the sea and savoring delicious Quang Binh seafood.

Oxalis's efforts have been well-received by many domestic tourists. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that Chay Lap Farmstay was fully booked during the April 30th - May 1st holiday and has maintained 30-50% occupancy since then. Oxalis's tours exploring caves and national parks have also been warmly received. On May 15th, Oxalis resumed operations for two tours, En Cave and Tu Lan, and will resume full operations from June 1st. The Hang En tour departing on May 15th has 9 participants, and the Tu Lan tour departing on May 16th has 12 participants. Meanwhile, the Son Doong tour only has 234 spots left after two weeks of sales, out of a total of 420 spots for 2020. This demonstrates the appeal of Son Doong, Vietnam's greatest cave, to domestic tourists, and is also the "sweet reward" that Oxalis has reaped after its hard work in recent months. Mr. A also predicted that Oxalis will basically recover about 60-70% of its tour capacity in the remaining months of the 2020 season.

Ms. Tram Nguyen Kile, a customer of Oxalis, shared after completing a 2-day Tu Lan tour in May 2020, following the Covid-19 pandemic: “Exploring challenging terrains carries a high risk; without knowledge, safety equipment, and a support team, accidents can easily occur. Therefore, choosing a reputable organization with a professional team and equipment is crucial for the best possible experience. Before the tour, I decided to choose Oxalis immediately, even though the price was higher than similar companies, but I was truly satisfied because the experience was priceless.”

Ms. Vo Phan Le Thuy, a regular Oxalis customer, chose the 4-day Tu Lan tour, also departing in May 2020. She highly praised Oxalis's service quality, noting that the consultants, guides, safety assistants, experts, and even the chef were "as close as family." She said that this year, she booked the tour before the pandemic, "everything was ready for departure when the Covid-19 outbreak occurred, so Oxalis announced the postponement of the tour, only reopening it in June 2020. At that time, I was very sad and disappointed, but then things got better. Vietnam controlled the pandemic very well, Oxalis was allowed to reopen tours, and I was able to travel as planned."

Mr. Shi Jang, a bicycle tour guide in Quang Binh, also had positive reviews about Oxalis's quality during this period: "As one of the few companies that identified an action plan right when the government controlled the pandemic, Oxalis is showing good feedback in the direction it set. The policy of collectively reducing prices across all products has given domestic tourists the opportunity to experience exploration programs at lower prices than usual, while maintaining or even improving quality compared to before the pandemic."

In addition to the initiatives mentioned above, Oxalis also applies a special discount program for loyal customers. Accordingly, customers who have previously used Oxalis's services will receive an additional 10% discount when registering for a new tour. Soon, Oxalis will move into phase 2, which is connecting with the world through messages and images sent to international friends. Mr. Nguyen Chau A believes that the important thing now is "to encourage domestic tourism companies and localities to carry out promotional campaigns and create connections with the world" to encourage tourists to visit Vietnam after the pandemic.

Despite his confidence, Mr. Nguyen Chau A also acknowledged: “Currently, due to the lack of international tourists in Vietnam, the tourism infrastructure for domestic tourists is somewhat redundant. Although the government has allowed tourism to resume, many hotels and travel companies remain closed... This shows that reopening is very difficult.” Given this situation, Oxalis has tried to shift its strategy to serving domestic tourists instead of focusing on inbound tourism, hoping that as domestic tourism gradually recovers, tourism workers will also have jobs and income, gradually leading to the recovery of the inbound market.

Each year, Oxalis typically serves around 12,000 customers, including approximately 2,000 Vietnamese customers, with the remainder being foreign visitors. Despite this, Vietnamese customers rank second in the top 10, only after American customers. Currently, the shift to serving almost 100% Vietnamese customers is somewhat challenging, but Oxalis believes that with effort and sincerity, the company will gain the trust of its customers.

Huong Thao