Travel agents flock to HCMC for exhibition

Almost 125 leading travel agents from 35 international markets are
showcasing their products at an international tourism exhibition in
HCM City, which opened on September 30.

Of
them, nine are international tourism promotion agencies from India,
Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Taiwan,
mainland China and Turkey.

Host country Vietnam has sent
representatives from 10 local tourism promotion agencies in the central
and southern provinces to attend the event. Local hospitality giants
such as Saigontourist, Vietravel, Windsor and the Green Plaza Hotel
Danang are also present.

The event will finish on
November 2 with the signing of various business contracts between
domestic and international travel partners. Visitors are also welcome at
the travel agents’ pavilions where package tours and special holidays
are offered at knock down prices as well as a number of promotional
programmes.

A “Vietnam Night” will take place for
the presentation of a “Tourist Prize” for travel agents from Cambodia,
Laos and Vietnam, in recognition of their contributions to the
hospitality industry.

An ASEAN forum on tourist
investment was also held from September 29-30, which witnessed a meeting
between the tourism ministers from the three Indochinese countries and
Myanmar.

The quartet reached a consensus on
steps to boost cooperation in tourism. They include regular exchanges of
information and experiences in planning, image, attracting investment
and diversifying tourist products. The ministers also called for mutual
assistance when holding tourism investment forums and more cooperation
between management agencies and travel agents./.

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Domestic tourists fly the coop

Travel agents have resorted to taking domestic tourists on tours abroad after failing to get air tickets for inbound destinations, especially those on special discount offers.

“It is difficult to book enough air tickets for groups of 20 visitors upwards in the same flight on some routes,” said Nguyen Cong Hoan, deputy director of travel agency Hanoi Redtour. “Now it is the tourist season, so Vietnam Airlines tickets sell out quickly.”

Travel agents in Ho Chi Minh City who are participating in the domestic tourism promotion program launched by the Vietnam National Tourism Administration bought only 2,089 tickets under the special offer for Vietnam Airlines flights departing in July, down from 4,052 in June.

The tickets were booked in May or June, before Vietnam Airlines stopped selling the tickets offered under the domestic tourism promotion program from July 1 to August 15.

Vietnam Airlines had earlier committed to sell a number of tickets on some routes at a 50 percent discount during the year.

Stopping the special offer has increased tour prices, making it difficult for travel agents to lure local customers.

Although Vietnam Airlines brought back its special offer on Thursday, it has not become easier for travel agencies to book the tickets, as they need it for the “rush hour” – weekends or holidays, Hoan said. “We want to book some 2,000 tickets on special offer from now to the end of this year, but only 40 percent of them have been confirmed.”

Luu Duc Ke, director of Hanoi Tourist, said a number of customers have chosen low-priced outbound tours, mainly to Cambodia, Singapore and Thailand, instead of their initially planned domestic tours.

Hoan of Redtour said his company had to book tickets with low cost airline Jetstar Pacific on some routes. However, the number of domestic air routes operated by Jetstar Pacific is much smaller than that of Vietnam Airlines.

When getting air tickets becomes too difficult, his customers traveling between Hanoi and destinations like Nha Trang and Da Nang have to travel by train, or accept a more distant flight route that has fewer passengers.

The national tourism authority has targeted 4.2 million foreign tourists and 27-28 million domestic travelers in 2010.

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Domestic tourists fly the coop

Travel agents have resorted to taking domestic tourists on tours abroad after failing to get air tickets for inbound destinations, especially those on special discount offers.

“It is difficult to book enough air tickets for groups of 20 visitors upwards in the same flight on some routes,” said Nguyen Cong Hoan, deputy director of travel agency Hanoi Redtour. “Now it is the tourist season, so Vietnam Airlines tickets sell out quickly.”

Travel agents in Ho Chi Minh City who are participating in the domestic tourism promotion program launched by the Vietnam National Tourism Administration bought only 2,089 tickets under the special offer for Vietnam Airlines flights departing in July, down from 4,052 in June.

The tickets were booked in May or June, before Vietnam Airlines stopped selling the tickets offered under the domestic tourism promotion program from July 1 to August 15.

Vietnam Airlines had earlier committed to sell a number of tickets on some routes at a 50 percent discount during the year.

Stopping the special offer has increased tour prices, making it difficult for travel agents to lure local customers.

Although Vietnam Airlines brought back its special offer on Thursday, it has not become easier for travel agencies to book the tickets, as they need it for the “rush hour” – weekends or holidays, Hoan said. “We want to book some 2,000 tickets on special offer from now to the end of this year, but only 40 percent of them have been confirmed.”

Luu Duc Ke, director of Hanoi Tourist, said a number of customers have chosen low-priced outbound tours, mainly to Cambodia, Singapore and Thailand, instead of their initially planned domestic tours.

Hoan of Redtour said his company had to book tickets with low cost airline Jetstar Pacific on some routes. However, the number of domestic air routes operated by Jetstar Pacific is much smaller than that of Vietnam Airlines.

When getting air tickets becomes too difficult, his customers traveling between Hanoi and destinations like Nha Trang and Da Nang have to travel by train, or accept a more distant flight route that has fewer passengers.

The national tourism authority has targeted 4.2 million foreign tourists and 27-28 million domestic travelers in 2010.

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Domestic tourists fly the coop

Travel agents have resorted to taking domestic tourists on tours abroad after failing to get air tickets for inbound destinations, especially those on special discount offers.

“It is difficult to book enough air tickets for groups of 20 visitors upwards in the same flight on some routes,” said Nguyen Cong Hoan, deputy director of travel agency Hanoi Redtour. “Now it is the tourist season, so Vietnam Airlines tickets sell out quickly.”

Travel agents in Ho Chi Minh City who are participating in the domestic tourism promotion program launched by the Vietnam National Tourism Administration bought only 2,089 tickets under the special offer for Vietnam Airlines flights departing in July, down from 4,052 in June.

The tickets were booked in May or June, before Vietnam Airlines stopped selling the tickets offered under the domestic tourism promotion program from July 1 to August 15.

Vietnam Airlines had earlier committed to sell a number of tickets on some routes at a 50 percent discount during the year.

Stopping the special offer has increased tour prices, making it difficult for travel agents to lure local customers.

Although Vietnam Airlines brought back its special offer on Thursday, it has not become easier for travel agencies to book the tickets, as they need it for the “rush hour” – weekends or holidays, Hoan said. “We want to book some 2,000 tickets on special offer from now to the end of this year, but only 40 percent of them have been confirmed.”

Luu Duc Ke, director of Hanoi Tourist, said a number of customers have chosen low-priced outbound tours, mainly to Cambodia, Singapore and Thailand, instead of their initially planned domestic tours.

Hoan of Redtour said his company had to book tickets with low cost airline Jetstar Pacific on some routes. However, the number of domestic air routes operated by Jetstar Pacific is much smaller than that of Vietnam Airlines.

When getting air tickets becomes too difficult, his customers traveling between Hanoi and destinations like Nha Trang and Da Nang have to travel by train, or accept a more distant flight route that has fewer passengers.

The national tourism authority has targeted 4.2 million foreign tourists and 27-28 million domestic travelers in 2010.

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• Domestic tourists fly the coop
• High rice price cuts exports
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• HCMC to relay grand sale program to November