High air ticket prices pose challenges for Vietnam’s domestic tourism recovery

Monday, October 16, 2023

Over the Tet holiday, round-trip tickets to domestic locations are virtually comparable to outward tour packages, providing hurdles for Vietnam’s domestic tourism recovery as many choose for abroad travel.
According to VnExpress polls, a four-night travel package from Hanoi to Thailand on February 14, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, costs roughly VND10-11 million (US$410-451), while return jet tickets from Hanoi to Phu Quoc cost VND10.6 million.

On the opening days of the same vacation, one travel business provides a four-day tour package traveling from Ho Chi Minh City to Taiwan for VND12 million per person.

During the same time period, economy class tickets on the HCMC-Hanoi route cost up to VND8 million while business class tickets cost up to VND16 million.

According to data from travel operator Best Price, ticket costs for flights from Ho Chi Minh City during Tet have risen by 170-300% compared to regular days, and by 150-265% from Hanoi.

Air tickets for the HCMC-Thanh Hoa route now cost around VND1.4 million per person in November, but the price for February 8, one day before Lunar New Year’s Eve, has risen to VND3.4 million.

On weekdays, tickets from HCMC to Vinh cost approximately 1.2 million, but they rise to VND3.5 million in the days leading up to Tet.

Flights from Hanoi to Da Nang cost around VND727,000 on weekdays but rise to VND1.6 million around Tet. Similarly, weekday tickets from Hanoi to Phu Quoc Island cost only VND914,000, but during Tet, visitors must spend VND2.8 million.

According to Nguyen Huu Cuong, general director of Trang An Travel, “cheap tickets are very rare” during Tet, especially for flights originating from Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City.

Domestic round-trip ticket rates on some routes over the vacation are equivalent to or greater than package tour airfares to Singapore, Thailand, and Cambodia, according to him.

“High airfare prices are one of the reasons why tourists have switched to traveling abroad during the Tet holiday instead of going on domestic trips,” Cuong said.

“This would leave negative impact on domestic tourism recovery and competent authorities should sit together to solve the problem.”

When Vietnam relaunched tourism in March 2022, domestic airfare rates skyrocketed. Tourists did not have many alternatives, however, because overseas destinations had not yet reopened their borders at the time, and travel demand soared after two years of remaining at home.

Many international lines have reopened this year, and China, the world’s largest outbound market, has also restored air travel with Vietnam.

As a result, the skyrocketing domestic ticket costs that have resulted in tour package price increases would make it impossible for the domestic tourist business to recover, according to Cuong.

Tet, which begins on February 10, 2024, brings millions of migrant workers from major cities and industrial hubs home for family reunions, as well as holiday-goers travelling to tourism locations.

As of late September, Vietnam has served 93 million domestic visitors, with the government aiming to reach 102 million by the end of the year.

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