The Lunar New Year, also known as Tet, holiday is often an ideal time for travel businesses to develop short-term travel programmes for groups of family and friends.

Visitors at the Bridge of Love on Tran Hung Dao Street. Photo: NHAT HA

Although the city’s tourism industry has recorded positive signs, the number of visitors to the city is expected not to fluctuate much, and tourism service providers will not face overload.

As observed at travel agencies, many tourism firms have set up incentive programmes for tour bookers during the Lunar New Year 2024.

For instance, the Da Nang branch of the Vietravel Company has launched many promotional programmes for tour buyers.

Many tourism businesses have also focused on building their own products to attract more customers.

Deputy General Director of the Vitraco Transport and Tourism Union Co., Ltd. Le Tan Thanh Tung said that Vitraco exploited both domestic and international tourist markets during the Lunar New Year.

As for the international tourist market, the company provides tours for customers from South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan (China) and Southeast Asia, plus overseas Vietnamese customers returning home to celebrate Tet.

With regard to the domestic customer market, the company focuses on tours to central regional localities such as "Heritage Journey", "Central Paradise", and others.

Aside from the existing tours, the company has added new products so that customers can experience more comprehensive services.

Mr. Tung added that this year's Lunar New Year, the tourist signal is weaker than in peak tourist years because airfares still remain high, and the economic situation is so difficult. Therefore, travel businesses focus their resources on exploiting and welcoming tourists.

Mr. Nguyen Nhu Nam, General Director of the Viet Nam Travelmart JSC, said that travel businesses paid special attention to improving the service quality, and increasing experience and convenience for tourists instead of stimulating demand and reducing service prices, thereby bringing more emotions and memorable moments for them during trips.

He remarked the majority of people choose to travel independently or by personal vehicles due to this year’s significant hike in airfares. Therefore, his business has had a plan to exploit customers from a number of countries in the region that share the same Tet holiday with Viet Nam.

Tourists buying goods at a stall in the East Sea Park. Photo: NHAT HA

According to the general assessment made by travel businesses, many tourists have chosen to travel on their own instead of booking entire tour programmes from tourism firms.

Grasping this need of tourists, many travel agencies have deployed free and easy tours. Accordingly, visitors only need to book basic services in advance to prepare for the trip instead of buying package tours.

To put it simply, free and easy tours allow you to decide where you want to go, when you wish to travel, for how long, and how you wish to get to your destination.

Chairman of the Da Nang Travel Association Nguyen Ngoc Anh assessed that Vietnamese people are increasingly choosing overseas tours during the Tet holiday, especially in markets with direct flights.

As for the domestic market, for nearby destinations, tourists can travel by road or travel independently by personal vehicles, and book services through technology platforms. Therefore, compared to previous years, the number of visitors to Da Nang during Tet is not so crowded. All businesses are proactive and ready to welcome and serve visitors on this occasion.

Mr. Cao Tri Dung, Chairman of the Da Nang Tourism Association, forecasts that the number of visitors to Da Nang over the forthcoming Tet holiday is expected to be equal to that of the same period last year.

“Da Nang plans to organise many activities and events to serve tourists, whilst many accommodation establishments will have experiential activities for guests to celebrate Tet. However, like other major destinations, this year’s purchasing power is quite quiet” he noted.

One bright spot is the increasing number of tourists travelling on their own by private vehicles from neighbouring localities. However, with this influx of tourists, mainly on-site tourism service providers and tourist attractions with many big events during Tet can enjoy more benefits than travel businesses, Mr. Dung analysised.

​Reporting by NHAT HA - Translating by M.DUNG