Tet promises boom time for Vietnam tours
22/01/08 (GMT+7)
Boom time for Vietnam tours, Ho Chi Minh City tourism agencies have been scrambling to book domestic and foreign tours to take advantage of a six-day Vietnam Tet (Lunar New Year) that will begin on February 6.
 The number of bookings for tours offered by major companies like Saigontourist, Vietravel and Fiditour have doubled over last year.
Many tours have been fully booked (Vietnam tet tour full booked), and demand has increased prices by 20 to 30%. "Customers are still coming but we must turn them away," Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, an official of Fiditour, said.
Fiditour ususally receives between 20 and 30 customers for a group tour, but for Vietnam Tet the number has risen to 40 or 50, Mai said.
Saigontourist this week closed many of its domestic and foreign tours, two weeks earlier compared with Tet last year.
"Vietravel has booked more than 8,000 customers, 4,000 of whom bought foreign tours," Huynh Thu Dung, head of Vietravel's Press Office said.
"Many customers booked tours weeks before the end of last year," she said.
The number of overseas Vietnamese returning home for Tet has increased by 30% compared with last year.
Vung Tau, Phan Thiet, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc are the favourite domestic destinations while tours to Asian countries have attracted a great number of customers.
Special tours
Vietravel said it has organised pagoda tours for the first time this year.
The tours will take travellers to well-known pagodas like Yen Tu and Dau in northern Vietnam and Ba Chua Xu Temple in Chau Doc in the Cuu Long (Mekong) delta province of An Giang.
"Many Vietnamese like to go to pagodas on Tet to pray for good health and prosperity," she said.
Dung says trips to Yen Tu Pagoda, which is located on the Bach Van Son (White Cloud) Mountain in Quang Ninh Province, will involve trekking through mountainous terrain carved with streams and canyons.
Yen Tu was founded by King Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308) who abandoned his throne and began service as a monk at the pagoda.
Built in the 3rd century, the Dau pagoda in Thuan Thanh District in Bac Ninh Province, 30km from Hanoi, is Vietnam's most ancient sanctum.
The tours will start on the second and fourth day of the lunar year.
Besides favourite tours to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City travel companies are offering many tours to Egypt, Japan, Australia and South Africa.
Many people have bought tours to Israel and Croatia, organised for the first time by Carnival Travel Company.
"The six days off are precious," a young engineer said. "It's a good time to relax. My family will go to Hong Kong. I like new tours to countries like Egypt and Croatia, but they are too long for Vietnam Tet."
(Source: Viet Nam News)
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