China pampers customers, wins big in the race to attract Vietnamese tourists

China wins in attracting Vietnamese tourists

Having experienced a tour of China by road for less than 5 million VND/person, in early August, Ms. Thu Binh's family (Long Bien ward, Hanoi ) decided on a 5-day, 4-night Beijing - Shanghai tour for 10.1 million VND/person. The price was slightly higher, but this was a tour without shopping, so the family of the Hanoi guest was satisfied because they had more experiences.

Not only Thu Binh's family, during the summer and expected until the end of this year, destinations in China are still considered the top priority for Vietnamese tourists when traveling abroad thanks to competitive prices and convenient transportation.

"Compared to the general level of foreign tours, China is considered to be the most advantageous because it possesses many advantages that attract Vietnamese tourists.

There are currently all kinds of tours in many different categories and segments to please customers. From cheap tours of 4-5 million VND/person to tours costing hundreds of millions of VND," a representative of a travel agency in Hanoi shared with reporters about the current assessment of Chinese tours.

According to a quick survey by Dan Tri reporters, this year, many travel agencies recorded an increase of 30% to 40% in the number of Vietnamese tourists booking tours to China compared to the same period last year. Some agencies even received an increase of 160%, such as Viettravel. Routes to China, such as Hainan Island, Phoenix Ancient Town or Zhangjiajie, currently have very competitive prices.

Explaining this growth, Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc, CEO of HanVina Travel, said that there are many reasons why China has become a golden destination for Vietnamese tourists recently.

According to Mr. Duc, recently, many new direct flights from Vietnam to major cities in China have been opened by airlines this year. Along with that, there is a relaxed visa policy, and the procedures for applying for group visas or tourist visas are quick and convenient.

In addition, the trend of choosing non-shopping tours is preferred by Vietnamese customers. This is a tour that does not require entering shopping locations, the price is higher but there is more time for customers to experience the journey.

"These factors help China tours grow significantly this year," Mr. Duc analyzed.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said that tourism cooperation between Vietnam and China has continued to achieve many important steps forward in recent times, with proactive participation from central to local levels, from government to businesses.

Specifically, in the first 3 months of the year, Vietnam welcomed nearly 1.2 million Chinese visitors, an increase of 78.3% over the same period in 2024. In the whole year of 2024, the number of Chinese visitors reached over 3.7 million, an increase of more than 114% compared to 2023, showing the great potential of the market.

On the other hand, Vietnam is also one of the important tourist markets of many Chinese localities.

At the end of the year, China tours are expected to still boom.

Continuing the strong growth momentum of the summer, tourism experts predict that in the upcoming winter season, China will continue to be a destination chosen by many Vietnamese tourists.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc, CEO of HanVina Travel, said that in recent years, the demand for Vietnamese tourists to travel to places with snow in winter has increased dramatically. Harbin is one of the destinations that meets this demand thanks to its thick snow cover in winter, and is one of the four places with the world's largest ice and snow festival.

Due to the high demand from customers, some units opened tours early. The tours will depart in December, on Christmas and New Year's Day with prices starting from 31.9 million VND/person for a 5-day, 4-night tour and from 33.9 million VND/person for a 6-day, 5-night tour.

The price includes all expenses during the trip (from visa fees, tips for tour guides).

If every year, Vietnamese visitors who want to come here have to transit in a city in China, the biggest difference this year is the direct charter flight (full flight) from Hanoi to Harbin, thereby helping to shorten the travel time to just over 4 hours compared to 8 to 10 hours as before. Specifically, from December this year to January 2025, the company will open a charter flight tour with a frequency of 6 flights per month.

According to research, each group usually has a maximum of 20 guests. Each month, we welcome a maximum of 5-6 groups. The number of guests in a group does not exceed 20 people to ensure that both tour guides and tourists feel comfortable.

"It is expected that the number of Vietnamese tourists coming to Harbin this year could increase by 100% compared to last year," said Mr. Duc.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/trung-quoc-chieu-khach-thang-lon-trong-cuoc-dua-thu-hut-khach-viet-nam-20250815092545638.htm