A survey by PV on online airline ticket sales websites on August 14 showed that ticket prices from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to tourist destinations during the September 2 holiday this year have doubled compared to normal days.

For example, if customers choose to fly on August 31 (the start of the holiday) and return on September 3 (the end of the holiday), the average airfare from Hanoi to Da Nang is about 4.1 million VND/round-trip ticket (including taxes and fees). However, the number of tickets is still quite large because Vietnam Airlines has recently decided to increase capacity and add more seats on hot routes.

Another "hot" route is the Hanoi to Da Lat route, the price of each ticket is also up to 5.2 million VND (if the customer flies late), but if flying at a good time, the customer will have to pay up to 6 million VND/round trip ticket.

Similarly, the Hanoi - Nha Trang flight, the good time is up to 6.6 million VND/round trip ticket. However, if the customer accepts to fly late and return early in the morning, the ticket price drops to only 4.1 million VND, meaning the good time is 1.5 times more expensive, but the bad time will cost the customer a whole day off.

Airfare is also twice as expensive as usual for the route from Hanoi to Quy Nhon, with prices ranging from 6.35 million VND/ticket.

Notably, from August 31 to September 3, the Hanoi - Phu Quoc flight route is still the hottest with ticket prices reaching up to 7.9 million VND. Meanwhile, this is not the best season on the Pearl Island. If flying directly to Phu Quoc, currently only Vietjet operates 3 flights/arrivals per day.

Vietnam Airlines' ticketing system records that there are no more direct flights from Hanoi to Phu Quoc, but instead they fly via Saigon, which adds 5 hours or more to the trip. Ticket prices are not cheap, from over 7 million VND/round-trip economy class ticket, over 13 million VND/business class ticket.

If flying from Ho Chi Minh City, the ticket price to Da Nang is also similar, from 3.9 million VND/round trip ticket. However, the ticket price for the Ho Chi Minh City - Nha Trang route is cheaper than flying from Hanoi, about 3.7 million VND/ticket.

In particular, the airfare from Saigon to Phu Quoc is less than half of the price from Hanoi, ranging from only 2.7-3.1 million VND/round trip ticket, depending on the flight time. There are still many airfares left.

Foreign tourism still booming

The annual September 2nd holiday is still considered a "clean" holiday for family groups before children return to school. Therefore, families usually choose package tours, with a visit time of 3-4 days for a journey, at a moderate cost.

“In the past, August to November was considered the low season for domestic tourism, but in recent years it has become bustling, with many tourists choosing to travel because the service is not overloaded, prices are good, the climate is cool, and the scenery in autumn is very beautiful. Therefore, we expect the number of domestic and international tourists during the September 2 holiday and autumn this year to increase by about 20% compared to the same period in 2023,” said Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu, Marketing and Communications Director of Vietluxtour Travel Company.

Tour prices during this holiday season have not fluctuated much compared to the same period last year. Some routes have slightly increased prices by about 2-5% due to increased airfares and hotel prices. The average tour price range most booked by individual tourists is from 12-15 million VND/person.

Domestically, the F&E product line (air tickets + hotel rooms) and tour options (tours designed on request) focus on mid- to high-end resort needs (3-5 stars), especially the beach resort routes of Nha Trang, Phu Yen, Hue - Da Nang, Con Dao... or Da Lat are being chosen the most by tourists.

According to Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu, the rate of customers registering for tours on the occasion of September 2nd at the company has reached more than 70% of the plan, the tours are still accepting bookings mainly on Southeast Asia routes and domestic tours. The rate of customers booking foreign tours is higher, accounting for about 60% (outbound), while domestic tours are only 40%.

At Vietravel Travel Company, about 80% of the seats have been booked, only 20% are domestic tours, Southeast Asian market tours that do not require visas or Northeast Asian tours with visa preparation time of only 7 to 10 days such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan (China). Currently, the number of customers booking tours for the September 2nd holiday this year has reached the same level as the same period in 2019.

Tour prices for the September 2 holiday also increased slightly, about 5-10% compared to the same period in 2023. The reason, according to a Vietravel representative, is due to inflation and increased service costs, when prices for transportation, accommodation and food services all increased; tourism demand increased sharply due to the 4-day holiday,...

However, that is the record of large travel companies. Up to this point, when airfare prices have heated up, the situation of tourism tours is still quite quiet, especially with domestic tours. According to travel agencies, domestic airfare prices have skyrocketed because individuals want to travel on their own, while travel companies have planned to book airfares early.

Partly because of expensive domestic airfares, this year has seen an explosion in international travel.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tai, CEO of VietSense Travel, commented that while previously Southeast Asian and Northeast Asian destinations such as Korea, Japan, Taiwan and long-distance trips to Europe, the US and Australia were popular, this year, Chinese tourist routes are dominant, especially short-term land routes bordering the border such as Chau Hong Ha, Lijiang - Shangri La in Yunnan with very cheap prices have attracted a large number of tourists from Vietnam.

According to Vietravel representative, on the occasion of September 2nd holiday, many customers chose short-term international tours to Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Bali or tours to China (Zhangjiajie - Phoenix Ancient Town, Lijiang - Shangrila,...) and destinations in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong (China) with tour duration from 4-6 days.

Prices skyrocket, hot flight tickets still half sold out in the middle of summer peak

Although airfares have cooled down, people are tightening their spending,... so even though it's the peak summer tourist season, the booking rate for flights is still low; some "hot" routes are half sold out on weekends.

Fewer customers go out at midnight, late flight tickets are slow to sell

Because of the poor sales of "bad time" flights, airlines have been forced to cancel some of their night flights. Travel companies admit that there are no domestic tours departing too late, and customers traveling at midnight are worried about not being able to check in when they arrive.

Explosion of preferential foreign tours, domestic tours with 'dirt' discounts

Many discounted and promotional tours were launched at the VITM - Hanoi 2024 international tourism fair, but mainly for international tours. Expensive airfares have caused domestic tour prices to decrease insignificantly this year.