Customers choose tours at Vietravel. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — Travel companies in HCM City are selling package tours for a seven-day Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday which starts on January 23 (or the 29th day of the last lunar month).

The country’s most important holiday is expected to see a sharp increase in outbound tours with a wide range of new itineraries being offered for both family groups and individual travellers, they said.

In mid-September Fiditour began marketing tours on the media, with a focus on visits to Europe, Australia and Bhutan.

Trần Thị Bảo Thu, its director of marketing and communication, said most family groups of three or four prefer tours with high-quality services, including accommodation and food.

Some prefer free and easy tours with only airline tickets and hotels booked, she said.

White-collar workers aged 25-35 years plan well and usually take advantage of Tết holidays to go pleasure trips and explore new destinations, cultures and cuisines, she said.

Outbound tours are expected to account for 60 per cent of tour bookings for Tết, she said.

Many newly emerging destinations in Ninh Bình, Bình Định, Quảng Nam, and Kiên Giang provinces, which are hailed on social media, are attracting large numbers of travellers, she said.  

Trương Thị Thu Giang, deputy marketing director of Vietravel, said new itineraries attracting holidaymakers include tours to Fukushima Prefecture in Japan on charter flights and pilgrimage tours to India and Bhutan.

Many travel firms said pilgrimage tours to Thailand, Singapore and Singapore-Malaysia remain popular New Year destinations due to their reasonable prices.

Tours to China, South Korea and Japan are expected to see a large increase in the number of customers during Tết, they added.  

Trần Thế Dũng, deputy director of Thế Hệ Trẻ Travel Company, said tour prices are unchanged from the previous year since airfares have remained steady.

His company plans to launch tours to new destinations like beaches in Quảng Ninh Province, the Central Highlands and Trường Sơn mountain range, he said.

He expected a 30-40 per cent increase in the number of travellers this time.   

Many travel firms have announced discounts and gifts for early bookings. — VNS