Do Hoang Anh Tuan, deputy minister of Finance believes in raising Vietnam’s image by offering refund on Value Added Tax (VAT) on commodities purchased in Vietnam by foreign travellers at point of departure at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat International Airports from July 2012 till June 2013.
The deputy minister mentioned this at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City recently to implement the new pilot scheme that will offer a VAT refund to foreigners leaving the country with purchases made during their stay.
According to local travel agencies, domestic air travel during the coming month-end holidays is expected to see a sharp drop in the number of travellers, with travel companies set to lose hundreds of millions of Vietnamese dong.
So far, the numbers of travellers booking air trips only account for one third of the number of available tickets.
It was a beautiful clear day when Long and his friends visited the Cham Islands hoping to see the World Biosphere Reserve, the pearl of Vietnam recognised by UNESCO in 2009.
Although the islands can be seen from the land, it takes over 25 minutes to canoe to them from Cua Dai beach in Hoi An City of the central province of Quang Nam. The Cham Islands are made up of eight small islands, Hon Lao being the largest with fishermen living there and the three biggest beaches: Huong, Lang and Ong.
Many travel agencies in Ho Chi Minh City are offering various promotional schemes on domestic and international tours to lure customers, whose numbers have dropped sharply after a substantial increase in airfares and other service charges.
However, local Vienam travel agencies say that this year, despite offers of so many promotional programmes, the numbers of tourists have not increased, causing much anxiety in the travel industry.
Companies of Vietnam tour offer low-budget tours
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Vietnamese travel firms have vowed to lure more Japanese travelers to Vietnam. But how to do that remains a headache.
Doing business in pain
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) reported that 481,500 Japanese travelers to Vietnam tour in 2011, an increase of 8.9 percent in comparison with 2010.
Travel firms and linguistic experts commented that the new tourism logo of Vietnam is colorful and vague, which is not very connected to Vietnamese tourism.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on December 27, made public the new slogan and symbol of the Vietnam tourism promotion program in 2012-2015: “Vietnam – Timeless Charm” and the five petal lotus.
This symbol and slogan, designed by Tran Hoai Duc, replace the existing lotus bud symbol and the slogan “Vietnam – Hidden Charm.”
Despite warnings about the economic difficulties in 2012, companies of Vietnam tour still believe that the turnover of the tourism industry would still be high in the year, after enjoying a bountiful crop last Tet holiday.
In economic difficulties, tourism relating sectors can live well
Though travel firms made a fat profit last Tet holiday, analysts believe that the tourism sector would not see a higher growth rate in 2012, because people would have to fasten their belt amid the forecasts about economic difficulties.
Small and medium carriers in Hanoi complain that the demand is too low in the first month of the Lunar New Year in comparison with the previous years, though it is now the festival season.
Demand weak
Worshiping together with traveling on the first days of the spring seems to be the spiritual need for many people. Therefore, in previous years, the demand for transport services was always very high after Tet. The vehicle rent jumped by 15-30 percent, from ordinary days. Especially, on auspicious days, which Vietnamese people believed were good for the departures, the rent might increase by 40-50 percent.
The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday, or Tet, turned out to be a golden opportunity for local travel agencies and operators of entertainment and tourism parks to make money in the new season.
Numerous large tour operators in Ho Chi Minh City such as Ben Thanh Tourist, Fiditourist, Vietravel, Saigontourist and Lien Bang Travelink reported good performance during the Tet holiday for both outbound and inbound tourism segments.
Travel agencies in Ho Chi Minh City have been kept busy booking foreign tours as residents seek to take advantage of a nine-day Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.
The number of bookings for foreign tours offered by major companies like Saigontourist, Vietravel and Fiditour have increased between 20 and 30 per cent compared with last year’s Tet season.
Most customers are buying tours to Asian countries and to Europe, the companies say.
