Overseas Vietnamese travel for spring, Tet tour "extremely crowded"

Not only visiting family, many overseas Vietnamese have taken advantage of this opportunity to return to their hometowns or go sightseeing, exploring, and experiencing festivals and delicious dishes across the country.

Account for 60 - 80% of Tet tours

"It's extremely crowded!" - Ms. Doan Thi Thanh Tra, Marketing and Communications Director of Saigontourist Travel, said when sharing about the number of overseas Vietnamese who have registered to book tours and services through this company during this year's Tet holiday.

"Last week, we sat down to review our preparation plan and realized that 80% of the tours before Tet were made up of overseas Vietnamese. Many tour groups were mainly families and friends of overseas Vietnamese returning to Vietnam to celebrate Tet and enjoy the spring. On tours departing during Tet, this group of tourists accounted for 60%.

Overseas Vietnamese guests always have an important position in the structure of customers going on Tet tours of the unit, but this ratio is surprisingly high," said Ms. Tra.

According to Ms. Tra, it was surprising because although Saigontourist Travel has had products that have established a place in the hearts of overseas Vietnamese and international tourists over the past 20 years, because overseas Vietnamese are getting younger and this group will have their own way of traveling, not waiting for Tet to travel, so they determined that this group of customers will gradually decrease. However, this year's developments are very different.

At Vietravel, Ms. Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang - Deputy General Director - said that to encourage overseas Vietnamese to return home to celebrate Tet and enjoy the spring atmosphere with their families, this year the company has a program specifically for this special group of customers.

Specifically, for domestic and international tours for groups of five or more and with at least one overseas Vietnamese guest, the group will immediately receive incentives of VND100,000/guest and VND200,000/guest for the entire group of customers.

"Up to this point, overseas Vietnamese tourists have grown according to our plan. Customers book early, many finalize tours, and arrange their schedules quite tightly while abroad. They also have specific requests for food and shopping," Ms. Phuong Hoang added.

According to Ms. Hoang, overseas Vietnamese tourists are an interesting group of tourists, they are both experiencers and factors that spread the trips to relatives and friends. They see this as an opportunity to reunite with family and relatives and experience festivals and delicious dishes of their homeland, so they invite many people to travel with them.

According to businesses, after three years of being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the "spring travel before Tet" tour is very popular with overseas Vietnamese tourists who have been away from home for a long time.

These tours take visitors to experience the bustling atmosphere of Tet preparation with the unique colors of each countryside. This period is also suitable for overseas Vietnamese to shop for Tet gifts, quality specialties, and regional flavors.

Tours lasting from 1 to 2 days "Go on a tour before Tet, bring spring home" to Sa Dec flower village - Lai Vung tangerine garden or My Tho - Thoi Son, or the "Westerners celebrate Tet" tour series, exploring the bustling pre-Tet atmosphere in My Tho attract many young overseas Vietnamese guests.

Not only do they go on long tours to the Central, Northeast, or Northwest regions, many guests also take connecting tours or many different tours during their stay in Vietnam.

Experience metro line 1, see the city from above

With long-term tours, if every year overseas Vietnamese visitors often choose historical and cultural tours, hoping to find ancient images and flavors such as Hue - Hoi An - Quang Binh tours, this year resort tours, island tours associated with major entertainment centers in Vietnam such as Phu Quoc, Nha Trang... are chosen by many people.

Many overseas Vietnamese choose to stay in Ho Chi Minh City to celebrate Tet and experience the spring atmosphere with their families. Ms. Jenny Pham, an overseas Vietnamese in the US, said she had just returned from Phu Quoc and was truly surprised by the grandeur and modernity of the entertainment and resort areas on the pearl island.

"Many games and entertainment activities are more modern and impressive than parks in the US, the hotels are very new and comfortable, and the food is delicious. I have planned to celebrate Tet in the city to reminisce about old memories with my childhood friends," Ms. Jenny Pham boasted.

Mr. Tran The Dung, General Director of Vietluxtour Travel, said that the company has a line of inner-city tours, exploring Ho Chi Minh City in a day that is very popular with overseas Vietnamese. In addition to the need to visit relatives after many years of separation, the need for sightseeing and tourism of overseas Vietnamese is very large. They want to learn about the places where they grew up, lived, and return to their original values. Therefore, inner-city tours such as Memories of Saigon Special Forces, exploring historical sites in the heart of the city receive much attention.

"We also determined that overseas Vietnamese customers are quite picky and sometimes a bit spontaneous. That is, if they can meet a large group, they will decide to travel together. Therefore, the business has also prepared separate services to serve them," said Mr. Tran The Dung.

This year, after seven years, the Homeland Spring 2024 program will return to Ho Chi Minh City on February 1 and 2. The city will organize for overseas Vietnamese to take metro line 1 to see the city from above. These are the first guests, guests who have been away from home for many years, to return to the city.

According to Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Vo Van Hoan, the program is organized as a tour, people will see the eastern city from above, hear about the planning of Thu Duc City... They will also hear about the research, investment and construction process of metro line 1.

In particular, within the framework of the Homeland Spring 2024 program, President Vo Van Thuong and his wife will preside over a number of meaningful activities with overseas Vietnamese nationwide, such as the flower offering ceremony to President Ho Chi Minh and President Ton Duc Thang; the traditional carp releasing ceremony on Ong Cong and Ong Tao days.

Mr. Vo Van Hoan said that this is a program with special significance after seven years. The return of the program is a gratitude and encouragement from people at home and abroad to Ho Chi Minh City. The city considers this as a way to inform the large number of overseas Vietnamese around the world to understand, share and continue to be interested in investing in Ho Chi Minh City.