More importantly, the airfares for the national holiday of April 30 – May 1 are much more expensive than those for regular days.
For instance, the economy-class ticket price for flights from HCMC to Buon Ma Thuot City in Dak Lak Province on normal days is VND1.2-1.3 million (US$49) per person, whereas last year it was VND950,000-1 million ($40). The fare for the same route on above national holiday comes to VND2.7-3 million ($120).
The economy-class ticket price for the route from Hanoi – Phu Quoc Island on regular days is VND1.7-2.5 million ($69-100) per passenger, but then rises by VND1.1-1.8 million ($45-73) per person on the above national holiday. Ngoc Anh from Hanoi commented that she had planned to travel to Phu Quoc Island with her friends but then cancelled the trip due to the considerable increase of airfare.
Travel agencies stated that such an airfare rise will inevitably affect people’s travelling needs as well as the prices of some package tours and tourism services. They predicted that short-distance tours or road tours from HCMC to famous tourist destinations of Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Da Lat City (Lam Dong Province), Nha Trang City (Khanh Hoa Province), and Quy Nhon City (Binh Dinh Province) will see an expected rise in participants.
Some travel businesses have reserved airflight tickets during the peak time to avoid sudden increases in airfares.
