Stimulus packages prompt travelers to book domestic air tours VietNamNet Bridge – Travel firms have all reported the sharp increase in the number of groups of tourists booking domestic tours with travel by air since early this summer.    Director of Hanoitourist Luu Duc Ke said the number of tourists booking domestic tours with travel by air was so modest in 2010-2012 that “it could be counted with fingers.” The high airfares, especially the tickets for the flights on backbone routes, led to the high tour fees, thus making domestic tours uncompetitive in comparison with the outbound tours. A tour guide confirmed that the high tour fees during that period prompted Vietnamese to book outbound tours instead of domestic ones. They flocked to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, which offered competitive tour fees and high quality services. However, Ke said, things have become quite different since late April. Travel firms have noted the sharp rise in the number of tourists in groups who can take initiative to choose their itineraries. The number of groups of tourists booking domestic tours with the departure point in HCM City is reportedly higher than in Hanoi. Ke has attributed the sharp rise in the number of tourists traveling domestically by air to the close cooperation between travel firms and airlines. The negotiations of the southern travel firms have helped make the air tickets for the flights from HCM City to Hanoi, Da Nang, Nha Trang and Hai Phong reduce more sharply than in the north. The big travel firms in Hanoi and HCM City, such as Vietravel, Saigontourist, Hoa Binh, The He Tre, Hanoitourist have reported that each of them serve 3-5 groups of tourists who travel by air to the “hot” destinations like Da Nang, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc and Con Dao Islands. With the strong commitments of the airlines to reduce the airfares to help stimulate the tourism demand, the domestic tours offered this summer all have seen the reduction of 25 percent on average. Especially, Vietnam Airlines, the national flag air carrier, has committed to reduce the airfares by 48-56 percent for economy tickets. Some travel firms have reportedly offered some tour packages with the surprisingly sharp fee reductions of 45-90 percent. Vietravel has announced that it has launched the tours in the north with the sharp reduction of VND3.5 million per traveler and VND2.5-3 million per traveler for the tours in the central region. The tours would be open for sale until the end of 2013. Du Lich Viet has offered the 45 percent fee reductions for the most popular tours. The Da Nang – Ba Na – Hoi An – Hue – La Vang – Phong Nha Cave tour, for example, has seen the fee reducing to VND5.19 million from VND9.19 million. Meanwhile, the Nha Trang – Vinpearl – four islands tour has reduced by VND3 million to VND4.59 million. Hanoi Redtours have announced the fee reduction of 30 percent on average for the tours departing from Hanoi to Da Nang, Nha Trang, Quy Nhon and Phu Quoc. Vietravel has estimated that the number of domestic tours served to groups of tourists has increased by 30 percent. However, analysts believe that the number of tourists booking domestic tours might have been even higher if travelers could have got sufficient information about the demand stimulus packages. Ke said that while well-known travel firms offer high quality tours at low tour fees, many travelers still contacted small and less known firms with a hope to book low cost tours. To Quoc