 |
| Resort space of a luxury resort in Phu Quoc. (Source:VNA) |
Although this year's Lunar New Year holiday, Koreans have a shorter vacation, the demand for foreign tourism still increased by about 50%. In particular, this year, when airlines organize new routes, new tourist destinations such as Phu Quoc in Vietnam and Siem Reap in Cambodia are emerging as a new trend.
According to tourism industry data released on January 17, major Korean travel companies including Hana Tour, Very Good Travel and Kyowon Tour Travel Easy have considered booking foreign travel based on departure time during the Lunar New Year holiday 2024 and found that although this year's holiday is shorter, the demand for foreign tourism is still higher than last year's Lunar New Year holiday.
The number of bookings has increased by about 50% compared to the same period last year. Information shows that Hana Tour's number of foreign travel reservations during the Lunar New Year holiday increased by 48% compared to the previous year's Lunar New Year holiday.
By region, the highest rates were 57% in Southeast Asia, 25% in Japan, 6% in Europe, 6% in the South Pacific and 5% in China. This shows that most customers prioritize short-distance travel.
By region, demand from Vietnam and Japan accounts for more than half of orders, with 27% going to Vietnam and 25% going to Japan.
An industry official said this year's Lunar New Year holiday is relatively short compared to previous years, people only get 4 days off, and demand for tourism in Japan has increased significantly due to the low Japanese yen.
Travel to short-distance destinations will continue to be a trend.
Kyowon Tour Travel Easy analyzed travel booking data during this year's Lunar New Year holiday and found that Japan accounted for the highest proportion of total bookings at 20.8%.
This is the first time a country's booking rate has exceeded 20% since the outbreak.
After Japan, Vietnam ranked second with 11.7%. Vietnam still remains the second destination alongside Japan. However, due to the significant increase in demand for Japan this year, the difference in booking rates with Vietnam has widened and is expected to nearly double. A leader of Travel Easy company said that tourists still show a preference for Japan during the New Year. In addition, new tourism products to Hokkaido account for a high proportion of 40% of total bookings in Japan, showing that the Japanese tourism trend will still prevail.
Very Good Travel also saw total foreign travel bookings increase by 3% during the Lunar New Year holiday (February 9-12).
As demand for Phu Quoc increases, it also emerges as a new tourist destination, as Korean Air recently organized new flights.
An industry official said: “Phu Quoc is a tourist destination recently promoted by the Vietnam tourism agency and many tourists who have previously been to Nha Trang and Da Nang have chosen this as Vietnam's new tourist destination. There are many high-end resorts here, so the demand for family travel is increasing sharply."./.