Travel operators scramble to provide 1,000 year anniversary tours

Travel companies in Ho Chi Minh City are making active preparations for tours to the capital city of Hanoi during its 1,000 year anniversary.

Girls on The Huc Bridge, Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi, wearing the traditional ao dai

Many travel companies say they have been working with Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific for airfare booking since early this year. The companies have also tried to ensure food, drink, transport and accommodation services for visitors to avoid the possible room rush that might come with the celebration.

Representatives from tourist companies in Ho Chi Minh City, including Viettravel and TST Tourist, said their firms had to open more tours to Hanoi than planned to meet sharply increasing demand.

Under the theme of “The 1,000 Year Anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi”, the tours will bring visitors to Hanoi’s famous places and give them a chance to enjoy the national sacred moment falling at 6:00am on October 10 when all temples, pagodas and schools nationwide ring bells to kick off the festival.

The trips will be an occasion for tourists to attend special activities such as Hanoi gastronomy festivals, an art programme named “Thang Long-Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh Times”, kite-flying festivals and performances of art troupes.

A package tour is designed to last for four to six days, mostly by air, and costs each visitor between VND6 million and VND10 million. Many of the trips will take visitors to landscapes in Ha Long, Ninh Binh province and Sapa in Lao Cai Province.

Ly Viet Cuong, Director of Nam Phuong Tourist, said his firm has arranged caravan tours for entrepreneurs in Ho Chi Minh City, in which they will drive cars by themselves from the southern metro through Truong Son roads to Hanoi. During the journey, they can meet with businesspeople in Gia Lai province, Ha Long and Hue to explore cooperation opportunities.

Unlike traditional tours to the northern region, trips for the 1,000 year anniversary will bring travelers to historical relics such as the Hanoi-Trang An-Hoa Lu ancient capital (for four days), Hanoi-Yen Tu-Ha Long-Ninh Binh (for four days) and Hanoi-Phu Tho-Ninh Binh-Bac Ninh-Ha Long (for six days).

Hanoi could face hotel room shortages to serve an expected number of both domestic and foreign tourists of between 700,000 and 800,000 the celebration according to the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Travel firms are now hurrying to deposit money to book rooms. Most of the hotels in the inner city have been fully booked for the days during the great festival. The capital city aims to greet 1.5 million foreign tourists this year.