Tour operators warn of rise in cost of package holidays

Tour operators have warned that Vietnam holidaymakers will have to pay higher prices this year due to their need to pass along the rising entry fees to popular tourism attractions.

Tu Quy Thanh, director of the Lien Bang Travelink, said the admission fees for the Huong Pagoda in Hanoi, Trang An Complex in Ninh Binh and Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh, have risen by 50% over the past few months.

Thanh added that the higher costs are eating into the earnings of tour operators and they must either pass them along to customers or close their doors and go out of business.

Thanh noted that some of the attractions may be pricing themselves out of the market.

A typical four-day and three-night package holiday to the central or northern region of Vietnam currently runs around US$363, while the price of a similar tour to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, or China is much less at roughly US$300.

Source VOV