Tour prices are expected to rise by 5-15% compared to normal days due to higher fees for airfares, hotels and transportation, travel firms said.

Vietravel, one of the leading tour service providers in the country, has sold 65% of its outbound tours and 55% of domestic tours for the period, said Duong Kim Chi, deputy director of Vietravel.

Travellers have planned their Tet trips earlier than in previous years, with a variety of destinations, Chi said.

Trips under seven days such as tours to Japan and the Republic of Korea have been fully booked, with only 10% left for sale, she said.

For domestic tours, destinations in the north are popular, followed by those in the central region.

This year, the company is organising overseas tours via air charter from HCM City to Fukushima in Japan, Phuket and Chiang Mai in Thailand, and Ningbo in China, with prices at 30% lower than conventional packages.

The company expects to serve 38,000 tourists, up 20-25% compared to last year.

Tran Thi Bao Thu, director of Fiditour’s marketing and communication, said the company expected a 30% increase in the number of bookings for Tet tours this year.

The number of bookings reached 75% of the company’s tours planned for the new year, Thu said. Outbound tour prices will rise by 5-10% compared to last year.

A representative of Viet Media Travel said outbound tours to Europe, Australia and the US are fully booked.

The company has sold 80% of outbound tours to several Asian countries and domestic tours for Tet.

Outbound tours to Dubai, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Thailand and Singapore and domestic tours to northern and central destinations have attracted many travellers.

The number of outbound tour bookings at TST Tourist increased 25% year-on-year to reach 2,800 customers, while the number of domestic tour bookings were estimated at 1,500 customers, up 20% year-on-year.

Long-trip tours to Europe, the US and Australia have also attracted a large number of customers.