All companies in the new club are popular names in the travel industry, including Saigontourist Travel Service Co., Ben Thanh Tourist, V.Y.C Travel, Youth Tourist, Fiditourist, Lua Viet, Young Generation Travel Co., Ltd, Peace Tour and SPSC Tour.

Eight of the 19 companies, namely Saigontourist, Young Generation Travel, Fiditourist, Lua Viet, V.Y.C Travel, SPSC Tour and Carnival, will receive promotion air tickets from Vietnam Airlines to encourage local travelers to buy packaged tours to Vietnam’s Central and North regions. The promotion program will run until the end of this year, with tour prices 30 to 35% lower than usual, said Tran The Dung, Deputy Director of Young Generation Travel and also vice chief of the Stimulus Team.

Dung added more companies would be invited to join the team.

Dung said 11 of the 19 travel firms had agreed to sell common products as part of the tourist stimulus project as well as coordinate in marketing activities. Along with these tours, each company will have their own promotional tours too.

“We have planned to launch six common tours to the Central and North regions first. Each company will spend about VND3 million to VND5 million per week on common advertising,” Dung told the Daily on Wednesday.

Some members have not yet agreed to sell and promote common products as they are still waiting for promotion air tickets from Vietnam Airlines.

Dung added that the eight companies who have already received tickets from Vietnam Airlines would buy promotion air tickets for the group’s other members.

“Along with launching common tours, these new cooperation activities will help us to attract more tourists,” he said.

Dung said many local travelers were interested in packaged promotion tours. More than 200 travelers have booked packaged tours from the company since launching the promotion early this month.

The Tourism Stimulus Team expects to sell packaged tours to 20,000 people this year compared to 14,000 in 2009.