Due to the escalating prices of domestic holidays and with the public and summer holidays coming up, local tour operators are offering cheap deals in a bid to keep some customers at home.

Operators are banking on economic, promotional or Free and Easy tours to draw tourists looking for a bargain as foreign holidays are almost as cheap as domestic breaks due to the price increases of 30-50% for domestic tours.

The tour operators are still confident of a huge rise in profits this year but want to capitalize on the low-budget market.

Renowned operator Saigontourist designs Free and Easy tours which provide everything from cooking and drinks service, transportation and accommodation, sightseeing programs but they only follow customers’ requests with tourists having a free reign on their break.

Doan Thi Thanh Tra, marketing manager of Saigontourist, pointed out Free and Easy products attract a large number of tourists. They can also ask the tour operator to book air or train tickets and to advise them where they should go for sightseeing and entertainment services.

Nguyen Chung Thuy, PR manager of Lua Viet Travel Company, said: “Due to high prices we are seeing many tourists including students, young office workers and even businessmen choosing to travel by themselves. They choose backpacking tours or register for the Free and Easy tours.”

Mai Tran Thanh The, 24, who works at an international school in HCMC, said: “My friends and I love backpacking tours because we can save money and be free to travel to places we want. We have just had a cheap three-day tour in Nam Cat Tien National Park at the cost of only VND1 million each person.”

Backpackers said that they felt happy and free when not depending on tourism company schedules. “In addition, we can visit places that tour operators don’t take in,” Phuong added.

Nguyen Minh Man, media manager of Vietravel, said: “More tourists come to our company asking us to give them advice before they make a trip or they ask us to book services for them.”

Man insists that backpacking tours are best suited to tourists aged between 25 and 40 who love discovering and traveling at budget prices.

Source: SGT