When the name of Sofitel New York hotel appeared on newspaper because it
related to the scandal of the former leader of the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
director of a travel firm in HCM City said: “We many times booked hotel rooms
for Vietnamese VIP groups of travelers. The lowest hotel room rate here is 500
dollars per night”.



However, the director said that as for VIP travelers, high prices do not
matter, while the main thing VIP guests want is the high quality of services.
Meanwhile, while using expensive products and services, VIP can show their upper
class.



VIP travelers now prefer going abroad



Managing Director of a travel firm, which specializes in providing high
grade outbound tours, headquartered in district 1 in HCM City, said that the
travel firm once got the order to organize a tour to the US with the expenses of
10,000 dollars per traveler.



The travel firm then arranged a flight with helicopter which allowed
travelers to admire New York from the air for ten minutes. During the trip, the
travelers stayed in a six-star hotel in Washington near the White House.



Also according to the director, the travel firm recently organized a tour
for another group of VIP travelers to Japan and the US with the tour fee of
15,000 dollars per traveler. There were also special orders, including the one
on organizing tour for a VIP group of travelers to Ireland. The travelers flew
on an aircraft specifically booked for them.



According to Nhan Hanh Nhon, Director of OSC First Holidays, said VIP
travelers always attach special importance to high grade hotels (the hotels
should be 5-6 star ones) and resorts (where the room rate is about 1500 dollars
per night).



Regarding meals and drinks, VIP travelers usually choose expensive meals
at high grade restaurants which are worth 2000-3000 dollars per table. Besides,
VIP clients always set detailed requirements.



For example, when traveling to Thailand, they want to have meals on the
highest floor of the 88-storey building. If they go to Hong Kong, they would
require having meals on a yacht; and if they go to Egypt, they would require
traveling on a five star cruiser on Nile river.



“When they accept the high tour fees which are double or triple that of
normal tours, they always require high quality services. Besides, the shopping
destinations also should be special with the sale items priced at several
thousands of dollars,” Nhon said.



An executive of Fiditour said that the travel firm once organized a high
grade tour to Dubai in Egypt, with the tour fee of 4000 dollars per traveler. As
the tour fee is much higher than the normal tours to the same destinations, the
travel firms had to satisfy the strictest requirements in the service quality,
from traveling, accommodation, meals to the excursion points.



Do Duc Tinh, General Director of Vietnam House, said that Europe now
attracts Vietnamese VIP clients. Some VIP travelers required that after they
arrived in Vienna in Austria at 4 am, they wanted to go the theater to listen to
a classical music performance. As the VIP clients accepted to pay high, the
foreign partner of the Vietnamese travel firm still could arrange tickets for
the performance, even though the tickets for the concerts were sold one year in
advance.



Domestic tours: few tours, few products



According to big travel firms in HCM City, VIP clients can be divided into
two groups – the rich travelers who travel with their own money, and the
travelers, who are officers or executives feasted by businesses.



In general, the number of travelers of the former group is lower than the
latter group and they spend less money.



VIP travelers always demand special tours with special tourism products.
Therefore, a lot of specific products have been designed to serve the clients.




For example, travelers can go on L’Amant yacht on Saigon-Chau Doc route
with 4-star service. Every traveler has to pay 1100 dollars for the tour and has
to book in advance.



According to Pham Ha, Director of Luxury Travel Vietnam, the requirements
set by VIP clients are diversified. Some like traveling on kayak on Ha Long Bay,
others like trekking in Sa Pa, while many want to relax at expensive resorts
like Evason Hideaway Nha Trang or Evason Hideaway Con Dao (Con Dao Island).



Source: SGTT