Local travel agencies are teaming up with airlines, hotels and associations in Vietnam for tour discounts by at least 10 percent to woo more travelers to domestic destinations this summer, the Saigon Times Daily reported.

Tran The Dung, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh CityC-based THT Travel Co. and deputy head of the tourism promotion group in the south, said that the joint effort was to boost domestic demand for travel to sites in Vietnam when local tour operators faced more difficulties in attracting foreign visitors to Ha Long, Hanoi, Da Nang, Nha Trang and Lao Cai.

Many hotels, restaurants and transport firms in central Vietnam have joined the promotion programmes of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association (HTA), offering discounts of 10-40 percent for their services. Meanwhile, hotels in Ninh Binh, Ha Long, Hue, Da Nang, Nghe An and Hai Phong have launched promotions by 20-40 percent compared to normal prices.

The tourism promotion group under the HTA has worked with local airlines, including national flagship carrier Vietnam Airlines and the country’s second largest airline VietJetAir to arrange tours at reasonable prices for domestic travelers.

Besides domestic destinations, a number of travel agencies have managed to lure local guests to their tours of Asian countries, including the Republic of Korea and Japan.

Ho Chi Minh City-based Lien Bang Travel Link has initiated a promotion programme to give 800,000 VND (37.8 USD) to the customers who book its tours to the Republic of Korea before June 6.

Tran Thi Hoang Linh, marketing specialist at Lien Bang, said the guests who make early bookings would be offered discounts and gifts plus a chance to win free trips to domestic and overseas destinations for two persons.

Previously, some travel companies recommended their customers who had already booked tours to Thailand switch to those trips with the same or lower prices to domestic destinations due to political unrest in that country.

During the period to May, Vietnam served 20.4 million domestic holiday-makers, rising by 6.7 percent year-on-year, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has said.-VNA