Aviation firms ready to welcome Chinese tourists

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – Aviation enterprises now have a great opportunity to increase revenue as China has put Vietnam on a pilot list to open to group tours from March 15.

Responding to VTC News, a representative of the country’s national airline, Vietnam Airlines, said that it has prepared resources to welcome visitors from China.

“Early on, we prepared to welcome the recovery of Chinese tourism,” a representative of Vietnam Airlines said. “As soon as China eased flight permits and isolation conditions in December last year, Vietnam Airlines reopened flights connecting Hanoi, HCM City to Guangzhou, Shanghai.

“The airline has increased the frequency of flights connecting Hanoi, HCM City with Guangzhou and Shanghai, and at the same time resuming the Hanoi-Beijing route this month."

In the following months, the airline will reopen four routes, including Da Nang and Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu; and Hanoi and Chengdu.

Vietnam Airlines is also considering a route connecting Hanoi with Daxing airport in Beijing.

Vietnam Airlines served 8.1 million passengers between China and Vietnam in 2019, accounting for 19% of the total number of Vietnam Airlines international passengers and in the top three markets with the largest number of passengers.

Similarly, Bamboo Airways have welcomed the return of tourists.

The Chinese market is currently in the airline’s priority development plan. From the beginning of December last year, Bamboo Airways launched direct flights connecting Hanoi-Tianjin, with a frequency of one flight per week.

Bamboo Airways continues to receive many invitations to cooperate in promoting Chinese tourists from destinations in China, such as Macao and Shanghai, to destinations in Vietnam, such as Nha Trang, Hanoi and HCM City.

“Bamboo Airways plans to start operating the charter route Nha Trang – Macao with a frequency of four flights per week and Hanoi/HCM City – Hekou with a frequency of three flights per week one way from next month,” said a representative of Bamboo Airways. “With other destinations, the airline is in the process of negotiating with partners and is expected to launch new routes from May or June, if conditions allow,”

Earlier, Vietjet also said it was preparing a plan to reopen a series of routes to Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Chongqing right after China reopened to Vietnam tourism.

A representative of Vietjet said that with direct flights from HCM City, Da Nang and Phu Quoc to Hong Kong (China) and its network of routes connecting throughout Southeast Asia, passengers could choose many flights.

Dr Le Dang Doanh said that China adding Vietnam to the list of countries that group tours are resumed would greatly stimulate consumer demand in the aviation, transportation, and accommodation industries, dining and entertainment.

Chinese tourists like the Vietnamese central region and prefer sports activities, entertainment by the sea, cultural services and regional cuisine.

Therefore, Doanh predicted that tourist destinations in the Central region would attract more tourists than other places.

On the other hand, this information also helps airlines and carriers reduce their burden when, in the past, these industries faced many difficulties because the number of international visitors was not as large as expected.

Agreeing with this view, the leader of a travel business in Hanoi analysed that the spending of Chinese tourists in Vietnam was always ranked at a high level.

According to the survey results of international visitors to Vietnam in 2019 by the General Department of Tourism , Chinese tourists spent an average of 1,022 USD a trip, higher than some markets such as Japan, the Republic of Korea and Southeast Asian countries.

With this level of spending, revenue from Chinese tourists reached about 5.9 billion USD in 2019, accounting for 18% of Vietnam's total tourist revenue./.

VNA