Local tour operators have received early bookings from overseas Vietnamese (Viet Kieu) returning home for the Lunar New Year or Tet which falls on February 14 next year with several firms reporting busier business this year.

The country is expected to see a surging number of Viet Kieu visiting their home town during the upcoming traditional holiday compared to the same period last year.

Local travel firms in Ho Chi Minh City said they had received reservations for domestic and outbound tours from Viet Kieu earlier than the last Tet.

HCMC-based Saigontourist reported an increase of 20 percent year-on-year in the number of Viet Kiet booking tours during the holiday to 2,120 people.

Most of the tourists booked tours to Hanoi, northern Sapa Town, central cities of Danang, Hue and Nha Trang and Phu Quoc Island off southern Kien Giang.

“Travelers are booking tours earlier than in the previous years,” Saigontourist marketing manager Doan Thi Thanh Tra told Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon Online (The Saigon Economics Times Online). “Four-day tours to domestic destinations are among the most chosen trips.”

Up to 3,600 overseas Vietnamese have also booked tours of Vietravel earlier than last year, the HCMC-based company said.

About 1,200 guests reserved domestic tours while the remaining 2,400 travelers booked overseas trips scheduled for Tet.

The local news website VnExpress Monday quoted the Overseas Vietnamese Committee’s estimate that over 500,000 Viet Kieu would return to the country for Tet, the highest number ever recorded for the traditional celebration.

But not all local tour operators have the same mindset.

Nguyen Viet Hung, general director of travel firm Fiditourist, said the company had yet calculated the number of bookings by Viet Kieu but estimated a lower number for this year compared to the last holiday.

Lai Huu Phuong, director of Ben Thanh Tourist Travel Services Center, also forecast fewer bookings for the upcoming Tet holiday compared to the same period last year.

Domestic tours to northern and central tourist attractions remained the most popular choices for the returning travelers, he said.

VietNews