The Government has allowed state agencies and mass organizations an extra day off this Friday, thus prolonging the National Day (September 2) holiday to four. The decision is believed to fuel demand for travel.

Strong demand usually drives up tour prices but travel firms said they would try to stabilize prices and that if they were forced to increase prices for some reasons, the hikes would be confined to the 5-10% range.

Saigontourist has reported a 15% year-on-year improvement in bookings, mainly for three to five-day tours in Vietnam or abroad.

Pham Duc Hoa, deputy manager of the domestic section of Saigontourist, said in a statement, "For the National Day holiday, our company has 35 domestic tours of two to five days for tourists to choose.

"We expect to attract 2,500 domestic tourists during the holiday. Local tourists mostly go for two or three-day tours, while overseas Vietnamese people prefer longer tours, five to six days."

Pham Thu, manager of the outbound section of Saigontourist, said over 800 tourists had booked overseas tours, mostly to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and Cambodia. These tours last four to six days departing from Hanoi and HCMC.

Vietravel has also seen tour bookings surging 15% year-on-year. Vietravel prepares to take 1,250 guests around the country and 2,000 others to foreign countries.

TST Tourist said it expected the number of people taking its tours could jump 72% from the same period last year.

Source: VietNamNet/SGT