Solutions sought to reduce airfare prices and stimulate tourism in Vietnam

A workshop titled “Aviation-Tourism "join hands" for sustainable development” was organis e d by Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper on the afternoon of June 12 , within which experts and delegates proposed many solutions to reduce airfare prices and stimulate domestic tourism. Many practical initiatives were mentioned, which require the mobilisation and participation of the Government, local authorities, and businesses.
Within the framework of the conference, the signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding is being held to launch domestic tourism during the peak season.
Within the framework of the conference, the signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding is being held to launch domestic tourism during the peak season.

According to Lai Xuan Thanh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), the ACV is currently managing 21 airports, however only 6 ports are profitable.

Vietnam's domestic airfare prices are currently lower than many places. But the feedback from people about high fares mainly lies in the fact that the proportion of low fares has "shrunk" compared to before, he said, adding that about 30% of the total tickets sold used to be promotional prices, but now the figure is only around 5%.

Le Quoc Minh — Member of the Party Central Committee (PCC), Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper, Deputy Head of the PCC Commission for Communication and Education, and Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association — delivers a conclusion speech at the workshop.
Le Quoc Minh — Member of the Party Central Committee (PCC), Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper, Deputy Head of the PCC Commission for Communication and Education, and Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association — delivers a conclusion speech at the workshop.

Sharing about the potential for strengthening effective cooperation between aviation and tourism, General Director of the Vietnam Airlines Corporation Le Hong Ha said that Vietnamese airlines have recently been coordinating closely and sharing experiences, methods, aircraft maintenance, and supplies, striving to ensure that the aircraft get the most out of their operations, especiallywhile Vietnam’s aviation industry lacks aircraft.

In his conclusion speech, Le Quoc Minh — Member of the Party Central Committee (PCC), Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan (People) Newspaper, Deputy Head of the PCC Commission for Communication and Education, and Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association — shared that Vietnam has a lot of tourism potential but has not really been attractive compared to neighbouring countries. Airfare prices are only part of the story and there are many other issues related to the promotion of the tourism industry.

However, the connection between the aviation and tourism industries is like “two wings of an airplane.” Without clear, sustainable, long-term coordination, it is very difficult to promote the tourism industry or the airline industry.

At the workshop, with many heated debates, State management agencies, aviation businesses, travel businesses, and localities proposed feasible solutions forrelevant agencies, as well as called for the initiative of relevant parties to find long-term solutions to remove difficulties for the aviation and tourism industries.

NDO