Tourist and travel companies are smiling as the tourist market booms with numbers registered for tours increase by 10 to 15% year-on-year.

According to Tran The Dung, Deputy Director of the The He Tre (Young Generation) Tourist Company, the number of tourists buying tours with low-cost air tickets in November increased 43% since October. And the company’s domestic tours are attracting domestic holiday makers, he said.

Nguyen Song Dien Ha from the Vietravel Company said more than 2,100 tourists have booked with the company’s foreign tours so far and some 2,000 tourists are estimated to book domestic tours during the upcoming Noel and New Year festivities.

The Sai Gon Travel Service Company (Saigontourist) is also seeing an increase of registrations for foreign and domestic tours at the year-end. A number of national festivals such as the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi and the Dalat Flower Festival in 2010 will be big opportunities for travel companies to open their special tours to attract tourists.

Beaches in Nha Trang City, Phu Quoc Island and Phan Thiet will be hot spots during the New Year holiday as they will be best choices for many businesses to organise year-end tours.

The trend is expected to increase tour costs by between 5-15%.

In addition to domestic tours, foreign tours appeal to Vietnamese tourists. The most attractive destinations for year-end tours include Australia, the US, the Republic of Korea and Japan.