The number of local people making plans for vacations this year has increased strongly, but they tend to spend less on travel, according to a survey released here on Wednesday by the local newspaper Sai Gon Giai Phong.

Local tourists visit Thien Mu Pagoda in the former imperial capital of Hue. More local people plan to travel this year but tend to spend less during their tours. (Photo: SGT)
Nearly 64.5% of the respondents in the survey said they and their families made frequent trips every year, compared to over 54% of last year’s similar survey. The newspaper conducted direct interviews with 2,100 people in HCMC about the travel trend from April to July as part of a program to select Vietnam’s favorite travel trademarks in 2010.

While more people are traveling this year, they tend to spend less on travel, as more people bought budget tours and fewer people agreed to pay a higher cost, according to the survey.

It showed that 19.9% of the respondents agreed to spend more than VND10 million per trip, down from 20.2% of 2009, and 46.3% of the respondents agreed to spend VND5-10 million per trip compared to over 57.4% in last year’s survey.

Meanwhile, the proportion of people willing to pay VND2-5 million per trip increased from 22.3% of last year to 33.8% in this year’s survey.

The budget-saving trend is clearer with 24% of respondents saying the most uncomfortable thing in travel is the additional charges from service providers, followed by complaints about the unprofessional service from tour guides and food quality.

Despite the price-conscious trend, travelers still choose well-established brands when traveling, rather than comparing prices.

More than 52% of respondents said they selected tours from the trustworthy brands while only nearly 17% of travelers saw prices as a decisive factor.

Tran The Tuyen, editor-in-chief of the newspaper, said Sai Gon Giai Phong had made the survey with people from 18 to 64 years old, who were divided into different income categories, from VND3 million to VND5 million per month, from VND5.1 million to VND8 million, then under VND3 million and over VND8 million.

Up to 43% of respondents searched for travel information on the internet, while 40% obtained it from friends or relatives, according to the survey. The marketing method via leaflets and advertising is less influential on customers as only nearly 9.3% of the people looked for travel information by this way.

As for domestic destinations, local travelers still preferred familiar places such as Ha Long Bay, Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, Hanoi, and Phan Thiet.

The newspaper on Wednesday handed out the Vietnam Favorite Trademark Awards 2010 to 61 companies, including travel firms, hotels, restaurants, resorts, supermarkets, banks, insurance service providers, and other consumer service providers.

Tuyen said along with direct interviews, nearly 6,640 readers of the newspaper have voted for such brand names.