Right after the Tet holiday, Vietnamese people usually have a habit of traveling and worshiping to pray for a peaceful and successful new year. Seizing that need, right at the beginning of the new year, travel companies simultaneously offer tours to visit temples with prices ranging from a few hundred thousand to a few million dong.
A series of pilgrimage tours with prices ranging from a few hundred thousand dong are being offered by travel companies. (Screenshot)
According to surveys, some day-trip tours near Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are the most popular choices for many tourists. Specifically, tours to Tam Chuc pagoda and Dia Tang Chi Lai pagoda (Hanoi) on Saturdays and Sundays every week, with a price of 550,000 dong per person; tours to Yen Tu pagoda and Dong pagoda (Quang Ninh) with a price of 900,000 dong per person; tours to Bai Dinh pagoda and Trang An (Ninh Binh) including sightseeing tickets and boat tickets with a price of 900,000 dong per person; tours to Ba Vang pagoda – Yen Tu pagoda – Dong pagoda including cable car and electric car with a price of 950,000 dong per person; tours to Nui Ba Den pagoda (Tay Ninh) starting from Ho Chi Minh City with a price of 750,000 dong per person…
Commenting on the spiritual tours during the first days of the year Giap Thin 2024, Mr. Tran Dang Thanh, Director of Orion Travel, said that the sudden increase in the number of visitors has caused many tours to be fully booked right after opening for sale.
“The demand of people in these days is to go on spring trips combined with New Year’s worship for peace. Therefore, tours with day trip schedules are chosen by many people. These tours are often easy to organize due to their short itineraries and fewer destinations, so travel companies continuously open tours,” Mr. Thanh said.
In addition, according to Mr. Thanh, the high domestic airfare also contributes to the strong increase in the demand for nearby tourism by the people.
“Recently, the economic crisis has caused people to tighten their budgets and limit their travel. Therefore, these nearby tours are an opportunity for them to somewhat satisfy their desire to go out. The number of visitors has also increased sharply, causing many tourist destinations near Hanoi overwhelmed,” CEO of Orion Travel commented.
Just returning from a pilgrimage to Yen Tu pagoda, Mrs. Lam Thi Thuy’s family (Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi) said that the whole family only had to spend less than 10 million dong for 9 people to visit and worship at Quang Ninh on the 6th day of the Lunar New Year.
According to Mrs. Thuy, going on a pilgrimage tour has helped her family save costs, reduce fatigue, and have a more convenient spring trip.
According to representatives of some travel companies, regular pilgrimage tours will be crowded during the end of January, after that, the number of tourists will decrease significantly, and cheap pilgrimage tours will no longer be organized regularly. However, a large number of tourists can be accompanied by chaotic quality. Therefore, in order to have a convenient and satisfactory spring trip combined with worshiping at the beginning of the year, tourists should choose reputable companies to avoid being cheated or having an unsatisfactory trip.
