Travel firms have reported increases of 30-50% in bookings for summer tours to the United States against last summer.
Speaking to the Daily, they said many more Vietnamese people have registered for tours to the U.S. this summer and already applied for U.S. visas.
Phan Dinh Hue, director of Viet Circle Travel and Service Company, said his firm saw a trebling of U.S. tour bookings against last summer.
“This is a phenomenon of outbound travels,” Hue said, adding U.S. tours are now more affordable.
However, Hue said customers will have to wait longer for visa interview appointments due to an upsurge in visa applications, instead of a couple of weeks as before.
Dang Trung Nghia, deputy general director of Fiditour, said bookings for U.S. summer tours at this company have jumped 40-50%. Many people have booked tours to sightsee, visit relatives or seek schools for their children.
“More flights, lower tour prices and relaxed visa requirements have spurred demand for U.S. tours,” Nghia said.
Some travel firms said prices have dropped around 10% at VND50-65 million (US$2,300-3,000) for a seven-day trip to the West Coast of the U.S. or over VND75 million for trips lasting more than 10 days.
Recently, some companies such as Saigontourist and Fiditour have cooperated with partners to lower prices to VND35-36 million for tours of six to seven days.
Nghia said a group of Fiditour guests returned to Vietnam over the weekend after a trip to the U.S. to do sightseeing and visit relatives at a price of VND35 million per person.
According to David McCawley, countrywide consular coordinator at the U.S. Consulate General in HCMC, there has been an overall rise of over 50% in the number of Vietnamese visa applicants this year compared to the previous year as more Vietnamese are coming stateside owing to growing ties between the two nations.
It is positive when more Vietnamese are traveling to the U.S. to study, attend conferences and visit families.
Currently, tourist visa applicants have to wait about seven weeks for interview appointments and whether a visa application is approved or not depends on the day of the interview for most cases. If their visa is approved, their passports will be delivered by mail in two to five days depending on where they reside.
McCawley said greater effort is being made to reduce the visa interview appointment waiting time by arranging interviews at weekends and expanding the visa renewal program.
“It is now possible to renew your visa by mail, with no appointment, if it expired less than 48 months ago,” McCawley told the Daily via email on June 8.
“I have several suggestions for Vietnamese applicants for U.S. tourist visas:
Plan ahead! Begin your visa application process and schedule your appointment as early as possible. You don’t need to wait until your plans are definite.”
Besides, McCawley advised applicants not to pay anyone to “help you get a visa” or believe anyone who tells them what they should say at the interview or present fake documents at the interview.
Source: SGT
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