Vietnam is Asia’s best-selling destination for DTH Travel, remaining unscathed while the rest of Asia felt the brunt of booking cancellations caused by the Middle East disruption.
Previewing demand from DTH Travel’s predominantly European travellers, group director of sales Marjorie Aquino said Vietnam is the only one of the DMC’s 14 Asian destinations that has already reached this month’s production level recorded last year.
She pointed out that travellers see Vietnam as “value for money”, with competitive pricing, good airport and road infrastructure that makes travel from north to south easy, a strong network of international flights, quality hotels, food, attractions and experiences.
Thailand remains the DMC’s top destination, followed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Singapore.
Russians, known for longer stays, continue to flock to Thailand and Vietnam, and to a lesser extent the Philippines, where international and domestic connectivity could be improved.
Dependent on European travellers, both Sri Lanka and the Maldives were affected by flight disruptions in the Middle East, which forms part of the flight path for carriers operating between Europe and Asia.
Formula 1 and its status as an international aviation hub continue to keep Singapore in good stead. Bhutan is attracting growing interest, while Myanmar is still not fully open to tourists.
Aquino also told TTG Asia that DTH Travel is strengthening its North America source market, as the US and Canada are less affected by the Middle East disruptions because airlines operate different routings that avoid stopovers at Middle East airports.
The DMC is also developing central and eastern Europe, which are currently affected by political and economic issues but remain source markets with growth potential.
