Tour prices to Japan and Korea at the end of the year are expected to increase to 5 million VND

Surveys at travel businesses show that this wave of price adjustments stems from the fluctuations in world gasoline prices in April.

At that time, many travel agencies did not immediately increase tour prices thanks to pre-booked airline ticket series and the airline kept the cost support. However, entering the fourth quarter, the support policy ends, airlines begin to allocate new series of tickets for the end of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027 with higher taxes and fees.

According to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the average price of Jet A1 fuel this year is continuously anchored at a high level, increasing more than 15% over the same period last year due to the influence of geopolitical conflicts. This forces domestic and international airlines to activate the fuel surcharge adjustment clause in agency contracts to offset operating costs.

Mr. Pham Anh Vu, Deputy General Director of Vietnam Tourism, said tour prices were forced to increase because businesses had to buy group tickets according to the new price schedule. Currently, the airline is developing plans and rolling price quotes for each route, so the detailed increase of some routes is not yet fixed.

In the Ho Chi Minh City market, routes using domestic airline services have had expected adjustments. Specifically, the Thailand route may increase by 1 million VND; Korean route increased by 2-3 million VND.

The strongest increase fell on the Japanese market. Mr. Hoang Nghia Dat, Chairman of the Board of Directors of MayTrip, said that Japan tour prices in the fourth quarter are likely to increase by 3-5 million VND after the airline updates new tax rates. This is the market that received the best price stabilization support in April, so it will be most clearly affected when these incentive packages expire.

As for the Chinese market, fluctuations occurred in the second and third quarters when airlines continuously increased ticket prices, and some airlines even had to cancel flights because of low operational efficiency in the context of escalating fuel prices. Flight cancellations in both the commercial and charter flight segments are expected to persist. Mr. Dat forecasts that Chinese tour prices will continue to increase by 2-5% in the near future.

For next year’s market, businesses say the price increase rate compared to 2026 is very high because inflation and fuel surcharges show no signs of cooling down. Some peak tours such as Japan’s cherry blossom season are expected to increase by 10-12% over the same period.

Ms. Nguyen Nguyet Van Khanh, Director of Vietravel Marketing and Communications Department, commented that adjusting tour prices is a general trend of the entire tourism industry from the beginning of the year until now. When structuring tour prices, businesses must always balance service quality, negotiation capacity with partners, market purchasing power, as well as policies of service providers, especially airlines.

“It is unlikely that there will be large-scale sudden price increases,” Ms. Khanh said, adding that major travel agencies are currently proactively working with partners early, building long-term products and implementing early bird promotions to optimize costs for customers.

Chung predicted the possibility of price increases, Mr. Vu mentioned three core factors affecting tour prices next year.

First is whether jet fuel prices will remain stable or will new complicated developments arise. The second factor comes from the effects of the general economic picture and the actual purchasing power of consumers in the Vietnamese market. Ultimately, the level of competition between airlines as well as between international destinations will determine whether tour prices increase or decrease.

According to the Department of Aviation, it is estimated that fuel accounts for about 35-40% of the airline’s total costs, adjusting the surcharge is a force majeure solution to maintain flight frequency.

To achieve the goal of stabilizing tourism prices, Mr. Pham Anh Vu emphasized that the market needs cooperation from state management agencies through tax and fee exemption and reduction packages to reduce input costs for aviation.

On the other hand, airlines also need to share pressure with the travel sector with flexible deposit policies.

“In the story of tour prices, travel is in the middle and hopes that relevant parties will have shared solutions to reduce the burden on the whole industry,” Mr. Vu said.