HCMC – Just a few days after proposing a United States tour package for Vietnamese inclusive of Covid-19 vaccinations, the Hong Ngoc Ha Tourism Company in HCMC has been overwhelmed with the response – over 100 phone calls every day.
Some have even started wiring money to purchase the package. It is expected that the first tour will be launched at the end of June or the beginning of July, when the quarantine period for people entering the country is likely to be shortened.
According to Hong Ngoc Ha Tourism Company, the Hong Ngoc Ha Vac-Cation package is a tour package to the United States including receiving the Covid-19 vaccination there. The tour is built in the form of Free & Easy traveling, allowing customers to be flexible and active with creating service packages suitable for personal and family needs.
The tour duration is seven nights and eight days, offered at VND44.99 million per person with a discount for an accompanied guest. Services include a one-way ticket from HCMC to New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco; bed and breakfast service during the stay; international tourist insurance, including Covid-19 insurance from Vietnam to the United States, and the most important one is a Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine.
Hong Ngoc Ha is also providing the service at a different price for customers who want to take the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine since they require two shots in a span of 21 days for maximum protection. Since Johnson & Johnson requires only one shot, hotel fees are lower due to the shorter stay.
Tourists can get vaccinated at the aforementioned cities and during their stay, they may purchase optional tour packages to tour the city or visit families. The company will register flights for customers to fly back to Vietnam; however, this fee is completely independent of the vaccine package.
“Customers can get vaccinated one day after their arrival but since this is a medical tour, we’ve arranged an eight-day tour to have time to monitor the reaction after the injection,” said Le Van Tri, head of communications at Hong Ngoc Ha Tourism Company.
According to the tour’s policy, customers with a tourist visa to the United States or a green card can travel anytime. For those without a tourist visa and who have never been to the United States, the company is gathering customers to process documents so they can depart in groups.
The general public reaction has been quite positive with over 100 phone calls received through operator and telephone number via advertisements and other channels. People interested in the package are Vietnamese who want to visit their families in the United States, people with kids studying abroad and young customers.
The Hong Ngoc Ha Company expected to take about two groups each month, with each group consisting of 8-10 or 15-20 people, and with the rising number of customers showing interest in the package, the company may meet its expectations.
Accordingly, the only difficulty now is the 21-day quarantine period for people entering Vietnam despite being vaccinated against Covid-19, said Nguyen Quang Bang, general director of Hong Ngoc Ha Tourism Company, who hoped the quarantine period would be shortened so that the company could attract more customers.
By Dao Loan
