Travel firms earlier this year predicted that 2012 would be a very tough year for them, because they thought that in the economic downturn, people would not be generous enough to spend money on outbound tours.

However, things have turned out to be quite different. Except some small travel firms which complained about the sharp fall of the number of travelers registering outbound tours, big firms all have been “doing well,” though they have seen a slight decrease in the number of separated tourists.

Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and South Korea are the most wanted destinations for Vietnamese. However, the tours to far markets were the main sources of income for travel firms.

Ben Thanh Tourist, Du Lich Viet, Lien Bang Travelink, Saigontourist, Viettours, Carnival Group and Vietravel all have reported the considerable growth in outbound tours.

Viettours, for example, has obtained the 10-15 percent growth rate so far this year in comparison with the same period of the last year. Meanwhile, Ben Thanh Tourist’s growth rate was up to 20 percent. The travel firm has also reported higher profits because it could sell tours to high end tourists who booked tours to far markets like the US or Europe.

Vietravel, though declining to give details about the turnover from outbound tours, said the number of travelers so far this year is equal to the number targeted for the whole year 2012.

Saigontourist reported that it has served 40,000 travelers, which means the six percent growth rate in comparison with the same period of the last year, while it expects the 10 percent growth rate for the whole year.

The economic difficulties have made separated travelers, or the travelers with medium income levels, reluctant to book outbound tours. However, high income earners who remain unaffected by the crisis still spent money on tours.

Especially, travel firms still could earn big money from the tours provided to the enterprises in the fields of oil and gas, pharmacy or tobacco, which are considered the most lucrative business fields of the national economy.

Meanwhile, they have reported the sharp fall in the number of tourists from state owned enterprises or state agencies following a government’s decision on cutting down the budgets for state officials’ business trips abroad.

“Big difficulties still exist, but our outbound tours still have been prospering, which has been much better than domestic and inbound tours,” said Lai Huu Phuong, Director of Ben Thanh Tourist.

“Our biggest clients were from pharmacy, paint and oil and gas companies. Meanwhile, our loyal clients, including shopping mall owners, only booked domestic tours,” he added.

Viettours’ Director Luu Dinh Phuc has also noted that though the number of separated travelers decreased, the firm still could see growth in the first 10 months of the year thanks to the orders from big companies.

“The profits have decreased because of the stiffer competition. However, we still could receive big orders. We will organize a tour to Singapore for a group of 650 travelers in early December,” he said.

Meanwhile, Saigontourist said it has been more satisfactory with the growth in the number of separated travelers than groups of travelers. However, like other travel firms. Saigontourist’ turnover increase has been brought by the high grade groups of clients.

“The number of travelers booking high end tour Premium Travel increased by 18 percent,” said Doan Thi Thanh Tra, Marketing Division Head of Saigontourist.