11/08/2019 16:37

To Pool or Not to Pool

On January 27th in the Vietnamese restaurant Blue River in Moscow, tour operating companies which used to be competitors met in order to discuss new programmes for the current season - in a new spirit of collaboration. The meeting was organized by the Moscow office of Vietnamese in-country company Focus Asia which united within the pool companies such as Kvinta-Tour, Vand International Tours, Lanta Tour Voyage, UTE, Astravel and Inna Tour. The decision to create a pool of co-operating companies was made in August 2005. ‘The main reason for creation of our ‘Vietnamese Club’ is a wish to set reasonable prices for tour packages to Vietnam’ explained Stanislav Pegushin, Deputy of The Tourism Department of Inna Tour. According to experts the collaboration will allow the companies to get group tariffs from Vietnamese Airlines - thus reducing prices for tours. It is the only way in which to buy blocks from airlines with a discount. As for the launch of the proposed new Aeroflot flight Moscow – Hanoi (news/ 10.01.06); it's fate remains to be seen. Meanwhile, a BANKO correspondent discovered that a range of companies specializing in Vietnam have not joined the Vietnamese Club; AMITOUR, Yudjel and Co, Tourbazar are among them. These companies follow a different policy regarding the pool creation and making contracts with Vietnamese Airlines. For example, Albert Kopian, Executive Director of AMITOUR, stated: ‘our company officially represents Vietnamese airlines; therefore we do not have problems with flight cost.' Marina Tsarkova, General Director of Tourbazar added that: ‘We do not want our decisions to be influenced by stereotypical opinion. Therefore, we do not join the Club as a matter of principle. Furthermore, we try to find enough tourists to have group tariffs from Vietnamese Airlines’. On the one hand, Vietnamese Airlines agree with operators' decision to work with them upon the contract. ‘It is the first time planes have been fully loaded’. The only problem may be that demand might increase so much that there will be insufficient flights available (news/3.11.05).