HCM CITY  (VNS) — Travel companies in HCM City have launched several special tours at affordable prices to meet the summer demand.

Lua Viet Tours, one of the city's leading tour operators, is offering a dozen domestic tours and several others to Singapore, Malaysia, and Cambodia.

At VND5-7 million, tours to the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) region and Phu Quoc and Con Dao are the most popular, especially among children in secondary school looking for new adventures with family and friends.

Young people also like tours to famous destinations in the north like Dien Bien Phu, Sa Pa, and Ha Long though they are more expensive, costing at least VND9 million.

Three- and four-day tours to famous southern attractions like Tri An Lake and Hon Rom in Phan Thiet, Chau Doc, and Soc Trang, priced at a cheaper VND3 million, are better suited for primary-school students and their parents.

"We have worked hard to offer summer tours for students," Nguyen Van My, chairman of Lua Viet Tours, said.

"Our tour guides strictly follow rules to ensure safety and health of young customers.

"We prefer working with schools to create tours for their students."

HCM City's biggest companies, like Vietravel, Fiditourist, and Ben Thanh Tourist, hope to attract a large number of student tourists this season because of the increasing affluence.

Travel firms are focusing on tours to the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia since Vietnamese can travel there without a visa.

These tours, costing from $700 to $950, attract wealthier clients.

Despite a boom in domestic visitor numbers and steadily rising revenues every summer, travel operators have not focused on creating tours targeting a specific style, something that is in huge demand among students keen to explore the world.

Nguyen Mai Phuong, mother of a 17-year-old boy, said, her son and six of his friends are set to tour the Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta by themselves next week.

"My children complain that tours to the Mekong offered by travel companies are short while they prefer longer trips."

Van Thien Dung, a guide at Saigontourist and a veteran of the city tourism industry, said many parents complain that they find it difficult to find quality tours for children and teenagers.

"The number of tourist services for students during the summer holidays is still very low while the demand is growing."

To augment the number of tours for students and improve their quality, Dung said travel companies needed to co-operate to offer more tours discovering the country's historical events, festivals, landscapes, and lifestyles.

"Through the summer tours, students will understand and love their country." — VNS