Making pilgrimages to pagodas in the early of the lunar year is a custom of Vietnamese people. Therefore, the tourism market becomes jubilant in every lunar first month.
Linh’s family annually makes a pilgrimage tour to An Giang Mekong province’s Ba Chua Xu Temple. Pilgrimage tourism season often starts from the seventh of the first lunar month to the end of lunar first month.
Tourists flock to Thien Hau Temple.
Mrs. Tran Thi Que in Di An district’s Tan Dong Hiep commune, said ‘My whole family annually makes pilgrimage tours to pagodas of Thien Hau Pagoda in the province, Ba Den Temple in Tay Ninh province, An Giang Mekong province’s Ba Chua Xu Temple. The journeys both bring joy and create more mutual understanding for family members’.
Meanwhile, Tran Huu Binh, an overseas Vietnamese in Canada said pilgrimage tours help him discover landscapes and custom in his native land.
These days, a series of the State-run tourism companies offer numerous attractive tours with reasonable prices for clients.
Many tourists hire cars to enjoy this year’s pilgrimage season. Therefore, service of passenger cars for rent becomes more lively. Car rental fees increase 20%-30% from ordinary days. The fee to hire new model cars to pagodas in HCMC, Binh Duong and Bien Hoa, Tay Ninh and Vung Tau is about VND1.3mil-VND2.3mil every 8 hours.
According to tourism companies, pilgrimage tours to pagodas in the Southern lure more tourists than tours to temples in the Northern. Meanwhile, private transport companies offer pilgrimage tours at the price of VND100,000-200,000 per tourist.
Possibly speaking, pilgrimage tourism is considered a new model of tourism, being paid much attention by travel companies. Combinating between excursions and pilgrimages really absorbs many tourists.
Reported by N.Thanh – Translated by A.C
