Many countries organize tourism festivals when tourism is slumping to ensure that they can attract as many customers then as when the business is booming.
Vietnam does the opposite. Festivals are usually organized when tourists are already flooding the country as organizers want to make a safe move.
Malaysia organizes a sailboat race festival during the windy season for two reasons: (1) to invite more tourists during the otherwise low tourist season and (2) to take advantage of the monsoon, which is otherwise a disadvantage.
Meanwhile, the Nha Trang Sea Festival is right smack-dab in the middle of June, when students have left school for summer and plan to take a Nha Trang beach holiday anyway.
The result of festivals during the high tourism season is that tourists often complain about not finding accommodation or paying exorbitant prices for services.
The recent Da Lat and Hanoi flower festivals also didn't leave a good impression on travelers as they were organized on New Year's Day, when people had three days off from school and work, including the following weekend.
Visitors were then busy finding hotels and restaurants, and were shocked when prices turned out to be 4-5 times higher than normal.
The situation doesn't just bug tourists, tour operators themselves are also afraid of festivals during the high tourism season.
Tran Vinh Loc, director of Lac Hong Tourism Company, said his company dared not organize a Da Lat Flower Festival tour for foreigners as it was too difficult to book good hotels.
Also, hotel prices rise during the festival and the company had signed contracts with foreigners three months before at a set price.
Organizing festivals during the low season will balance the number of tourists throughout the year, making their trips more satisfying with less crowds and ease of access to services. But Vietnam keeps doing the opposite, ensuring the opposite effect.
Nguyen Van My, director of Ho Chi Minh City-based Lua Viet tour operator, said no other countries organize festivals to promote tourism during the high season.
"Festival organizers in Vietnam don't have the guts to launch their events in the low season. They choose the high time in order to report a large number of visitors."
If we are not determined to get rid of this habit of "boasting," our tourism festivals will only lead tourists, both Vietnamese and foreigners, to boycott official tourism activities.
By Nguyen Tran Tam
