Hanoians are increasingly turning to renting pretend Santas during the festive period.
Imitation Father Christmases charge VND60-100,000 per gift delivered to one address.
Hired Santa Claus services make big money in Hanoi
Nguyen Thanh Tam in Ha Dong District, Hanoi, said that she had prepared gifts for her children and booked a fake Father Christmas to surprise them. She also shared the service with her neighbour to save costs.
"In previous years, I used to put Christmas presents at the bottom of my children’s bed, but this year, I decided to hire a fake Santa Claus who will come to my house to give the gifts to them. The fees are quite cheap at just VND100,000," Tam said.
According to Huyen Anh, a Christmas service provider, the maximum fees are often on Christmas Day itself at around VND150,000, while in the run-up to Christmas the price is just VND70,000-80,000. These fees are applied to the maxim distance of 5km and customers have to pay more for longer routes.
Anh said before presenting gifts for children, the fake Santa Claus will firstly greet children and give them some advice to try to become good children.
Some companies also provide the service to send imitation Santa Claus to play with a group of children. This service VND300,000 and VND400,000 for 30 children at one place.
Around one month before Christmas, companies often have to recruit part-time staff members who are mostly young people. These part-time Santa Clauses are offered roughly 15-20% of the value of each order.
Many young Vietnamese who do not want to spend Christmas alone can book an escort for the holiday by posting their profile on internet forums or websites.
The information includes introduction, requirements and pay for the people who accept the proposal. Some even add their photos to the advertisement, hoping to get more rapid feedback. Most of them mention that they feel lonely and don’t want to stay at home alone at Christmas.
These ‘escort’ services cost from VND200,000 during the day and VND250,000 at night on Christmas Eve, December 24.