More Vietnamese people are opting for long vacations to European countries and the US this Tet Lunar New Year as they take advantage of the nine-day holiday and head abroad, travel companies report.

They get four day's off over the Western New Year and most are staying home, planning for a longer vacation over Tet.

The nine-day Tet holiday begins on February 15 and ends on February 23, with Tet festivals running from February 19-21.

Several travel agents report their customers are opting for longer tours to far destinations including Europe, the US or Japan this Tet instead of Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia or other familiar neighbouring countries.

A representative of BenThanh Tourist said that although Tet is still two-month away, the company's booking rate for Tet vacations was at 60 percent of capacity, with passenger numbers up 15 percent on a year earlier.

Vietnamese visitors take photos during a trip to the US.

Hanoi Redtours has budgeted for 1,800 customers this Tet, including 1,200 outbound tourists, and its booking rate has reached 30 percent of capacity.

According to the director of Hanoi Redtours, Nguyen Cong Hoan, some near destinations like Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hongkong, or Cambodia were less popular, with bookings down 50 percent, while places further afield, such as US, Australia, Europe, attracting more customers.

Viettravel Company said there had been a sharp increase of 30-40 percent in clients wanting to travel over the coming Tet. It expects 6,000-8,000 bookings, compared with 5,000 a year earlier.

Viettravel's director of marketing, Tran Thi Viet Huong, said there was more interest in tours to Japan and South Korea, while tours to Europe and the US were also more popular.

Its general director, Nguyen Van Long, said falling tour prices and easier visa requirements had made distant destinations more attractive.

"Tour prices to the US has been slashed to VND 70 million from VND 100 million earlier," Long said. "The VND 80-90 million package to Europe now also costs only VND 60 million."

Some new destinations have also attracted many Vietnamese visitors, including Turkey. The head of the sales department at Gotadi online flight booking site, Nguyen Trung Son Hai, said a 10-day nine-night tour to Turkey, priced at VND 40 million, had attracted 50 out of 100 bookings.