Thomson and First Choice add Vietnam for winter 2017
Thomson and First Choice are introducing holidays to Vietnam in their winter 2017 programme.
The programme, being launched next month, will also feature St Lucia and Cayo Santa Maria in Cuba, which were new for summer 2017.
The operators said the expansion is in response to a continued growth in demand for long haul destinations, which has been particularly strong in the families market.
The TUI brands will feature the beach island of Phu Quoc off the coast of Vietnam. The country’s largest island, it has white-sand beaches, tropical jungle and stunning reefs.
Thomson and First Choice will feature nine hotels on the island, including three all-inclusives.
Customers can add visits to Hanoi, Ha Long Bay and Ho Chi Minh City, or a trip along the Mekong River to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, by using local flights.
The first direct flights to Phu Quoc International Airport from the UK will operate on Thomson Airways’ 787 Dreamliners and will fly from London Gatwick every Wednesday, taking 12 hours.
Meanwhile, Thomson is also launching a range of multi-centre holidays which can be designed and booked on its website.
It said it would be the first in the UK to offer this online option without customers having to wait for their itinerary details to be confirmed.
Costa Rica, Cuba, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Goa are the first destinations to be bookable on a dedicated tab on Thomson’s website which will go live mid to late November.
In the future holidaymakers will be able to book over 40 different multi-centre types and more than 1500 options.
Initially customers will need to fly in and out of the same airport, but TUI UK and Ireland MD Nick Longman said longer term they will be able to offer open jaw departures.
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Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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