Tourism operators in Vietnam are crying foul, claiming that new transport fees were introduced too quickly, leaving not much time for them to inform passengers of the new surcharges.

Many tour operators in Vietnam have spoken up on the difficulties of persuading overseas partners that fees must be introduced immediately, as contracts were set up long in advance.

“We don't worry about domestic passengers because the guests may have understanding about the situation, but it is very difficult to explain to foreign guests,” VietNamNet reported Nguyen Viet Hung, Fiditourist General Director as saying.

“We just received Vietnam Airlines’ note now, and are going inform our foreign partners of the change. In the short term, we've decided to bear the damage by accepting the old contracted prices.”

Vietnam’s Finance Ministry recently gave the go-ahead for airlines to start applying fuel surcharges to their fares with immediate effect. As such Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific and Vasco have already announced the imposition of new surcharges.

Current surcharges range from VND50,000 (US$3) to VND180,000 (US$11) depending on the length of the sector.

The rapid changes have seen many tourism operators bear the brunt of the new fees themselves for the short term.