A group of young people are carrying out a project meant to talk traders in Ho Chi Minh City out of overcharging tourists to win their trust and make the city more tourist-friendly.

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Since being launched one month ago, a fixed price model put forward by a project called “iSaigon,” with the “i” short for “integrity,” is currently being adopted at 20 clothing stalls and eateries in Districts 1, 3, Binh Thanh and Tan Binh, including the city’s iconic Ben Thanh Market in the downtown area.

Behind the project are three members of the “The Heat” group: Mai Cam Linh, 27; Tran Thi Phuong Thao, 23; and Nguyen Hoang Phuc, 24.

The youth have fallen prey to numerous rips-off at shops across the city, particularly those in the downtown area.

Linh once accompanied her Indonesian employer to Ben Thanh Market for silk items.

At a crowded stall, she inquired about the price of a silk item which a group of Vietnamese clients had just bought.

The stall owner gave her a price three times higher than she charged the local clients.

When asked about the substantial price difference, the shop owner blatantly explained that higher prices are adopted for foreigners.

Another time, Phuc went with a male friend who resembles a westerner to Saigon Square in District 1 for some clothes.

Realizing he was unduly overcharged, the young man bargained in a pure southern Vietnamese accent, and the price immediately dropped by more than a half.

The hometowns of Thao and Linh, Phan Thiet in south-central Binh Thuan Province, and Da Lat in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, are also notorious for tourist rips-off.

The young people were hurt by complaints against their hometowns and thus yearn for remarkable changes.

The “iSaigon” project was not conceived until the three friends got together to prepare for an entry to “Integrity Me,” a contest which welcomes ideas on promoting an honest lifestyle among young Vietnamese.

They began piloting their project in Ho Chi Minh City, which they think is the ideal place to start with and also where they most desire to bring about changes.

In Phuc’s opinion, the greatest appeal that the southern metropolis, also his hometown, holds for tourists lies in its people, who the group is most keen on changing.

They hope the model, if it takes off, will spread to other tourist cities and there will be similar models such as “iPhanthiet”, “iDalat” and hopefully “iVietnam.”

“Future generations would grow up in a society in which integrity and self-esteem would be hard-wired into everyone’s mindset. That would rule out the need for any campaigning,” the youth said.

Integrity is beneficial

While Phuc, Linh and Thao were conducting a survey before launching the project, traders at Ben Thanh Market showed no reluctance in revealing their overcharging “formula”: they offer prices two, four and even six or seven times higher for Southeast Asian, Japanese, and Western clients, respectively.

The group knew for sure that immense difficulty in persuading the traders lay ahead.

Traders find it difficult to offer fixed prices, particularly when Tet (Lunar New Year) nears, as the market is packed with shoppers, mostly foreigners, during that time.

The group’s job was to get traders to understand that selling goods with integrity and fixed prices will bring sustainable benefits.

They began with campaigning stall and eatery owners to pledge that they will offer fixed, reasonable prices.

In return, the owners will have boards at their stalls that say, “We proudly serve fixed prices and great quality” and “Heading toward a Saigon with integrity. A place to live and love” to lure tourists.

The group also made connections with tour guides to send tourists to the booths with pledges of fixed prices.

Phuc, Linh and Thao believe that the approach benefits both traders and customers in that the former will have more customers who can buy goods at affordable prices.

The three did not aim high initially. The 20 stall owners who have joined their project are a heartening sign. If these shop owners strictly comply with the model, they will set good examples for others to follow. To boost their project’s viability, the group first targeted young traders, who are more receptive to changes.

“While working with them, I realized many young shop owners, for example those at Ben Thanh Market, hate offering excessively high prices. However, their fellow traders may blast them for undercutting them if they fix lower prices. Those who watch over the shops for their parents or relatives fail to offer fixed prices though they really wish to as that’s the last thing real shop owners want,” Phuc explained.

The project initially met with several traders’ wholehearted support.

Nguyen Thi Phung Lien, 26, who runs seven clothing shops at Ben Thanh Market, recently joined the project.

“Everyone wants to make big profits. We can raise our prices up to 10 times or even more with Japanese tourists. We can still make big profits even though customers bargain to a half or one third of the initial prices,” she revealed.

She added that despite the good profits, she receives loathing, suspicious looks from her cheated customers in return.

“I sometimes want to change the practice, but customers, who hold the belief that they face rips-off anyway, will surely bargain no matter how low the prices are. So I’m not resolved to make changes,” she admitted.

Lien said she was reluctant about the project at first, doubting if the group will send assemblages of tourists to her shops as promised.

She added she has recently received more independent tourists, who are drawn to the “fixed prices” boards.

“We only make minimal profits of some VND10,000-15,000 [US$0.47-$0.7] for each clothing item. I can now see contented smiles on my customers’ faces,” she noted.

Ngo Thi Thanh Thien, 23, a university graduate, said she and her friends went to a snack shop on Nguyen Trung Truc Street in District 1, which they rarely did before for fear of rips-off.

“The sense of safety and comfort without a need to stand guard while enjoying a service in the downtown area is priceless to tourists and locals alike,” she noted.

After the “Integrity Me” contest concludes, the project will go on, Phuc, Linh and Thao affirmed, with a strong conviction of success.

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