The Difference a DMC Makes: Karla Wilson’s Vietnam Travel Experience
03-Aug-2026
Category: News Stories
Discova APAC Account Manager Karla Wilson’s family trip to Vietnam was her second visit to the country in two years. After a successful FAM trip last year, she had vowed to return, this time travelling with her husband and two close friends from New Zealand. For her, the focus was less about seeing everything again and more about sharing the destination and creating those first-time moments with her family and friends.
With that in mind, Karla worked with Discova Vietnam’s Reservations Team Leader Le Thi Thuy to create an itinerary that covered popular places like Hanoi, Hoi An, Halong Bay and Ho Chi Minh City, balancing must-see highlights with ample downtime and cultural experiences with more adventurous moments. In Karla’s words, “It couldn’t have come together better.”
Ninh Binh was one of the only completely new destinations she visited this time around, and it quickly became one of the highlights of the trip.
“We did a full-day private e-bike tour with just the four of us and our guide, Mike, who was incredible. We started early with a visit to Mua Cave. I’ll admit I didn’t make it up the stairs due to my knees, but the others loved it. From there, we spent the entire day exploring by e-bike, covering more than 100 km. It was a great mix of visiting some of the more well-known areas and then getting completely off the beaten track. The e-bikes were an absolute must. There is no way we would have managed that distance or enjoyed it the same way on a standard bike,” she says.
Another place that stood out to Karla was the Cu Chi Tunnels near Ho Chi Minh City, which served as living quarters, supply routes, and hospitals for guerrilla fighters during the Vietnam War.
“Frankly, I wasn’t overly keen on doing this tour, but my husband was really keen to visit. In the end, it became one of the most meaningful experiences of the trip. Our guide was exceptional. His knowledge, combined with personal stories from his family’s connection to the war, completely changed the experience. The level of insight and storytelling made it an incredibly powerful visit,” she adds.
Throughout the trip, the quality of guides consistently stood out, not just for Karla and her husband, but also for their friends. Overall, the itinerary felt well organised without ever feeling rigid. It gave Karla and her guests the space to enjoy the destination, which is exactly what FIT travel should feel like.
According to her, this trip highlighted the value of travelling with a DMC like Discova, as it was not just about managing logistics, but about elevating the quality of the experience itself.
Karla shares, “There was no stress, no second-guessing, and no time wasted trying to organise things on the ground. We could just enjoy the experience, knowing everything was taken care of. And the guides played a big part in this. Their knowledge, their ability to read the group and adjust where needed, and the way they brought each destination to life really elevated the whole experience. It never felt like we were being rushed from one place to the next. It felt considered, flexible, and personal.”
Karla’s itinerary was a mix of private and shared touring, and she would highly recommend this approach. The private tours gave the group flexibility and allowed them to travel at their own pace, especially on days when they had full-day tours or wanted a more personalised experience. Having that space as a group made a big difference. While they didn’t have many shared experiences on this trip, the ones they did had a more social, livelier feel, which works well for cruises or activity-based tours.
“For agents, I would always suggest a blend of the two. Private touring for key experiences where flexibility matters, and shared touring where the atmosphere adds to the experience,” she says.
Karla is not done with Vietnam yet and would love to go back again to explore more of the north, places like Sapa, and central areas like Hue. That said, she anticipates her next trip will be somewhere new.
“Malaysia and Borneo are definitely high on the list, as I’ve never been, and it would be great to explore a completely different destination. If this trip has reinforced anything, it’s how much of a difference the right itinerary and local expertise can make. And you can count on a DMC like Discova to make a great trip even more memorable.”
