(TITC) - On October 14, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam chaired a working session with leaders of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MOSCT), Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Health to deliberate on gradual resumption of domestic tourism and pilot reopening inbound tourism.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam chaired working session. Photo: VGP/Dinh Nam
According to Deputy Prime Minister, the country’s vaccine coverage rate is increasing quickly and more vaccines are expected to land in Vietnam from now to the end of this year. These are advantages to reopen tourism step by step.
He asked the MOSCT to issue guidelines on safe and flexible adaptation to COVID-19 pandemic, effective control the pandemic in tourism activities. Tourism associations need to have regulations synchronized with the guidance of the ministry, encouraging members to safe reoperation.
All tourism establishments as travel companies, accommodations, restaurants… must follow the “5K message” - khau trang (facemask), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distance), khong tu tap (no gathering) and khai bao y te (health declaration).
He also tasked Ministry of Transport to review, update and issue guidelines for road, railway and air transportation services. There should be detailed regulations for tourists on tours to ensure the safety of tourists, safety in starting points, stops and destinations.
Regarding to pilot reopening inbound tourism, Deputy Prime Minister assigned MOSCT and tourism associations to hold working sessions with related ministries and localities to have specific recommendations on specific destinations, time, scale and procedure, responding plan as appearance of Covid infection...; any roadblocks should be reported to the Prime Minister.
"Along with other economic sectors, the tourism industry should take steps to restart safely," the Deputy Prime Minister requested.
Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh - Chairman of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism at the working session. Photo: VGP/Dinh Nam
Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh - Chairman of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism reported that in 2020, Viet Nam only received 3.7 million foreign arrivals, down 80% compared to 2019 while the number of domestic visitors decreased by 34%, reaching 56 million. Tourism revenue was estimated at only VND 312,200 billion, down 59%. Over the first nine months of 2021, around 31.5 million domestic visitors were recorded, down 16% compared to the same period of 2020.
Up to now, 30% tourism businesses revoke the license, 90% accommodations establishments closed.
Earlier in September, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued plan to plan for tourism recovery and demand stimulus. The plan focused on six tasks including ensuring safety for tourist establishments and destinations; enhancing communications and promotion; developing tourism products to adapt the changing demand of the market; forcing digital transformation in tourism sector; supporting tourism businesses to recovery; supporting the development of human resources to meet the requirement of tourism recovery.
Many localities have actively been pushing tourism reopening to tourists as Vinh Phuc, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Quang Ninh provinces and Ho Chi Minh City.
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