Forum seeks effective ways to safely reopen tourism

The Vietnamese tourism sector has been advised to improve its overall product quality, upgrade tourism infrastructure, and improve the skills of its workforce to thoroughly prepare for the reopening of international tourism in the future, according to industry insiders.

An overview of the forum

This information was released by experts during a forum held on March 11 to discuss measures aimed at reopening inbound and outbound tourism in a flexible, safe, and effective manner.

Delegates emphasized that with the COVID-19 pandemic now being brought under control in the country, there will be huge opportunities moving forward for the local tourism industry to recover as it enters a new normal period.

According to data compiled by Google Destination Insights, the number of foreigners searching for information about flights to the nation since the beginning of this year has increased by 425% against the same period from last year.

Most notably, people seeking tourism information about Vietnam mostly came from the United States, Australia, Russia, France, Germany, Japan, India, the UK, and Canada.

Furthermore, high vaccination coverage along with the government reopening plan to international tourism as of March 15 will create favourable conditions for foreign tourists to the country in the time ahead.

Hoi An ancient town in the central province of Quang Nam

Nguyen Hong Minh, deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism, said the capital has channeled roughly VND15 billion into supporting over 4,000 businesses in a range of activities as it prepares for the resumption of tourism activities.

Simultaneously, Hanoi has also ramped up tourism promotion activities in a bid to elevate the country’s image to the wider world, as well as attracting domestic tourists and designing unique tourism products to effectively adapt to the current situation.

Minh revealed that the capital has also co-operated with 12 localities to deploy a tourism connection scheme to promote regional tourism.

Nguyen Trung Khanh, general director of the General Department of Tourism, underlined the need to restore policies aimed at simplifying entry and exit procedures to further attract international visitors moving into the new normal.

VOV