Tourists receive free masks in front of Ngoc Son Temple, a tourist spot near Hoan Kiem Lake (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) -The imminent loss of tourism revenue due to the current spread of deadlycoronavirus has prompted authorities and businesses to discuss plans to revivethe tourism industry when the epidemic ends.
The Tourism Department of Hanoi hosted a meeting on February 5 with experts andenterprises to deal with the situation.
Due to the outbreak, many inbound tours scheduled for March and April have beencancelled, according to department director Tran Duc Hai.
“It’s estimated that the number of tourists at destinations in the capital willdecrease 30-50 percent compared with the same period last year,” he said.
“Counting to February 3, the number of cancelled rooms is 13,000 nationwide, asmany as 7,600 inbound guests and 7,100 outbound guests have cancelled theirtours,” said Hai.
Many tourist sites in the capital have been closed such as Tay Ho Temple and HoaLo Prison.
“The spring and Lunar New Year with many festivals and entertainment events arethe high season of Vietnamese tourism, however, the coronavirus outbreak hasled to losses for the national tourism industry and the capital's industryin particular.”
“We call travel companies to turn these challenges to opportunities to work onnew campaigns, it’s time for us to review what we have done and what wehave not, experiment new products and focus on training,” Hai said.
Deputy Director of VietravelCompany Pham Van Bay said the situation is complex and similar to whenthe SARS epidemic influenced Vietnam almost 20 years ago.
“Due to the long outbreak, many tour guides moved to work in other fieldsleading to a lack of human resources then,” Bay said.
“To prevent this situation, travel companies should maintain the staff toguarantee the workforce after the outbreak.”
“The Liberation Day holiday (April 30) is a chance for us to recover afterthese obstacles, we also need to prepare for the coming summer holiday, if thepreparation is done well, the tourism industry will be great again in the nextquarter of the year,” Bay added.
The department has asked international travel companies to stop receivingtourists from areas with confirmed outbreaks of the novel coronavirus, andsuspend outbound trips to epidemic-hit regions as part of efforts to preventthe spread of the deadly virus.
As for tourists who are on tours in Hanoi, travel firms must carry outcomprehensive measures to closely monitor their customers’ healthconditions, as well as follow recommendations of the health authority./.
VNA
