A conference was held in Cua Lo beach town, the central province of Nghe An, on December 25 to look into the tourism industry under the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact and discuss ways to promote this sector’s recovery and development in the time ahead.
Participants in the tourism conference in Nghe An province on December 25 (Photo: VNA)
The hybrid event was attended by Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man, officials of central agencies and localities, along with representatives of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), and hundreds of experts, enterprises, and organisations operating in the tourism sector.
Nguyen Dac Vinh, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for Cultural and Education Affairs, said affected by COVID-19, Vietnam’s tourism has been facing unprecedented difficulties over the last nearly two years. As the pandemic is gradually being brought under control, the tourism sector and the economy as a whole are taking steps to surmount hardships, but the path to tourism recovery and flexible and safe adaptation to the outbreak remains full of challenges.
Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Doan Van Viet noted Vietnam welcomed just 3.7 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2020, dropping 80 percent year on year, while the number of domestic visitors stood at 56 million, down 34 percent, and tourism revenue also plunged 59 percent to 312.2 trillion VND (13.6 billion USD).
This year, the fourth wave of infections nationwide led to a stagnation in socio-economic activities of many localities for months. The country stayed closed to international tourists, and domestic travellers continued declining by almost 30 percent from the same period of 2020.
Viet noted that to help the tourism industry overcome the current trying time and resume development, the parliament and Government should promote the tourism recovery and development programme, which is part of the socio-economic recovery and development programme for 2022 - 2023; continue assisting businesses and workers in this sector; issue new mechanisms and policies facilitating tourism; boost the attraction of investment to nighttime, ecological, leisure, and community-based tourism; step up digital transformation in tourism; and make plans on developing tourism personnel in the new normal context./.
