After the country’s tourism industry was put in a freeze for a long period due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it has seen gradual steps to revive from the collapse in the year-end festive season featuring Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Lunar New Year and more.
Tourists flock to Da Lat City after easing of Covid-19 restrictions. (Photo: SGGP)
Visitors increase significantly
The resort town of Da Lat in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong has received a growing number of visitors after two months of the reopening.
Tourist Nguyen Quang Khanh from HCMC said that he and his wife have been interested in the mild climate and cool weather in Da Lat City in the last days of the year. There are not a lot of travelers in these days compared to the same period last year.
The flower city’s attractions have not received many visitors but coffee shops with open-air view, the hills of pink grass hill and pine trees in the suburbs of the city have drawn a big number of people. The pink grass hill located in the Tuyen Lam Lake Tourist Area has got thousands of visitors a day.
It's now the most beautiful time in the pearl island, Phu Quoc in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang of the year. It is the best time with fresh air for entertainment and outdoor activities. The springs on the island, such as May (Cloud), Da Ban and Tien (Fairy) are filled with water at the end of rainy seasons. The island is bustling with domestic and international visitors.
Director of the Department of Tourism of Kien Giang Province, Bui Quoc Thai said that after the country accepted Covid-19 vaccine passports from 72 countries and territories, the number of visitors to the province has increased from the beginning of November. The locality received around 300,000 tourists, up ten percent compared to October. In which, Phu Quoc welcomed 290,000 travelers, including 1,400 international visitors.
Concerns over Covid-19 still linger
With the principle for reopening tourism safely during pandemic, travel businesses have launched tourist products ensuring the safety of visitors in the new normal state.
As of now, local and foreign visitors have been interested in tourism environment in Phu Quoc. The prevention and control measures of Covid-19 have been strictly implemented while mobile healthcare teams and local medical facilities are always ready to provide health care to visitors in accommodation units.
The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Lam Dong Province has asked all tourism, trade and service facilities to register the number of their visitors to the local authority for the guidance on pandemic prevention to ensure the safety of travelers.
According to tourist experts, localities and enterprises need to promote the coordination among destinations, travel agents, hotels and airlines to build a safe and attractive vacation packages to achieve sustainable tourism recovery.
Speaking at a recent forum on tourism and economic recovery, Vice Chairwoman of the HCMC People’s Committee Phan Thi Thang said that the pandemic has hit the tourism sector badly. However, the tourism development will help revive other industries, such as shopping, transportation, entertainment and leisure. Therefore, HCMC has actively built a tourism recovery plan right after the pandemic is put under control. Provinces and cities nationwide get ready to cooperate with the city to connect safe destinations.
On December 7, a delegation of HCMC’s leaders and travel businesses took a tourism survey in the northwestern region to build tours to this area.
By staff writers – Translated by Kim Khanh