Vietnam, with no recorded coronavirus deaths, craves tourist dollars again

[Viet]

Tourism is about 12% of GDP, illustrating how countries without COVID-19 outbreaks can still be affected
Reuters


Posted: May 19, 2020

A sunset is seen at a resort in Phu Quoc island, Vietnam on May 8 after the Vietnamese government eased the lockdown imposed during its COVID-19 outbreak. (James Pearson/Reuters)
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In Phu Quoc, a Vietnamese island off the coast of Cambodia, posters warning tourists of the dangers of COVID-19 have long since faded in the powerful sunshine, and the throngs of international travellers that used to dot its beaches have thinned.

Vietnam recorded a 98 per cent drop in visitors this April compared to 2019 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but its success in fighting the virus — posting only 324 cases and no deaths despite sharing a border with China, the initial hot spot — now sees it set to breathe life back into its tourism industry.

Vietnam will be one of the first Southeast Asian nations to start to revive its economy, but with a ban still in place on foreign visitors, and many of their major tourist markets under lockdown, hotels and resorts are discounting paradise to make it more attractive to local travellers.


At the Mango Bay resort in Phu Quoc, staff in surgical masks served icy cocktails and chilled glasses of white wine to small groups of guests, many of them young urban tourists from Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City.

General manager Ronan Le Bihan said the resort now needed to adapt to local tastes.

"Tourist businesses targeting foreign tourists will be in trouble for a long time," said Bihan. "We can now focus on the Vietnamese market. But that is a very large term. And not all Vietnamese are interested in what we offer."

Campaign aims to entice domestic travellers
A tourism promotion campaign, "Vietnamese People Travel in Vietnam," debuted last week and aims to, "introduce quality tourism products and service packages at reasonable prices."

Vietnamese tourists visit Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam on Tuesday. (Kham/Reuters)

The move puts Vietnam ahead of its regional tourism competitors such as Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, where travel restrictions are only just starting to lift.

Tourism raised 726 trillion dong ($43 billion Cdn) last year, nearly 12 per cent of Vietnam's 2019 GDP, but while barely 17 per cent of the 103 million travellers were foreigners, they spent slightly more than domestic counterparts.

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Warning of the risk of reopening to foreigners too quickly, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called for the promotion of domestic tourism.

To lure local travellers, hotels and airlines have cut prices by as much as half, Vu The Binh, chairman of the Vietnam Society of Travel Agents and vice chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, told Reuters.

"The recovery of domestic tourism should boost international tourism," he said. "After this program ends in mid-July, we will embark on another program to promote international tourism, depending on the virus situation."

Regional travel bubbles proposed
Domestic tourism is on the post-lockdown agenda elsewhere in Southeast Asia, but tight travel restrictions mean its uncertain when it will resume. Indonesia's holiday island of Bali has said it could reopen to foreign tourists in October, and hotels in Thailand are gearing up for an eventual reopening.

One option being considered in Vietnam is to join a "travel bubble" with other countries that have successfully fought back the coronavirus.

Empty chairs are seen on a beach at Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh. Vietnam will look to drum up domestic and regional tourism, given the unlikelihood of seeing anywhere close to pre-pandemic levels of tourism from North America and Europe in the short term. (Kham/Reuters)

Ken Atkinson, vice-chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board, said the first countries to target could be Australia and New Zealand, which are considering their own free-movement zone.

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"However, as China and Korea are our two biggest inbound source markets, it is important to have plans in place to reopen travel from those markets as soon as it is safe," he told Reuters.

Asian markets were likely to be the first to recover, said William Haandrikman, general manager of the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, an iconic, colonial-era hotel whose crowds of wealthy Western tourists are long gone.

"We have had to re-invent ourselves to focus directly on the local domestic market as well as regional Asian markets," he said. That includes room deals with $100 credits for food.

Domestic tourism is now on the rise, with most Vietnamese airlines reporting their limited domestic flights are fast reaching capacity.

• Thailand malls reopen, with temperatures taken, masks worn

• WHO chief promises review of coronavirus response as China defends its performance

Lured by low prices, Le Thi Mai Phuong, a 38-year-old businesswoman from Hanoi, spent last weekend in the central city of Danang.

"I'm afraid that if we wait until the virus is over, the cost will go up and the beaches will become too crowded," she said. "We don't know if the virus will return to Vietnam and cause another lockdown."

"I'd have to stay at home and dream about travelling again."


https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5574957

 

[Trango Towers]

This is an amazing country to visit. I have travelled the length of vietnam and loved the food the people the culture the history.
If anyone wants to see the east forget Thailand now go to Vietnam before it too becomes Thailand.

 

[Beast]

Can those Vietnam tourist spot sell exorbitant price souvenuir to Vietnamese tourist?

" Welcome to Vietnam" T-shirt for USD25? LOL..

 

[Trango Towers]

Can those Vietnam tourist spot sell exorbitant price souvenuir to Vietnamese tourist?

" Welcome to Vietnam" T-shirt for USD25? LOL..

Well didnt happen to me.

 

[cochine]

A bright future for tourism in Vietnam after COVID-19
The rapid spread of COVID-19 around the globe has caused significant damage to several industries, including tourism, which has been one of the hardest hit.

RMIT University (Vietnam) Tourism and Hospitality Management Senior Lecturer Dr Nuno F. Ribeiro.
RMIT University (Vietnam) Tourism and Hospitality Management Senior Lecturer Dr Nuno F. Ribeiro said countries that have a fast recovering tourism industry post COVID-19 will be those whose governments prioritised health and wellbeing, and successfully contained the spread of the virus.

“The Vietnamese government has prioritised health and wellbeing during this epidemic, which is the most important thing in a people-intensive tourism industry,” Dr Ribeiro said.

“The local government has also supported tourism businesses with several initiatives which will be critical to allow a quick return to operations once the pandemic is resolved. This will be much easier to do rather than rebuilding an entire economic sector if no help is provided.”

Dr Ribeiro, who leads the tourism and hospitality research cluster within RMIT’s School of Business & Management, said the government’s fast and effective handling of the COVID-19 pandemic may even make Vietnam the preferred travel destination in the Asia Pacific region, over countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

“For some people, travel and tourism is seen as a necessity, not a luxury. And tourists will not only travel to the most beautiful and interesting countries in the world, but primarily to the safest,” he said. “And Vietnam is doing a fantastic job in proving that it is one of the safest destinations in the world.”

In the space of only a few months, Vietnam went from millions of tourists to zero. Dr Ribeiro highlighted that this rapid decline has, and will continue to have, an enormous impact on tourism businesses, and affect the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese people.

The latest initiative from Vietnam’s Prime Minister directed the State Bank of Vietnam to launch a credit support package worth 250 trillion VND (US$10.5 billion) for businesses, and the Ministry of Finance to offer 30 trillion VND (US$1.2 billion) for the same purpose, which Dr Ribeiro applauded.

“I think this is an excellent initiative, that will not only have immediate positive impacts right now, but also have positive effects in the future, not just for the tourism sector, but for the economy as a whole,” he said.

“While this truly is an unprecedented event, the history of tourism since 1945 shows us that, while tourism is vulnerable to cyclical crises, it also rebounds faster and stronger than any other economic sector.”

As an academic with more than 20 years’ experience in tourism, Dr Ribeiro believes there are some further measures available to help alleviate the negative impact of COVID-19 in Vietnam.

• Continue to coordinate a gradual and safe return to tourism operations with the relevant ministries
• Provide tax rebates for tourism businesses and encourage management not to dismiss employees, but to retrain them so they are ready to re-enter the workforce soon after the pandemic is over.
• Diversify Vietnam’s main inbound tourism markets. As this COVID-19 pandemic has clearly shown, the dependency on two markets (China and South Korea) is not sustainable in the long term
• Learn from other places that have dealt with major disasters like Bali in Indonesia, or New Orleans in the United States
• Begin soft marketing campaigns using social media and advertising campaigns, aimed at potential tourists, or returning tourists who cannot visit Vietnam right now.

Story: Dr Nuno F. Ribeiro and Thuy Le

Foreigners send thanks to Vietnam COVID-19 front line via touching photos
09:48 | 13/04/2020Jennifer Tran (Translated)

Expats in Vietnam are sending heartfelt messages of gratitude to those who are on the front line of the COVID-19 battle.

"Vietnam We Thank You" is a mini project initiated by Wayne Worrell, a British teacher living in Hanoi. Through touching photos, expats in Vietnam they would like to send a message of thanks to the doctors, nurses, military personnel, police and volunteers for their ultimate sacrifice to keep everybody safe.

Mr. Wayne Worrelll, a British teacher living in Hanoi, who initiated the series, sent the message ‘’To all the doctors, nurses, military police and volunteers,… We THANK YOU for making ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe.”

Shane Patrick Culbertson (left), retired American writer and Luke Kenny (right), Irish teacher based in Hanoi, with the message of thanks for the efforts of the medical staff.

Thanks from US citizens living in Hanoi: Music teachers Kerbaugh Chelsea (left) and the couple (right) -Dan Klein, educational consultant and Maggie Klein, primary school teacher.

Two English teachers in Hanoi, Alex Pike (left, American), and Duarte Mendes (right, Portuguese), with the message of gratitude for the efforts and sacrifices of doctors and medical staff.

‘Thank you for to all the amazing doctors, nurses, volunteers and military personnel’ , “Thank you for all your hard work’, ‘We see and appreciate you’ are messages from three South African English teachers in Hanoi: Julia Meyer (left), Courtney Jordaan (middle) and Molly McMiles (right).

Two American English teachers: Skip Carver (left) from Bac Lieu province and Oscar Olson (right) from Ben Tre

“Because of your strength I was fearless” – shared by Elyciah Klaartjies (left), a South African English teacher in Hanoi. While Ed Brown (right), an English teacher in Hanoi, thanks “To those who continue to go out to work to provide the essential services we need and help us to stay safe”.

"I love Vietnam" - Mohit Sharma (left), an Indian trader in Hanoi, said. And Sorin Parlea (right), a Romanian English teacher in Ho Chi Minh city thanked the Vietnamese medical team.