Ba Ria – Vung Tau, a popular tourist destination in the south of Vietnam, is seeing more visitors recently, a reminder of the attractive seaside resort’s potential in the post-pandemic period.
Ha Van Sieu, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, noted the tourism recovery, saying compared to other localities, a weekend room occupancy rate of over 90% at local accommodations is very high, proving the province’s potential for drawing domestic travellers.
However, Sieu said Ba Ria – Vung Tau still needs to work harder to upgrade its images to attract foreign visitors back.
The Grand Ho Tram Resort & Casino has 1,100 rooms, but without booking in advance, tourists will be out of luck to get a room here, especially at the weekend.
Le Thi Thanh Thai, Vice Chairwoman for external relations of The Grand Ho Tram Resort & Casino, said the complex boasts a great seaside view. It has aligned its services with demand of families and small tourist groups, thus its room occupancy is relatively good.
Meanwhile, Vietsovpetro Resort had met 60% of this year’s revenue target by the end of May.
Deputy Director of the resort Nguyen Duc Trong said aside from serving visitors of the oil and gas industry, his resort also reserves about 40% of its rooms for other tourists, noting that its business results have bounced back thanks to strong post-pandemic travel demand.
According to the provincial Tourism Department, seaside resorts and hotels room occupancy has continually surpassed 80% on weekends and holidays. Most of their clientele are families and small tourist groups from the southeastern region.
Since April, there have been more tourist groups from banks, businesses, and schools to Ba Ria – Vung Tau for events, conferences, and workshops.
Director of the department Trinh Hang said the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism predicted it won’t be until 2025 that tourism nationwide can regain the momentum of 2019 pre-pandemic numbers.
However, given the positive signs recorded so far this year, Ba Ria – Vung Tau could regain pre-pandemic numbers and revenue levels in 2023, he added.
To provide better services for visitors, local tourist attractions and hotels have been upgrading infrastructure and improving landscapes.
At Lan Rung Resort Phuoc Hai, the staff have been busy decorating the grounds with more ornamental plants, flowers, and vegetables.
Phuong Thanh, manager of the resort’s garden division, said the garden is a place to visit and also provides ingredients for tourists to cook, so the area needs special attention.
The Ruong Resort has a countryside feel to it by adding greenery, including the plants normally found in rural areas such as bamboo, banana, guava, and lotus.
Vietsovpetro Resort has launched many service packages to attract tourists on weekdays. The Grand Ho Tram Resort & Casino has also been holding numerous events such as a gold tournament, a kite festival, and a culinary festival to attract visitors this summer.
Trinh Hang said the Tourism Department has proposed the provincial People’s Committee organise a food festival and sign tourism cooperation deals with localities in the southeastern and Central Highlands to bring in tourists from other regions.
It also recommended the Tourism Association and travel companies renew services, step up promotion, and launch more stimulus packages. Enhanced management will ensure safety for tourists, develop human resources, and boost digital transformation in the tourism industry.
Hang said the concerted implementation of those plans will generate great returns for local tourism, helping the sector establish itself as a key industry of Ba Ria – Vung Tau./.
