Ta Hien street in Hanoi Old Quarter (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Hospitality providers in Hanoi’s Old Quarter have been graduallyrecovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 15, most of them have so far been broughtback to life.
Resuscitation
LeVinh, owner of a five-star hotel chain in the Old Quarter, said three- to five-star hotels in the area are doing well again. From March-June, occupancy rate wasequivalent to 10-15% of the pre-pandemic level. Since June, it picked up by 30-50%from 2019.
Headded that his hotels mostly cater for foreigners from Southeast Asia,including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and India. Arrivals from India moved upfrom 2019 and keep growing. Therefore, he set up a hotel on Nha Tho street towelcome Indian visitors and sell Halal food for Islamic tourists.
Businessestablishments relying on tourists, especially foreigners like souvenir andhandicraft shops, tour combo agents or spas, are becoming busy. Signs “for sale”or “for rent” are rare, unlike last year.
Le Thi Ha, a restaurant owner on Tong Duy Tan street, said sincetourism resumed, foreigners have kept coming to this cuisine street. Sometimes,restaurants and eateries here are full to their capacity.
She added that diners at her eatery have averaged 95%, mostlythose from the Republic of Korea, India and Laos. The revenue has become stable.
More visitors to the Old Quarter also drove up the recovery ofspa industry. Vinh’s spas in the area welcomed about 70-95% of those before thepandemic, mostly foreigners.
Though foreign arrivals rose up from pre-pandemic level, the numberof inbound visitors has dropped as students went back to schools followingtheir summer break.
Moreover, inflationary pressure together with high flight andtour prices due to Russia-Ukraine conflict discouraged European visitors fromcoming to Vietnam, not to mention time-consuming visa procedures.
Visa remains major hurdle
This was stated by Director of Hanoitourist Company and Vice Chairman of theVietnam Society of Travel Agents Phung Quang Thang. He said inbound tourismactivity is thriving, especially during peak time in summer. Foreigners,predominantly from high-spending markets such as Europe, US, Japan and Australia,often travel to Vietnam from September to March.
ViceChairman of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Ha Van Sieu said internationaltourism markets are recovering, but at uneven rates. Several in Southeast Asiajumped by 30-200%, but European market fails to meet expectation. The Chinesemarket alone is dull as strict anti-pandemic measures remain in place there.
CEOof Tien Phong Travel Phung Xuan Khanh said the number of visitors coming forleisure only counts less, as most visit relatives or go to work.
Heattributed that to the fact that several international flights and routes haveyet to fully recover, resulting in rare and expensive tickets, forcingvisitors to reconsider their plans.
Thang saidvisa policy should be revised as soon as possible, such as extending visaexemption for high-spending markets and for up to 30 days.
Nguyen NgocBich, CEO of Mekong Rustic, said it is necessary to extend the visa-free periodfor those with high expenditures so that they could relax in Vietnam for 1 -6 months.
Corporateexecutives also expressed their hope that authorities will make less inspections and impose fines on businesses so that they could feel assured to improveservices, contributing to the rapid recovery of the green economy.
Hanoi’s tourism sector is set to welcome 9-10 million visitors this year,including 1.2-2 million foreigners. Total revenue is expected to come in atnearly 1.2 billion USD to over 1.5 billion USD.
The capital is focusing on developing tourismproducts where it possesses strengths, such as cultural and sports tourism.
It has also paid attention to improvingcommunications activities to promote its image./.
