Kien Giang enhances tourism service quality to bolster tourism in new normal

Kien Giang (VNA) – The southern province of Kien Giang has actively implemented measures to enhance tourism service quality and develop new tourism products in preparation for the full opening of tourism in the new normal slated for March 15.

Director of the provincial Department of Tourism Bui Quoc Thai said in the new normal situation, the tourism sector continues to implement a programme on promoting domestic tourism in safely and flexibly adaptation to the pandemic in accordance with instructions of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The provincial administration has been providing support to tourism firms in carrying out promotion activities and establishing connections with other localities besides upgrading local tourism sites and services.  

Tourism arrivals and revenue have recorded increases after three months implementing the programme on promoting domestic tourism. In the first two months of this year, Kien Giang welcomed an estimated 1.06 million visitors, up 27.1 percent from the same period last year. Of the figure, there were over 18,680 foreign visitors, equivalent to 9.3 percent of the yearly plan.

Total revenue from tourism in the period is estimated at 932 billion VND (about 40.7 million USD), a decrease of 4.4 percent year on year and equal to 12 percent of the yearly plan.

Phu Quoc city alone received nearly 742,000 visitors, earning more than 757 billion VND. Many tourism facilities on the island reported high occupancy rate, especially during the solar and lunar New Year holidays.

According to Chairman of Kien Giang Tourism Association Tran Quoc Khanh, the biggest difficulty for local tourism firms is a shortage of personnel, as many workers in the industry returned to their home town during the previous time of social distancing to curb the spread of COVID-19./.