Southern travel agents improve products amid coronavirus outbreak hinh anh 1Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – Designing tours to safe places which have yet been hit by the acute respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is among the choices most selected by travel agencies in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta at this time.

The epidemic, which hit 54 nations and territories as of 6:30am of February 28, has seriously affected the tourism sector in Vietnam in general and in the south in particular.

Deputy Director of the Tourism Department of Ho Chi Minh City Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa said that revenues of several big travel agents in the city in February decreased by 40-60 percent. The number of tourists going to the city by air in the month was down 28.3 percent compared to January and nearly 23 percent year-on-year.

The number of tourists to other southern localities, including Can Tho city and Ben Tre province, also fell significantly.

To make tourists feel secured, travel agents in the southern region have strictly complied with authorities’ recommendations about disease prevention measures.

In addition, they have sought measures to change and improve the quality of tourism products and services, and implement attractive tourism promotion programmes.

The Saigon Travel Service Company (Saigontourist) has offered discounts of 10-60 percent for its designed tours.

Travel agents have also paid attention to ecotourism and community-based tourism to attract more visitors./.
VNA