Thanh Hoa to welcome vacationers from “green areas” for a start

Vice Chairman of the Thanh Hoa People’s Committee Nguyen Van Thi speaks at the virtual conference held on October 7 to seek ways to revive the northern province’s tourism industry in the “new normal.” (Photo: VNA)

Thanh Hoa (VNA) – A virtual conference was held by the People’s Committee of Thanh Hoa in collaboration with the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) on October 7 to seek ways to revive the northern province’s tourism industry in the “new normal.”

From Hanoi, the event was attended by representatives from the VNAT, Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA), tourism companies and airlines; while in Thanh Hoa, it gathered local officials and authorities of local tourist attractions.

In his remarks, VNAT Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh said conditions are favourable for Thanh Hoa when it comes to gradually forming a safe zone and safe route to welcome back domestic visitors.

He suggested Thanh Hoa gives a further push to the development of marine leisure tourism, ecotourism and community-based tourism, suitable to the “new normal” situation. The province should also develop exclusive mechanisms and policies to support affected enterprises and workers so as to soon revive tourism activities, he said.

The VNAT stands ready to cooperate with Thanh Hoa to finalise its tourism recovery plan, Khanh pledged, adding that the agency will issue a set of safety criteria that provides guidelines for tourist destinations to reopen to visitors in a safely manner. He expected the province will be Vietnam’s rising star in tourism.

During the event, delegates put forward various recommendations to restart tourism activities in Thanh Hoa in the “new normal.” They proposed the province build linkages with nearby tourist destinations, such as Hanoi, Ninh Binh and Nghe An; allocate more resources for communication campaigns to better promote tourism; facilitate the linkage of tours; check local service providers’ capacity to safely receive visitors; among others.

They agreed with the draft of Thanh Hoa’s tourism recovery plan, urging the province to take the bold step of reopening to domestic tourists on a trial basis.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Thi said to fulfill the twin goal of keeping the COVID-19 at bay and boosting socio-economic development, Thanh Hoa will step by step reopen to holidaymakers, keeping in mind that any location is verified as safe from the virus will be reopened first.

Accordingly, Thanh Hoa will serve vacationers living in local “green areas” for a start and then “green areas” from outside the province. It will welcome all visitors, both at home and overseas, when the COVID-19 vaccine coverage is wide enough to achieve herd immunity nationally and globally, he said.

This October, the province will develop a plan for the reopening of FLC Sam Son Beach and Golf Resort in Sam Son city and Pu Luong community eco-tourism complex in Ba Thuoc district to visitors on a trial basis. If the plan is successful, Thanh Hoa will be ready to welcome back tourists from other cities and provinces from November, he added.

Plenty of challenges still lie ahead for Thanh Hoa’s tourism to adapt to the “new normal” and restart safely and sustainably, Thi continued, urging for assistance from the VNAT and ideas from local agencies and business community.

Last year, Thanh Hoa welcomed 7.3 million tourists to earn close to 10.4 trillion VND (453.7 million USD) in revenue. Its tourist arrivals reached 3.1 million and revenue exceeded 4.61 trillion VND in the first nine months of this year due to impacts of the fourth COVID-19 wave.

The province has gone through 22 days without COVID-19 community infections, making it one of the “green” zones in the country. It is expected to facilitate its reopening plan.

The province has been implementing a plan for reviving tourism activities in the final quarter of 2021 and the year 2022.

Work on Flamingo Hai Tien Beach Resort, Thanh Hoa’s first five-star tourism, entertainment, sports complex, is scheduled to begin next weekend.

The 19.3-ha project, which has total investment of 3.35 trillion VND, is expected to be a night leisure paradise of the province, offering a facelift to Hai Tien district./.