Thua Thien – Hue works to help tourism recover hinh anh 1A boat racing festival in Bo river, Quang Dien district, Thua Thien - Hue province (Photo: VNA)

Thua Thien – Hue (VNA) – A delegation of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and officials of the central province of Thua Thien – Hue had a working session on February 27 to discuss measures to remove difficulties facing the local tourism sector amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to the provincial Department of Tourism, the number of tourists to Thua Thien – Hue in February is estimated at 297,037, including 139,653 foreigners, down 21 percent and 24 percent year-on-year, respectively. The number of visitors is forecast to fall 25-30 percent in March.

The outbreak has caused an economic loss of 40 billion VND (1.72 million USD) to the local tourism sector, the department said, adding that the figure is predicted to be 35 billion VND in March.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Phan Ngoc Tho said to overcome difficulties facing the sector, the Department of Tourism has coordinate with the Department of Health to support the local Tourism Association in providing skills and knowledge on COVID-19 prevention for over 100 hotels and travel agencies.

A hotline has been established to receive information and provide assistance to enterprises and visitors to address problems related to COVID-19.

Besides, the province is carrying out a series of measures to stimulate tourism such as improving the quality of accommodation facilities and offering more services to serve tourists better.

It has also coordinated with other central localities to introduce promotional tour programmes in order to attract more visitors, he added.

Representatives from the department asked the VNAT to held training courses on knowledge related to restructuring tourism, diversifying tourism products and boosting tourism promotion activities; and support localities in expanding tourism markets./. 
VNA