The Vietnam Tourism Association said the sector has mapped out three scenarios for its recovery this year based on reopening the country to international visitors in June, September or December.

Whatever the scenario, the maximum number of international tourists expected is just 4.6 million while the number of domestic tourists expected is around 34 million.

Last year those numbers were 18 million and 82 million.

Experts said for now the fear of coronavirus transmission is one of the biggest barriers to domestic tourism. It is vital to raise public awareness to make people feel safe about travelling domestically.

They said the tourism sector should gradually take steps to revive domestic tourism and adhere to strict infection prevention measures.

Domestic travel began to recover in mid-May with the launch of a national campaign titled “Vietnamese People Travel in Vietnam”.

The campaign will run until the end of this year, aiming to boost domestic tourism with the involvement of the entire value chain across airlines, hotels and resorts, restaurants, tourist sites, travel agencies, tour operators, and tourism service providers to put in place quality tourism products and service packages at reasonable prices./.

VNA