Leading tourist companies in HCM City are seeking to establish safe destination criteria to reboot tourism and prepare for international arrivals in the near future. (Photo: VNA/VNS) HCMCity (VNS/VNA) - Leading tourist companies in Ho Chi Minh Cityare seeking to establish criteria for safe destinations to reboot tourism andprepare for international arrivals in the near future.
Speaking ata seminar on safe tourism held recently in HCM City, Tran Minh Hung, Editor-in-Chief ofthe Saigon Times group, the seminar’s organiser, said: “In order to attractinternational tourists in a sustainable way, safe destination criteria mustfirst be established.”
Headded that the criteria must offer clear and easily understoodinformation to make tourists feel protected amid the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic.
Asurvey conducted by Outbox Consulting Services and Destinations ManagementCompany showed that 92 percent of respondents were worried about sanitation andsafety at accommodations.
Eighty-threepercent of participants did not want to travel if they must participate ina quarantine process at their destination.
Eighty-threepercent of visitors also thought that quarantine areas had the same riskas infection as other areas.
About79 percent of respondents believed that publicising and following theGovernment’s safe tourism criteria was the most important factor.
DangManh Phuoc, Director of Outbox Consulting, suggested four core goals ofsafe criteria for service providers and visitors.
Firstly,businesses and personnel in the tourism sector must be trained in implementingregulations on the prevention of COVID-19.
Thesecond goal is ensuring community health and safety standards, and thethird is creating the belief that Vietnam is a safe destinationfor visitors.
Finally,new attractions and destinations should be publicised widely to lure visitors.
Phuocsaid the four goals could promote confidence among visitors, andconnect visitors and tourism businesses and individuals.
NguyenViet Anh, head of the travel section of the HCM City Department ofTourism, said: “Localities need to work with others to create unified safecriteria to reboot tourism promotion.”
Technology applicationsare important as well. For example, building a safe tourism app is a wayto manage and control the safe criteria.
Thedepartment has promoted, via publicity, safe and attractivedestinations, which is an important step to prepare for internationalvisitors in the upcoming time.
Accordingto the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, total foreign arrivals in thefirst nine months was 3.79 million, a decrease of 70.6 percent incomparison with the same period in 2019.
Revenuefrom travel services was 14.2 trillion VND (610 million USD), a year-on-yeardrop of 56 percent.
NguyenHuu Y Yen, general director of Saigontourist, said the companywas focusing on domestic tourism now.
Vietnamhas been welcoming foreign investors and experts who have been allowed toenter the country, so Yen expects the criteria for safe tourism anddestinations will be issued in one or two months to welcome tourists.
NgoMinh Duc, Chairman of Hospitality Group (HG) Holdings,and member of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board (TAB), said theGovernment has asked the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism to buildcriteria on safe tourism destinations.
Ducadded that foreign tourists had made great contributions to the sector,but in the next 12 months, travel firms should promote local tourism tocompensate for the losses.
Toensure safety for everyone, Vietnam will open for internationalvisitors only after a vaccine against COVID-19 appears.
Tours to adjust to new customer needs
Meanwhile,tourism experts have also said travel firms need to take travellers’ newconcerns into account to design tourism products after the COVID-19 crisis.
COVID-19has changed tourists’ behaviours and preferences, Nguyen Thu Hanh, Chairwomanof the Scientific Union for Sustainable Tourism Development, hasrecently told the Dau Tu (Investment) newspaper.
Afterthe health crisis ends, customers will pay attention to hygiene and safety andseek destinations closer to home. Travel firms need to offertours adjusted to tourists' new expectations and needs, she said.
Toursshould focus on helping local residents discover nearby landscapes inpopular tourist destinations such as HCM City and Hanoi.
NguyenCong Hoan, General Director of Flamingo Redtour, said his company wasoffering a staycation product to serve local residents in Hanoi. Thecompany has cooperated with five-star hotels in the city to offer domestictourists tours to the Old Quarter, the Opera House, Government Guesthouseand West Lake.
PhungXuan Khanh, Director of Tien Phong Travel, said his company was renewingits tours to discover the beauty of Hanoi City and its lifestyles andlocal cuisine, as well as shopping.
NguyenVan Tai, general director of VietSense Travel, said his companyhas designed new tour packages for English-speaking markets, includingHanoi-Ha Long-Sa Pa and Mekong Delta tour packages for three to five days.
Previously,tour packages were designed with itineraries of 7-15 days to discovervarious destinations from the north to the south.
Nearbytourist attractions are now being offered to reduce travel time and cutcosts as part of an effort to fulfill customer demand for short-haultravel, he said./.
VNA
