Phased plan for recovery

HCM City has revealed a three-phase plan to revive its tourism sector, seeking a "travel bubble" with many cities and provinces as case numbers in the country continue to drop.

Nguyễn Thị Ánh Hoa, director of the city’s Department of Tourism, said inter-provincial tours from HCM City to Tay Ninh would be the first step in the launch of a programme to revive the tourism sector.

In the first phase, the city will open tours to "green", or safe, areas with a low infection risk and pilot closed tours to Tay Ninh Province this month to gradually resume tourism activities.

Tourist accommodations and tourist sites will be allowed to operate at 50 per cent capacity.

In the second phase from the beginning of next month until year-end, inter-provincial group tours will be expanded to safe destinations nationwide.

In the third phase next year, tourism activities and products in the city will fully resume.

With a high rate of vaccinations for adult and 80 per cent of employees in the travel sector fully vaccinated, HCM City authorities plan to revive domestic travel with more inter-provincial tours to safe destinations nationwide.

The city is working with tourism authorities in the central provinces of Khanh Hòa, Phu Yen, and Bình Định to open closed tours to safe destinations for domestic travelers.

Public-private cooperation and close linkages of 30 travel operators and tourist destinations in the city are key factors in the revival of the tourism sector, she said.

Nguyễn Minh Mẫn, marketing and communications director of TSTtourist, told Viet Nam News: "His company last week resumed operation, with about 40 per cent of staff returning to work. They are fully vaccinated against COVID-19."

The company on October 11 opened tours to safe destinations in the city and received many inquires about group tours to Củ Chi and Cần Giờ districts in HCM City and the coastal city of Vũng Tau.

Family groups mostly booked tours to travel later this month and next month. 

Inter-provincial tours from HCM City to neighbouring provinces such as Tay Ninh, Ba Rịa-Vũng Tau, Long An, and Tiền Giang and central provinces of Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, and Bình Định will soon resume under tourism linkages between HCM City and these localities, he said.

TSTtourist is updating information from other localities on safety requirements to offer tourists closed tours to safe destinations in other provinces. This is a positive sign for expected demand in the year-end season. VNS