Hanoi targets to welcome 10-12 million visitors next year, including 1.2-2 million international tourists, with tourism safety given the top priority.

Hanoi targets to welcome 12 million visitors in 2022. HNT Photo: Duy Khanh

As the city’s tourism is seriously affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Hanoi Department of Tourism will continue taking many synchronous solutions and advise the city on the plan “ Developing the capital’s tourism in the 2021 – 2025 period and the following years" to ensure safe, flexible adaptation and effective control of the pandemic.

Pham Diem Hao, Deputy Head of Tourism Resources Planning and Development under the Hanoi Department of Tourism said the focus of the industry next year will be three groups of tasks including implementing programs to upgrade product quality, promote tourist destinations as well as building a digital transformation project of the city's tourism industry.

The department will coordinate with the people's committees of districts and towns to launch unique culinary tourism streets, themed walking streets around the lakes of Hoan Kiem (Hoan Kiem District), Ngoc Khanh (Ba Dinh District), Thien Quang (Hai Ba Trung District), and night food street Ngoc Island - Ngu Xa (Ba Dinh District).

Annual festival events will be organized such as the Hanoi Tourism Program to welcome the new year 2022 (held on January 1, 2022), the Festival of Tourism - Culture and Food, the Festival of Tourism Gifts, the Hanoi Ao Dai Festival, and the Friendship Journey Program.

Restructuring new products

Despite many difficulties, the Hanoi Department of Tourism said the highlight of the capital's tourism industry in this period is the active restructuring of new tourism products by local businesses to attract domestic travelers such as the night tour “Deciphering Thang Long Imperial Citadel” at Thang Long Imperial Citadel relic site, a folk experience tour at the Museum of Ethnology, or a night experience tour “Sacred Night- Glorious Vietnamese Spirit” at Hoa Lo Prison relic.

Foreigners visit the Temple of Literature. Photo: Lai Tan

Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism Dang Huong Giang said that the city’s travel businesses and tourist destinations have prepared to launch tourism products with quality service and take measures to ensure safety against Covid-19.

She added Hanoi is willing to coordinate with other localities to establish a safe tourism corridor. The city will strengthen linkages, promote cooperation, share information, and support localities together to speed up tourism recovery in the coming time.

In 2021, the capital’s tourism continued to face difficulties due to the impact of the pandemic when the number of visitors to Hanoi was estimated at four million, equal to 53% compared to 2020.

Most of the international arrivals are diplomats, business executives, and highly skilled laborers, who traveled in together with their families, under the government’s authorization after the border closure took effect in March 2020.

Total revenue from tourists was estimated at VND11.28 trillion ($495.6 million), equal to 42% of the earnings in 2020. Hanoi has 3,722 active accommodation establishments with 69,954 rooms, of which 20 hotels were repurposed to host medical isolation facilities for the prevention and control of the Covid-19.

The number of accommodation establishments temporarily suspending operations and changing industries is about 1,550. The average occupancy rate of hotels of all categories was estimated at 23%, down 7% compared to 2020.