The central province of Thua Thien-Hue has approved a post-Covid-19 tourism stimulation program, offering up to 50% discounts on entrance tickets to visit world heritage sites from now to July 31, 2020, among other tourist incentives.

Foreign tourists are seen at a tourist site in Hue City – PHOTO: NHAN TAM

The new pricing was announced by Nguyen Van Phuc, Deputy Director of the Thua Thien-Hue Department of Tourism, following a recent meeting of the provincial People’s Council. 

During the meeting, tourism figures were discussed. In January, the province’s tourism industry reported the number of arrivals and revenue had year-on-year growth of 22.07% and 14.89%, respectively.

However, the coronavirus outbreak has had a heavy impact on the industry. Many of travel companies, hotels, restaurants and shops have had to temporarily suspend their businesses, and thousands of industry workers have lost their jobs.

In the first four months of this year, the province attracted 940,069 tourists, down 50% year-on-year. The direct tourism revenue was VND859 billion, a decrease of 21%, while the combined revenue was VND2,079 billion, down 45%, as Thua Thien-Hue lost some VND2,250 billion in tourism revenue.

Thus, apart from solutions to support enterprises suffering from the downturn caused by the epidemic, it is necessary to put in place the tourism stimulation program.

On Vietnam’s Reunification Day (April 30) and May Day, thanks to free-of-charge offers for visiting world heritage sites, the province attracted 22,000 tourists following the social-distancing period.

Due to the promising results, the province decided to discount entrance fees by 50% from May 8 to July 31 this year. The promotion might continue into the remainder of 2020, depending upon the world’s tourism recovery.

The provincial tourism industry also encourages tourism companies to provide their own stimulation packages to attract more tourists.

At the meeting, leaders also discussed the national travel summit, to be held in Thua Thien-Hue later this month to seek collaboration among hotels, travel companies and restaurants, as well as cooperation by three central localities, including Quang Nam Province and Danang City.

Officials noted that tourist promotions will be held this year and next year, including Festival Hue 2020, Hue Ao dai Festival and Hue Hiphop Festival.