The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang welcomed nearly 1 million visitors in July, a surge of 75.3% compared to the previous month.

Nui Den beach in Ha Tien city of  Kien Giang 

The result pushed the total number of tourists in the first seven months of this year to 3.42 million, representing a fall of 37% year on year, and fulfilling only 36.6% of the yearly target.

According to Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Tourism Bui Quoc Thai, Phu Quoc island was the major attraction to tourists in July. The island served over 706,000 visitors in the month and 2.24 million in the first seven months of 2020, down 25.4% over the same period last year.

Amidst the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Tourism has asked all staff to avoid visiting Da Nang city and localities with infection cases.

The department requested accommodation facilities in the province to strictly apply preventive measures against the pandemic following guidelines of the Health Ministry, especially those in health declarations.

Local travel firms have been asked to cancel all tours to pandemic-hit localities, while entertainment centres and tourist destinations have been equipped with hand sanitizer.

Tran Chi Dung, director of the department, said that in the coming time, the province will continue to launch tourism promotion programmes in parallel with the implementation of preventive measures, thus ensuring safety for tourists.

At the same time, Kien Giang will support pandemic-affected firms, while speeding up tourism recovery in Phu Quoc island. It will work on the development of Ha Tien-Phu Quoc-Nam Du-Rach Gia tour, forming a western sea tourism route.