Amid increasingly complicated developments relating to the novel coronavirus (nCoV), travel operators throughout the central province of Quang Binh are seeking ways to ensure the health and safety of visitors to the locality.

Le Luu Dung, Director of Jungle Boss Co., Ltd., said the nCoV epidemic is causing increasing numbers of tourists to cancel their tours. 

Jungle Boss is local travel firm that specialises in launching adventure tours of Tiger Cave, Sing Ton valley, and Ma Da valley in Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park.

Due to concerns that travelers have about the nCoV, the travel company's staff have been active in distributing face masks to visitors in a bid to prevent the further spread of the nCoV.

The firm has also moved to display warnings issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) about the disease on its website as a means of advising guests to don face masks when visiting crowded places, whilst also encouraging them to frequently wash their hands with antibacterial soap water.

Dung underscored the importance of ensuring that health and safety standards are maintained for visitors by spreading information relating to the disease, apart from taking preventive measures to combat the potential spread of the epidemic.

Nguyen Van Ngon, Executive Director of Tan Binh Hotel, said that the hotel has prepared Chloramine B disinfectant to spray at the site’s main doors and in other crowded places, adding that the building has asked visitors, especially those from abroad, to fill in a medical declaration form ahead of their check-in.

These precautions come as the Phong Nha - Ke Bang Tourism Center releases its tourism figures, with statistics indicating that the number of guests visiting tourist attractions in the region have dropped by approximately 30 per cent.

Sites such as Phong Nha, Tien Son, and Thien Duong cave are currently only receiving between 250 and 300 visitors each day in contrast to a figure of 1,000 to 1,500 visitors per day last year.

Dang Dong Ha, Deputy Director of Quang Binh Department of Tourism, stated that during the Tet holiday, the total number of tourists coming to the province suffered a fall of over 15 per cent on-year, of which the number of international visitors saw an one-third decrease.

Ha added that the Department of Tourism now requires transport firms, tour operators, and hotels to regularly deploy clean-up activities in a bid to guarantee the safety of visitors as recommended by the WHO.