The tourism sector is making concerted efforts to recover after a stagnant stage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on promoting domestic travel while preparing to welcome foreign arrivals.

To give a boost to the domestic market, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism initiated a ‘Vietnamese travelling Vietnam’ campaign. In response, several localities like the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh and the central provinces of Nghe An and Da Nang have launched their own tourism promotion programmes.

Meanwhile, to support the development of products during this period, the Tourism Advisory Council and its partners carried out a study on outstanding travelling trends of Vietnamese after social distancing.

According to the study, demand for tourism began recovering in mid-April, with tourists prioritising safety and discounts. Holiday-makers often want to go to beach and enjoy nature. They prefer short tours with small groups of families and friends to not-so-faraway places. Tour booking is often done via direct contact with service providers or using digital tools.

The Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA), meanwhile, is running a nationwide ‘Vietnam – a bright destination’ programme that lasts from May 15 to the end of the year. It aims at stimulating demand while ensuring safety for visitors, reducing prices but sustaining service quality or keeping prices unchanged but adding more services.

Many popular tour providers, such as Saigontourist, Vietrantour, Vietravel, and Hanoi Redtours have joined the programme by launching numerous packages with discounts of up to 40% that targets travelling groups of at least six members and flying with Vietnam Airlines.

Vu The Binh, deputy head of the VITA, said tourism is receiving huge support from the aviation sector, with 50,000 low-cost air ticket available for travel agencies to make discount packages.

Head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Trung Khanh said the disease has basically been placed under control but tourism is still facing various difficulties and challenges. 

He stressed the need to prepare to welcome tourists from potential markets like China, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand.

Khanh said if the pandemic is controlled in some key markets of Vietnam by September, the sector will propose the Government ease restriction measures and restart activities to lure foreigners, firstly from the ASEAN region and Northeast Asia.

It is hoped that foreign visitors will begin to arrive in the fourth quarter of this year, according to Khanh.