Connection is an important factor to help tourism overcome difficulties after Covid-19

In the context of the Covid-19 epidemic in Vietnam being basically controlled, the tourism industry is determined to develop solutions and find opportunities to recover after the epidemic. With that spirit, on May 8, 2020, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued a Plan to launch the Program "Vietnamese people travel to Vietnam". To implement this plan, to stimulate domestic tourism, the Private Economic Development Research Board and the General Department of Tourism coordinated with VnExpress Electronic Newspaper, the Tourism Advisory Board (TAB), and Bamboo Airways to organize the Conference "Golden time to discover the beauty of Vietnam" on May 16 in Thanh Hoa.

The conference took place with two official sessions: "Solutions to stimulate domestic tourism in the golden time" and "Introducing the golden time to discover the beauty of Vietnam". Through basic analysis and forecasting of Vietnamese tourist behavior during Covid-19 on the Google platform and many small-scale studies, the agencies have combined with businesses in the current Vietnamese tourism market to discuss solutions, actions; "leverage" policies to recover and stimulate domestic tourism. Thereby, all together create an overall link to develop Vietnamese tourism after Covid.

"Vietnam has launched a campaign for Vietnamese people to travel to Vietnam. The market of Vietnamese people traveling abroad is up to 16 million visitors. This year, this market is unlikely to be effective because of the heavy impact, so everyone will return to travel to Vietnam!" - Mr. Tran Trong Kien, Chairman of the Tourism Advisory Board (TAB), commented that stimulating domestic tourism is an important factor.

Provinces and cities launch "stimulus" tourism packages

Mr. Cao Tuong Huy - Vice Chairman of Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee said: In the first three months of the year, the total number of tourists to Quang Ninh decreased by 72%, revenue decreased by 72% compared to the same period in 2019. To revive the tourism industry, Quang Ninh province issued a resolution to support stimulus, exempting more than 200 billion VND of tourism fees, entrance tickets to locations, exempting VAT for businesses, VAT for tourism consumption, allowing businesses to delay paying corporate tax, social insurance, land tax... In addition, the province also improved the transportation system, encouraged businesses to launch new products and established the Quang Ninh Tourism Stimulus Alliance.

Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Thua Thien Hue Province, Mr. Phan Thien Dinh pointed out solutions to stimulate local tourism including reducing entrance fees to tourist attractions and reducing accommodation prices. The leaders of Thua Thien Hue Province proposed the government to reopen the Hue - Hanoi and Hue - Vinh flights to meet the needs of tourists.

Nghe An Department of Tourism has committed to reducing accommodation services by up to 40%; Restaurant, entertainment and recreation services: 20-30% discount; Travel and transportation services: 30-40% discount for these services. To attract tourists to Quang Binh, Mr. Ho An Phong, Director of the Department of Tourism, said that it is necessary to increase domestic flights. In addition, localities must accept losses so that tourists can travel at preferential costs.

These are just a few typical examples of the many incentive packages and tourism stimulus packages that localities have simultaneously "launched" to the market in the past month, creating a new trend called "Domestic tourism". Surveys by VnExpress and TAB show that the demand and willingness to travel of Vietnamese people is not low, especially after a long period of accepting social distancing. A representative of Google Asia - Pacific said that from mid-April until now, the number of searches for domestic tourism keywords has increased compared to the first 3 months of the year. The number of searches for domestic flights accounts for 85% in 30 days and increased by 85% compared to the same period in 2019. The type of sea tourism and nature exploration is receiving top attention from many domestic tourists.

Recognizing that direction, the provinces have not only launched stimulus packages together but also created tourism alliances in groups to create breakthroughs, including the tourism stimulus alliance of the four provinces of Binh Dinh - Phu Yen - Gia Lai - Dak Lak.

Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Gia Lai, Dak Lak are 4 provinces with great advantages in terms of transportation when there are 04 commercial airports with full routes to Saigon, Hanoi, etc. and all airlines provide flight services. Besides, there is also the North - South railway passing through with major stations. In terms of potential combination, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen are two provinces with very developed marine resources while Gia Lai and Dak Lak are considered the "capitals" of the Central Highlands with hills and mountains interspersed with plains - valleys and majestic waterfalls. The combination of this tourism alliance will certainly create quality tourism products at affordable prices, suitable for domestic tourists at this time.

Businesses join hands with the government

Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh - General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said that the Covid-19 outbreak has caused the Vietnamese tourism industry to temporarily freeze. Since March, Vietnam has restricted international flights, down 18.1% compared to the same period in 2019. After the period of social distancing is the golden time to revive the tourism industry. Therefore, in addition to the quick participation of provinces and cities and the government, the General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism also requested that associations, businesses, airlines, and tourism transport must cooperate and link together, considering this an important factor to restore domestic tourism after the Covid crisis.

Sharing the same view with local and business representatives, Deputy Minister Le Quang Tung directed businesses to cooperate with each other and with localities to develop tourism together. To open tourism, airlines must be opened. Localities need to introduce policies to support businesses to implement recovery plans.

In the context of the difficult tourism industry, Mr. Trinh Van Quyet - Chairman of FLC Group commented that businesses and localities need to invest efforts, money, and costs to promote destinations. After the social distancing, Bamboo Airway will combine with FLC's ecosystem to create new tourism products such as: Combo packages, package tours... to help those who do not have the conditions to have the opportunity to travel.

Bamboo Airways representative shared the 45,000 VND ticket price program, the Hello Summer program, combined with combo airfare - hotel packages or the Customer Appreciation program - 20% discount code. This travel agency also cooperates with a series of partners such as banks, e-commerce platforms to help customers use convenient services, providing business services, business class services with 30-50% cost savings.

Acting as a platform connecting suppliers with customers, iVIVU operates with a travel combo model, which is of interest to many people. Typical travel combos that are currently popular with customers are: Combo of air tickets - hotel - airport pick-up, combo of air tickets - entertainment - meals during the day... with reasonable prices, meeting the needs of customers.

In addition, Vietnam has a variety of tourism types, nature has become fresher and cleaner, not inferior (even more outstanding) compared to famous international destinations. Typically, with adventure tourism, Quang Binh province has quickly cooperated with local tourism businesses to reduce 50% of tours to explore the province's famous cave chain. Mr. Ho An Phong - Director of Quang Binh Department of Tourism affirmed at the Conference: "Transport health and connectivity are two important factors to restore tourism!"

With such close cooperation between businesses and the government, businesses and businesses, Vietnam hopes to create new attractions for the domestic tourism market so that tourists have the opportunity to experience the "golden time".

My Tong