Streets that used to be crowded with tourists such as Tran Phu, Nguyen Thai Hoc, Bach Dang, Nguyen Phuc Chu... are now deserted. Shops selling fabrics, clothes, and food are almost all closed.
The Tran Phu - Bach Dang intersection is the central area of Minh An ward (Hoi An city). Before the pandemic, the number of tourists visiting, shopping, and eating here was always bustling. However, according to the business people here, they had to close for nearly a year due to lack of customers.
Many old houses on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street have put up signs for rent or sale for tens of billions of dong because they cannot hold on. Mr. Phan Xuan Thanh, Chairman of the Quang Nam Province Tourism Association, said that due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, up to now, 70-80% of businesses operating in Hoi An ancient town have returned their premises because of high rents and no customers.
Mr. Vu, manager of Hoa Anh Dao restaurant, shared: "Previously, our restaurant rented a two-story house with three facades for 300 million VND/month, with a very crowded customer base, almost full of domestic and foreign tourists. But due to four waves of Covid-19, there were no foreign customers, so we had to sell coffee sparingly. The monthly revenue was not much, but I still opened the restaurant."
Two-storey house with an area of over 200 m2on Nguyen Thai Hoc street is being sold by the owner for 60 billion VND. According to this person, before the pandemic, this was a bustling place and was rented out as a restaurant, however, the previous business owner has now returned the premises.
The house at the intersection of Tran Quy Cap - Nguyen Thai Hoc next to Hoi An market also has a sign for rent. According to the local people, it used to be a souvenir shop with a lot of customers, but because of the pandemic, the tenant closed the shop and returned the premises.
Tran Phu Street (about 20 meters from the Japanese Covered Bridge) used to be a bustling tourist area, but due to the pandemic, most of the shops here were closed. The owner of the house at 182 Tran Phu said that in the past, the rental price was up to hundreds of millions of VND. However, due to the impact of the pandemic, the rental price fluctuated from 30-50 million VND.
