Hanoi’s Department of Tourism has been requested to urgently develop an overall plan to stimulate domestic travel, taking advantage of the containment of the Covid-19 pandemic to revive the tourism industry.

Hanoi's mayor Nguyen Duc Chung addresses an online monthly meeting on May 29.

At a monthly meeting of the city People’s Committee on May 29, mayor Nguyen Duc Chung said the municipal Department of Tourism had not put forth any plan to rev up the tourism industry although domestic air services had been almost fully resumed.

At the meeting, Chung also requested the Department of Culture and Sports to organize street cultural activities and cooperate with other provinces to jointly host promotional events.

The department was reminded of monitoring works for the upcoming regional SEA Games 31, slated to take place in Hanoi and surrounding provinces in autumn next year.

On the same day, at a tourism promotion conference held by Khanh Hoa province in Hanoi, Director of Hanoi's Department of Tourism Tran Duc Hai said that the sector had tap into information technology for travel promotion such as posting stimulus packages on websites and encouraging tour operators to use online applications.

Hanoi will focus on building typical tourist packages, among which the highlight is the “Thang Long Tu Tran” (Hanoi’s four sacred temples) tour in the inner city, organizing visits to craft villages and eco-tourism in suburban areas.

The tourism promotion conference held by Khanh Hoa province on May 29 in Hanoi. Photo: Hanoimoi Newspaper

Deputy General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Ngo Hoai Chung emphasized at the conference that with the sizable population of eight million and huge tourism demand, Hanoi is a key and potential market for all other provinces and cities. 

The VNAT will continue to promote many tourism promotion activities of other localities in Hanoi and vice versa.

Hanoi has targeted welcoming 10-11 million domestic tourists in the remaining months of 2020, higher than the same period of 2019. However, the target seems to be ambitious given the uncertain pandemic evolution.