The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has called on localities and businesses to continue stimulating demand for domestic tourism in the final months of this year in the context of global travel restrictions, Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, director general of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, told Lao dong Thu do.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, director general of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism

In order to efficiently implement the domestic tourism stimulus program in phase 2, it is necessary to continue promoting the alliances established in the previous phase between suppliers and partners to create attractive stimulus packages that are adapted to each segment of clients, Mr. Khanh said, adding that the participation of large companies is the engine that powers the travel demand at the national level.

One of the objectives of the tourism demand stimulus program is not only to focus on domestic travel of Vietnamese people, but also to expand to include foreigners living in Vietnam, those who can be ambassadors of Vietnam's safe and attractive travel destination to the international tourism market.

Mr. Khanh emphasized that the domestic tourism stimulus program in phase 2 would need to address the issues that occurred in the previous period. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has required localities to proactively inspect compliance with commitments regarding price and quality, flexible refund and change policies, as well as the Covid-19 regulations and prevention at the destinations and local businesses.

However, the extended stimulus program is to face more difficulties than the previous period. The first factor is the low year-end travel season given the new academic year and the winter season in the North, which greatly affects resort activities in the Northern and Central coastal provinces.

Secondly, the prolonged disease has taken a heavy toll on businesses and workers, leading to a drop in their spending on tourism. Thirdly, Covid-19 has also impacted heavily the tourism business community, as well as the quality of services and resources.

Fansipan, Lai Chau province. Photo: Vu Minh Quan

Best way for tourism

As Vietnam has controlled the pandemic but not yet opened up inbound tourism, the industry will give priority to stimulating domestic travel. Accordingly, it will not only increase the number of Vietnamese travelers and expats in Vietnam, but also focus on potential outbound tourists, those with high spending growth per year but unable to travel to foreign countries. 

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) will support companies to invest in new and attractive products to change the travel perception of domestic tourists from being associated with "summer holidays", especially in the northern coastal provinces, to travel throughout the year.

Local businesses should develop "off-season" tourism products such as fall sightseeing in Hanoi, winter spa on Cat Ba Island, discovery of the northwestern region and Sapa in winter, among others, targeting tourists from the south, Khanh suggested.

The VNAT has carried out activities to strengthen the links between destinations, airlines, travel agencies, hotels, transportation companies and related service providers to improve the quality of service and offer more attractive travel packages for national and foreign tourists.

In addition to focusing on stimulating domestic demand, the industry will focus on promoting the safe and attractive image of Vietnamese tourism. 

“We will continue restructuring the tourist market, building tourism products in line with the needs of travelers, enhance communication to promote a safe and attractive destination for inbound tourists as soon as the pandemic is under control around the world,” Mr. Khanh moted.