The Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board (TAB) has recently requested a government-guaranteed credit package of VND150 trillion (US$6.4 billion) to support businesses in the sector overcome the Covid-19 pandemic.

The value of the credit package is equivalent to about 25% of total tourism revenue in 2019.

Halong Bay in Quang Ninh province. Photo: Quoc Te newspaper

Under the initiative, each travel business can take a government-backed loan equivalent to the amount of value-added tax, corporate income tax and payroll tax it paid in 2019.

Businesses that have a travel business license, registered capital of at least VND3 billion (US$127,972), employed at least 10 full-time people before February 29 and have paid payroll tax and personal income and value-added taxes in 2019 are eligible for the loan.

The package would be disbursed quarterly, and the borrowers will repay the debt 11 months after getting the loan.

Earlier, the TAB’s survey showed that 71% of 394 Vietnamese travel and tourism enterprises saw a decline of 30% in revenue in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same quarter of 2019. Seventy-seven percent of total enterprises estimated a plunge of more than 80% in revenue in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019.

Among the surveyed businesses, 18% of total businesses had to lay off all the employees and  48% discharged 50% their workers. Besides, 75% of total surveyed businesses offered some kinds of financial support to their laid off workers. 

More than 88% of businesses responded that they need the government-guaranteed credit package.