Hanoi focuses on development of domestic tourist market

The fourth outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to Hanoi’s tourism sector; however, the capital city’s authorities have carefully calculated plans to restore tourism activities, in which the immediate focus is on recovering and developing the domestic tourist market in parallel with ensuring safety in epidemic prevention and control.

Priority given to community's safety

According to Director of Hanoi municipal Department of Tourism Dang Huong Giang, the city has accelerated the vaccination of the entire population towards gradually restoring socio-economic activities.

The capital's tourism sector has always put the safety of the community, visitors, and tourist facilities as a top priority. All accommodation establishments and destinations were required to register and evaluate their safety on the safe.tourism.com.vn system. The municipal Department of Tourism has regularly propagated, shared and updated information about epidemic prevention policies and regulations for service and accommodation facilities and destinations in the city.

The department is continuing to coordinate with the municipal Department of Health as well as People’s Committees in the districts and towns in order to strengthen training and guidance for the workforce at tourism service facilities so that their staff can thoroughly grasp the process of pandemic prevention and control as well as make prompt settlements in case of suspected cases occurring.

The department will also form inspection and supervision groups to ensure visitors’ safety.

Roadmap for restoration

Dang Huong Giang said that, based on the assessment of the actual situation of Hanoi and plans to carry out policies to stimulate and restore tourism activities launched by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Hanoi Municipal Department of Tourism as developed a report to the city People's Committee on a plan to restore and promote tourism activities in association with COVID-19 prevention and control in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Accordingly, the tourism sector will build a draft set of criteria on safe adaptation to COVID-19 for tourism activities and propose it to the municipal People’s Committee for issuance in the near future. Specifically, tourism restoration will be implemented in four phases, corresponding to epidemic levels.

Services in the city have been reopened for guests since October.

In November, measures are being applied to reopen and restore tourism under the third phase, based on the actual situation. The relevant agencies, businesses and destinations are serving tourists inside Hanoi as well as provinces and cities that controlled the epidemic well.

In December, the city will boost the tourism restoration in the new normal under the fourth phase.

Hanoi’s tourism sector has been building safe tourist attractions and products in accordance with the set of safety criteria in COVID-19 prevention and control for tourism activities in the city. The quality of tourism products as well as destinations associated with heritages, relic sites and trade villages will be improved and upgraded. Meanwhile, travel businesses which registered to develop self-contained and short-term tours and caravans to green tourist destinations will receive great support from functional agencies.

The municipal Department of Tourism expects to organise a series of attractive activities and events during the fourth quarter of this year such as Hanoi Tourism Gift Festival around Hoan Kiem Lake in December, a project on digital transformation in tourism, a forum to improve the knowledge and skills of serving tourists in several districts and towns, several courses on tourism for the residents of trade villages and training courses for human resources in the tourism industry. In addition, the operation of job exchange floors will be enhanced to create favourable conditions for enterprises to access tourism human resources.