Quang Ninh’s tourism activities progressed bustlingly with positive growth in the first half of the year. Specifically, the number of tourist arrivals was estimated at 8.55 mill, including 2.8 international ones, up 14% over same period last year. The average length of stay of tourists is around 2.7 - 3 days. Tourism revenue achieved nearly 16 tril VND, up 25% against the same period last year.
These achievement resulted from drastic management measures taken by the province and the active coordination among travel agents, tourism sector and localities in implementing tasks and practical solutions in order to increase the quality and efficiency of services.
However, according to the evaluation of the Quang Ninh Department of Tourism, tourism sector is still facing problems especially the so-called “zero-dollar” tour as some Chinese and Vietnamese travel companies sell tours at prices much lower than their costs in order to lure individual tourists, mostly the Chinese. These companies then will get kickbacks from the shops which charge tourists at inflated prices for items they are persuaded or sometimes forced to buy and in doing so these travel companies can afford to keep running the tours. It is no doubt that the scams badly effect the local tourism environment and benefits of tourists. The zero-dollar tours are detected mostly in Ha Long, Mong Cai and Dong Trieu in Quang Ninh.
Co-working with localities, in the first six months of 2019, the Quang Ninh Tourism Department’s inspectors carried out inspection of 133 tour guides, 76 accommodation establishments, three b&b boats and two shops; detected 8 travel companies failed to obey regulations and administrative requirements; checked the managerial responsibility of Van Don and Co To Culture-Tourism Offices to accommodation establishments. The inspectors issued 20 decisions on administrative fine, worth total 91.5 mill VND, to five tour guides, 8 accommodation establishments and seven travel companies.
Along with that, the Department chaired and cooperated with localities to review and re-access tourism resouces, tourism sites and entrance fee policies implemented by Dong Trieu, Hai Ha, Dam Ha, Tien Yen, Ba Che, Bình Lieu…By now, 12/14 localities in the province have developed 33 routes, 88 tourism sites; three recognized tourism sites including two newly recognized sites of Tra Co National Tourism Site in Mong Cai and Cai Chien Provincial Tourism Site in Hai Ha.
Translated by Dao Linh
