Khanh Hoa tourism strives for "dual goals"

Since the fourth outbreak of Covid-19, Khanh Hoa tourism has been considered to be “hibernating in the middle of summer”. Tourism activities and key tourist attractions are in a difficult situation. Tourism businesses and tourism staff are struggling. The restaurant and hotel system is quiet.

After more than 3 months of social distancing to prevent and combat the Covid-19 pandemic, Khanh Hoa has returned to implementing the "dual goal" of both preventing and combating the pandemic and gradually restoring production and business activities, in which tourism is a key area. However, to do so is extremely difficult while the pandemic is still very complicated.

To resume tourism, Khanh Hoa province has initially vaccinated more than 18,000 workers in the tourism industry. The Department of Tourism has also developed a plan to implement solutions and activities to attract visitors in the "new normal" state.

In the immediate future, the tourism sector will focus on welcoming domestic tourists with the program “Khanh Hoa people travel to Khanh Hoa”, followed by domestic tourism from non-epidemic areas to Khanh Hoa. At the same time, the province is preparing steps to welcome international tourists with “vaccine passports”.

Since October 1, the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee has allowed tourist establishments to provide services to receive domestic guests. According to the proposal of the Department of Tourism, visitors must have received 2 doses of vaccine (the second dose must be at least 14 days after the first dose) or have received 1 dose of vaccine and have a certificate of negative test result for SARS-CoV-2; have a certificate of recovery from Covid-19 recognized by a competent authority in Vietnam.

However, up to now, many businesses are still not ready to open. Being able to welcome guests is a positive sign, but it will take some time for businesses and tourists to stabilize before discussing real vacations.

It is known that currently, resorts in the North Cam Ranh Peninsula Tourist Area (Bai Dai area) such as: The Anam, Fusion Maia, Radisson Blu... have reopened. However, the number of guests booking resort rooms is very small, most of them only ask about prices and regulations for welcoming guests.

In addition, large and isolated tourist areas such as Vinpearl and Merperle Hon Tam have not yet reopened to welcome visitors. Tourist attractions such as Ponagar Tower and Hon Chong are still temporarily closed to visitors.

Similarly, I-resort Nha Trang mineral spring tourist area is also expected to reopen to welcome guests in early November.

According to regulations, employees serving in tourist establishments must have a certificate of having received 2 doses of vaccine (the second dose must be at least 14 days old) or a certificate of having recovered from Covid-19 recognized by a competent authority in Vietnam. However, up to now, employees of tourist establishments have only received 1 dose of vaccine (yellow card), so if they open, they must be tested every 3 days, which is very expensive.

The reopening of the tourism market is a good thing. However, the reopening will face many difficulties in terms of costs because the number of domestic tourists is not high.

The phase of welcoming domestic tourists will be considered a warm-up and rehearsal before opening to welcome domestic tourists nationwide. The tourism industry hopes that with the epidemic well controlled, increasing vaccine coverage, and regular flights being operated again, after October 15, the number of tourists to Khanh Hoa will increase again. In addition, the industry also hopes that welcoming international visitors with "vaccine passports" will contribute to the recovery of Khanh Hoa's tourism activities.

In short, when the number of people vaccinated and cured of Covid-19 increases as it is now, there should be no delay in opening the economy, including tourism. However, Covid-19 is unpredictable, and during the recovery phase of the tourism sector, it is also necessary to pay close attention to medical solutions. "Vaccine passport", "Covid green card", "Covid yellow card" are the top conditions, but it is still necessary to strictly implement medical regulations to completely prevent the outbreak of the disease in the community.

Therefore, in addition to the determination to open tourism, it is necessary to have the participation of the health sector, local authorities as well as the awareness of tourists and local people when piloting the opening to welcome visitors.