According to the recent Notice No. 43/TB-VPCP on 16th February 2022 issued by the Government Office, international tourism activities in Viet Nam will be fully reopened from March 15th.
Currently, Da Nang’s tourism businesses are waiting for specific instructions from relevant ministries to resume their tourism activities after a three-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the reduced operating frequency period due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Furama Resort Danang has invested 15 million USD to renovate entire facilities, interior and landscape reservation, as well as human resources training.
The resort has cooperated with universities to organize training courses for their staff and supervisors. In the future, a Furama Training Academy specializing in hotel and restaurant services will be established to meet the demand of tourism market development.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Quynh, General Manager of the Furama Resort Danang, Chairman of Danang Hotel Association remarked that: Besides the upgrading facilities, the resort also established a team to welcome international and domestic guests in the “new normal”.
The resort has worked closely with the Da Nang Centre for Disease Control and the Department of Tourism to create a standard process to welcome and isolate tourists who are infected with COVID-19. All works relating to tourist reception are prepared carefully.
Meanwhile, some travel agencies have planned to organize overseas tours after the hiatus period. For example, the VIET Adventure Travel Co Ltd. (Adventure) has received deposits for its overseas tours to Thailand and Dubai (UAE) in March after two years of the pandemic. Mr. Ho Thanh Tu, Director of the VIET Adventure Travel Co Ltd. cum General Secretary of Da Nang Tourism Association, announced that travel companies are waiting until 15th March to reopen entire tourism activities according to the Notice of the Government Office.
However, everything seems unsure when several relevant ministries and branches, such as the Ministry of Health, have not officially issued specific instructions on prevention and control of the pandemic in the “new normal”.
“In case Vietnam tourism has not reopened yet on March 15, we will refund 100% tour costs for our customers, no charge included” said Mr. Tu.
From March to June, it is forecasted that the resumption of the international tourist markets will mainly focus on several Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Singapore. In the meantime, the major tourist markets of Da Nang such as Japan, Korea, Europe are still hesitant to reopen their borders because of strict medical isolation decrees from the government. As a result, the number of visitors coming to Vietnam from these markets is still limited.
“Tourism companies are now in need of specific instructions from relevant ministries and branches, especially the Ministry of Health when Viet Nam reopens from March 15 to welcome international visitors“, Chairman of Da Nang Tourism Association Cao Tri Dung emphasized.
In addition to the initiative of companies and accommodation facilities, in early 2022, Da Nang Hotel Association signed a cooperation agreement with Da Nang Tourism Junior College that supported members of the Association about legal records to receive funds from the Government to improve and enhance professional skills for managers and employees.
According to a statistic of Da Nang Tourism Association, the city has more than 200 international and domestic tourism businesses. Among them, there are about 50 international tourism businesses, 1.272 accommodation establishments with 44.810 rooms. Currently, the number of resumed accommodation establishments is 350 with nearly 14.000 rooms (27%). Particularly, the quantity of 4/5- star hotels opened is 40 over 88, 3-star is 30 over 125, 2-star, and under is 280 over 1.059. Until the beginning of April, the number of accommodation establishments reopened will refer to 500 with over 20.000 rooms.
