Hanoi (VNA) - The VietnamNational Administration of Tourism (VNAT) is making preparations for the recoveryof the tourism market amid a new COVID-19 outbreak.

Speaking at an onlinemeeting last week, VNAT General Director Nguyen Trung Khanh said theagency was working with localities to rehabilitate the tourism industry asthe new outbreak has hit businesses again after three months of no locallytransmitted cases of COVID-19.

He noted that hotels, transportand other tourism services have a close mutual relationship. 

Any disruption to therelationship greatly affects the overall operation of the tourismindustry, he said.

Tourism has been one of theindustries hardest hit globally by the pandemic, and Vietnam is noexception, with foreign tourist arrivals and tourism revenue falling by morethan 50 percent in the first half of the year, according to Khanh.

After a brief recovery ofdomestic tourism thanks to many promotions, travel firms are now facingthousands of cancellation and refund requests.

Vo Anh Tai, deputy generaldirector of Saigon Tourist Travel Service Company, saidthat most customers who want to cancel tours have requesteda full refund of their payment.

“This is a problem thatenterprises cannot solve by themselves. When customers buy tours, thecompanies have to pay a part of that money to service providers such asairlines, restaurants, hotels and resorts,” he said.

Nguyen Thi Hoat, executivedirector of Top Travel, said the firm is facing challenges related to cashflow. 

“Many customers are delayingtheir payment of the remaining amount that is due for theirchosen tour. When making a contract, the travel companyusually takes only 50-80 percent of the tour value.”

Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang, deputygeneral director of Vietravel, said that as of August 5, morethan 22,300 tourists had cancelled tours worth a totalrevenue of 102 billion VND (4.4 million USD). The number is expected toincrease in the coming time.

Travel firmstypically have to book services with service providers in advance. In“force majeure” events in previous outbreaks, only some service providersagreed to refund, while many others applied penalties whencustomers cancelled tours, Hoang said.

Khanh said the VNATwould continue to provide support to enterprises. However, manytourism businesses said they have been unable to receive governmentincentives since the first COVID-19 outbreak due to the complicatedprocedures they must follow.

Most travel businesses haverequested a reduction of VAT as well as electricity andwater bills. They also would like extension on rentalpayments and financial support for employees in the tourism sector.

Tour cancellations

Preliminary statistics from localities andbusinesses show that the number of tourists who have postponed orcancelled tours has reached hundreds of thousands across the country,significantly affecting tourism service providers.

The cancellation rate in localitiesis expected to be more than 90 percent by the end of themonth. Major tourist hotpots in the country have confirmed that thecancellation rate of tourist bookings has reached more than 80 percent. 

Some customers have agreed to postpone oradjust their travel times, but others have cancelled their tours andrequested a full refund.

After social distancing measures weresuspended in late April, the domestic tourism industry strongly revivedbetween June and early July. According to the VNAT, hotel room occupancyin mid-June reached 60 percent by mid-week and up to 90 percent by the end ofthe week.

Across the nation, the number of domestictourists in June was estimated at 7 million, twice the figure in May. In Da Nang,the city's tourism authority recorded more than 450,000 visitors in June, up 85percent from May.

In response to the resurgence ofCOVID-19, Vietnam is taking serious measures to stop the virus fromentering and spreading in the community, the VNAT said./.