Temple of Literature in Hanoi closes due to COVID-19 (Photo: VNA) In the first half of 2021, the number of tourists to Hanoiis estimated at 2.9 million, down 25 percent year-on-year.
The city earned only 8.1 trillion VND (352.6 million USD)from tourism services, a year-on-year decrease of 57 percent.
The start of the fourth coronavirus wave coincided with theNational Reunification Day (April 30) and May Day holidays, which has severelyimpacted the tourism sector.
About 90 percent of customers cancelled their booked toursslated for May and early June while programmes stimulating travel demand insummer, expected to be the “golden season” for tourism businesses, have yet tobegin due to the complex COVID-19 situation in many provinces and cities.
The number of foreigners coming to Hanoi during this time ismodest, mainly experts and workers staying in Vietnam.
Therefore, the capital city’s tourism industry has activelyrestructured new tourism products with a view to better serving domestictourists, such as a night tour to decipher Thang Long Imperial Citadel – aUNESCO-recognised world cultural heritage site, a folk experience tour to theMuseum of Ethnology, or a night tour to the Hoa Lo prison relic site.
The city is designing and making a system of tourist signs,logos for trade villages and souvenirs related to its tourism. It is alsoworking on a set of criteria to evaluate high-quality tourist spots and touristareas for 2021-2025, and has a plan to upgrade the quality of tourism productsand tourist destinations in association with relic sites and craft villages inHanoi also for the period to 2025.
Recently, the municipal Tourism Department has begun toimplement a tourism programme in connection with the B52 Victory Museum.Developing cuisine in line with tourism activities is also a focus of work ofthe department.
Regarding tourism promotion and advertisement, the municipaltourism industry has advised municipal authorities to issue a plan topopularise and promote the capital’s tourist destinations in 2021, whilecoordinating with the Vietnam Television and the Hanoi Television to make andbroadcast reportage and documentaries popularising the image of Hanoi’s tourismand culture, and at the same time promoting its tourism image on LED screens atNoi Bai International Airport, Hoan Kiem Lake and Ly Thai To Monument.
Regarding the cooperation programme with US-based TV channelCNN in 2021, the department is negotiating on terms of the cooperation, toadvise the municipal People's Committee to sign an additional annex to theMemorandum of Understanding for cooperation during 2019-2024 and in 2021. Ithas also coordinated with CNN to select products suitable to the communicationstrategy as well as major events of Vietnam and Hanoi this year.
The municipal tourism sector has designed three growthscenarios for the sector in 2021. In the best scenario, an early recovery willallow Hanoi to welcome 15.34 million domestic visitors, double the figure in2020, and equal to 70 percent of the figure in 2019 before the pandemic. Anearly recovery would mean the normal operation of services and accommodationfacilities, with average occupancy exceeding 45 percent.
The sector has also set an overall target of catering tobetween 13.16 and 19.4 million tourists, including 10.96-15.34 million domesticvisitors, for this year.
The capital city attracted some 8.65 million holidaymakersin 2020, equivalent to 30 percent as compared with 2019, of whom foreignarrivals were estimated at 1.11 million, equivalent to 15.8 percent from lastyear./.
VNA
