Hanoi (VNA) – The tourism sector is making concertedefforts to recover after a stagnant stage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,focusing on promoting domestic travel while preparing to welcome foreignarrivals.

To give a boost to the domestic market, the Ministry ofCulture, Sports and Tourism initiated a ‘Vietnamese travelling Vietnam’campaign. In response, several localities like the northern coastal province ofQuang Ninh and the central provinces of Nghe An and Da Nang have launched theirown tourism promotion programmes.

Meanwhile, to support the development of products duringthis period, the Tourism Advisory Council and its partners carried out a study onoutstanding travelling trends of Vietnamese after social distancing.

According to the study, demand for tourism began recoveringin mid-April, with tourists prioritising safety and discounts. Holiday-makersoften want to go to beach and enjoy nature. They prefer short tours with smallgroups of families and friends to not-so-faraway places. Tour booking is oftendone via direct contact with service providers or using digital tools.

The Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA), meanwhile, isrunning a nationwide ‘Vietnam – a bright destination’ programme that lasts fromMay 15 to the end of the year. It aims at stimulating demand while ensuringsafety for visitors, reducing prices but sustaining service quality or keepingprices unchanged but adding more services.

Many popular tour providers, such as Saigontourist,Vietrantour, Vietravel, and Hanoi Redtours have joined the programme bylaunching numerous packages with discounts of up to 40 percent that targets travellinggroups of at least six members and flying with Vietnam Airlines.

Vu The Binh, deputy head of the VITA, said tourism isreceiving huge support from the aviation sector, with 50,000 low-cost airticket available for travel agencies to make discount packages.

Head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism(VNAT) Nguyen Trung Khanh said the disease has basically been placed undercontrol but tourism is still facing various difficulties and challenges. 

He stressed the need to prepare to welcome tourists frompotential markets like China, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Australia and NewZealand.

Khanh said if the pandemic is controlled in some keymarkets of Vietnam by September, the sector will propose the Government easerestriction measures and restart activities to lure foreigners, firstly fromthe ASEAN region and Northeast Asia.

It is hoped that foreign visitors will begin to arrive inthe fourth quarter of this year, according to Khanh./.