Vietnam must prove to international tourists that the country remains a safe and friendly destination to win back their trust amid this time of falling tourist numbers due to tension in the East Vietnam Sea, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam urged Friday.
International tourists are pictured on a trip around My Tho city in Tien Giang, southern Vietnam.
Many key tourism spots across Vietnam experienced a decline in tourist arrivals in May, partly because of the high tension in the East Vietnam Sea over an oil rig China has illegally stationed within Vietnamese waters since the beginning of the month.
“New challenges, new chances,” the deputy premier told a meeting held by the Central Steering Committee for Tourism in Hanoi.
“We should take the drop in tourist arrivals as a motivation to resolve problems that long remain unsolved in the tourism industry.”
The tourism industry must step up crackdown on scam taxi operators and unregistered tour organizers, Dam ordered.
“The first focus must be put on the restroom,” he said.
Tourists from the developed countries will not believe that Vietnam is a friendly destination if they see trash everywhere on their journeys, Dam explained.
“We should provide holidaymakers with a wholehearted, cheerful and clean tourism.”
Deputy Prime Minister Dam also asked the tourism sector to propose plans to support the border localities that have suffered slumping tourist numbers due to the oil rig tension.
The tourism industry should also strengthen promotional campaigns at key markets such as Japan, South Korea, the Europe, North America, and potential markets including India, Middle East, and the ASEAN, he added.
“It is requested that we keep the tourism revenue falling at the lowest rate possible in this year,” Dam pressed.
“We must have stronger resolution and propose more breakthroughs to escape from this difficulty.”
Brighter signs
Although international arrivals in May have been on a decline, some localities have also witnessed brighter signs in the last days of the month.
Ha Thi Nga, deputy chairwoman of the northern province of Lao Cai, which borders China, said a travel society from the Chinese town of Hekou visited the province’s Sa Pa Town on Thursday to prepare to resume offering packages to the famed tourism spot.
Sa Pa will welcome the first tourist group from China after a hiatus this weekend, she added.
A delegation of tourism companies from the Chinese district of Dongxing is also scheduled to arrive in Quang Ninh on Saturday to discuss plans to bring Chinese holidaymakers back to the Vietnamese northern city, known worldwide for its iconic Ha Long Bay.
Da Nang, the Vietnamese central tourism hub, has also welcoming back more international tourists over the week.
Vietnam welcomed around 3.74 million international tourists in the first five months of this year, a 26.7 percent increase compared to a year earlier, according to the Central Steering Committee for Tourism.
However, tourist numbers are expected to drop in the last months of the year, especially those from the Chinese-speaking markets, the committee noted.
Source: Tuoitrenews
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