NDO – Vietnam has been making efforts to ensure safety at destinations and for tourists, particularly accelerating its vaccination campaign against COVID-19 for people and employees at tourism centres, towards gradual expansion nationwide.

This is one of six contents of Plan No.3228/KH-BVHTTDL on implementing policies to stimulate demand and recover tourism and travel activities recently issued by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Accordingly, measures will be enhanced to ensure the safety of destinations and tourism service establishments including the improvement of medical capacity for COVID-19 prevention and control and the proper implementation of the 5K message. Domestic and international visitors who receive vaccination certificates in line with the international recognition system will benefit from favourable conditions to assist in their travel. Phu Quoc island district in Kien Giang Province was chosen as the first destination to pilot the welcoming of foreign tourists with vaccine passports. On that basis, the implementation of vaccine passports will be expanded to other destinations around the country such as Ha Long (in Quang Ninh), Hoi An (in Quang Nam), Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa) and Da Lat (Lam Dong).

In addition, the relevant agencies and travel enterprises will strengthen tourism promotion as well as communication campaigns to stimulate tourism with the messages of “Vietnamese people traveling Vietnam” and “Safe and attractive Vietnam tourism”. The media will focus on introducing the destinations, the process of safe traveling and the new policies related to exit and entry activities while updating information about new travel programmes with attractive promotions. Tourism promotion should be enhanced via diverse propaganda channels including websites, social networks, online travel events, major international channels and cooperation plans with Vietnamese representative agencies abroad. Tourism businesses are encouraged to developed stimulus packages with incentives and commitments to quality. Management agencies will support enterprises to reconnect to both online and direct markets and promote their products.

Plan No.3228/KH-BVHTTDL also emphasises the necessity to develop diverse products to meet new market trends, carry out pla better nning of tourism systems, orient the development of sustainable and safe tourism products and tourism associated with natural experiences and health protection. It is crucial to support the development of tourism products that can meet the diverse changes in the market such as night tourism products and services, travelling in association with cuisine, agricultural tourism, eco-tourism, golf tourism and health care tourism.

The relevant agencies will continue to boost digital transformation in tourism, develop a national database system on tourism and form a digital information system about tourist sites, destinations, establishments and services. In particular, information and technology apps ensuring safe tourism for destinations, service providers and tourists, such as the “Vietnam safe travel” app, the registration and declaration system for safety at https://safe.tourism.com.vn, digital COVID-19 vaccination certification system https://travelpass.tourism.vn, will be applied to serve international tourists when conditions permit.

A smart tourism ecosystem and convenient mobile applications will be developed to support visitors. Functional agencies will also help travel businesses to connect, introduce and sell their products more conveniently via the online environment including at virtual fairs, forums and programmes.

Enterprises will receive support to boost the recovery of tourism activities. Preferential credit programmes will be proposed for business recovery activities, the payment of employees’ wages, market study and development of new products and services of tourism businesses. Tax exemptions and reductions for stimulation activities, the development of new products and services, digital transformation and vocational training are also mentioned in the plan.

Great support will be given to the development of human resources with high skills who can meet the requirements for the recovery of tourism activities in the new situation.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism requires the implementation of the plan to ensure the dual goal of epidemic control and socio-economic development and a harmonious combination between epidemic prevention and control and travel activities as well as the uniformity, feasibility and effectiveness of policies and measures to stimulate demand and rejuvenate tourism activities.