Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Damrequested relevant ministries to soon set the schedules for this year’supcoming public holidays and school summer break to boost domestic travel demand.
Dam made the request during a meeting with the Ministry ofCulture, Sports, and Tourism; Ministry of Transport; Ministry of Finance;Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA) and several travel firms in Hanoi on June 3to help the tourism industry weather the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vietnam has more than 40,000 businesses and about 4.5million people working in the tourism industry, one of the sectors hardest hit bythe COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
Many small-size tourism enterprises have been put undergreat pressure by the outbreak so the government must find ways to re-energizethem, he said.
Dam noted that though small firms like community-basedtourism and homestay service providers are not large contributors to the Statebudget, they have played a crucial part in reducing poverty and improving livingstandards in remote and disadvantaged areas.
The Deputy PM asked the relevant ministries, agencies and localadministrations to slash fees for hospitality firms fairly to help themovercome difficulties.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the VietnamNational Administration of Tourism were tasked to coordinate with localadministrations and the VITA to boost domestic travel demand and advertisedestinations in the Northwestern, Northeastern and central coastal regions sobusinesses would not have to do it all by themselves.
He also suggested to the stakeholders organize more virtual internationaltravel promotion events and develop tourism programmes to promote Vietnam as asafe destination amid COVID-19.
According to the VITA, international tourist arrivals toVietnam in the first five months of this year totalled 3.7 million while the number of domestic holidaymakers stood at 16 million, down 50 percent and 58.5 percent, respectively,from the same period last year.
🌟 Revenue from tourism plunged over 47 percent to 150.3trillion VND (6.47 billion USD)./.

🌸 Tourism services reopen at destinations in central region
Tourism services at popular destinations in the ancient town of Hoi An, the central province of Quang Ngai, is set to open from June 1 after being closed for two months to prevent the spread of COVID-19.