Hanoi (VNA) ༒- The fourth COVID-19 resurgence, which started from April 27, has forced Vietnamese businesses to rethink their approaches in order to stimulate demand for domestic travel, towards reviving the “non-smoke” industry.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, Vietnam's tourism recorded a miraculous growth and revenue from international holiday-makers was constantly increasing. After three wave of COVID-19 outbreaks since early 2020, travel companies are operating with great uncertainty. Many businesses have even had to reduce their workforce or stop operations entirely. According to Chairman and General Director of Thien Minh Group Tran Trong Kien, the international customer segment accounted for 85 percent of his firm’s total revenue before the pandemic, but since April 2020, the travel agency has depended on domestic visitors for 100 percent of revenue. "In the early stage of the health crisis, we lost 3-4 billion VND every day, but thanks to timely adjustments and effective business management, the company has now started to make a profit," Kien said. According to him, previously, high-end products of Thien Minh Group were almost exclusively for foreign tourists, but now they are designed for local visitors. Kien, who has 30-year experience in the travel field, said the domestic market is a foundation for travel firms and there is still great room for exploitation. The COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged the world for over a year. The global economy is in its worst recession ever. However, looking at it from another angle, the pandemic is not merely a "destructor", but it forces travel agencies to make changes, adjustments, promote digital transformation and restructure their operations to effectively respond to challenges caused by the crisis, Kien said. Digital transformation is not only a trend but also a solution for tourism businesses to save themselves in this difficult context, Kien stressed. He cited as an example that amid the pandemic in 2020, the online travel platform ivivu.com of Thien Minh Group witnessed a strong growth both of visits and products sold. Vu The Binh, Vice Permanent Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said promoting domestic tourism is the lifebuoy for the whole sector at present. Travel agencies will focus on stimulating domestic tourism demand in 2021 (Photo: VietnamPlus) According to head of the Tourism Advisory Board (TAB) Secretariat Hoang Nhan Chinh, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything, including the demand and travel habit of tourists, as well as the operation of travel firms. Recent research results of TAB show that visitors tend to book short tours right before their departure, and choose to go by road more than other means, and travel in small groups or families. Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung also said domestic travel plays a key role in tourism now. It is high time for the whole sector to review, find new approaches and change methods as well as the thinking among tourism workers to revive the travel market, he said. Amid complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel firms have massively changed their operating models intending to fully exploit this ‘gold mine’. They realized that cheap prices are no longer the most attractive factor for visitors. According to the head of the Communications Department of the Vietnam Tourism Association and General Director of Flamingo Redtours, Nguyen Cong Hoan, instead of lowering service prices, businesses should focus on developing specific products for each target group to lure holiday-makers. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the “Vietnamese people travel to Vietnamese destinations” campaign to encourage Vietnamese citizens to travel domestically to support local businesses after social distancing measures were eased. Experts said that the most important thing for travel firms now is to ensure they have quality products to offer. Preferential pricing policies are completely unnecessary when the market is so volatile, they added./.