Vietnam’s tourism industry is deploying Covid-19 prevention measures at the highest level in order to ensure visitor safety.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism’s Tourism Information Technology Center under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism received feedback from a German tourist on an app named “Du lich Viet Nam an toan” (Safe travel in Vietnam), complaining that he was charged VND200,000 for a 2.7km journey in May. The center transferred the information to an inspection team from the Hanoi Department of Transport and a taxi driver was fined for ripping off the foreign tourist. The money was handed back to the German tourist, illustrating high effectiveness of the app.
The app, launched last year, is designed to make it easier for visitors to check how safe destinations are. It includes digital maps with information on restaurants, hotels, apartments, entertainment places, transport providers, hospitals and pharmacies whose owners and managers have submitted their safety precautions to authorized agencies. Visitors can look up information about the status of Covid-19 cases in particular localities, as well as details about the number of recovered patients there. Tourists are free to send their feedback and comments on the service quality of places they visited as well as whether places met the safety standards which they laid out on the app.
Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Deputy General Director Ha Van Sieu emphasized the necessity of promoting the application of digital technology in tourism services to improve the efficiency of state management, ensure a healthy tourism business environment and protect tourist interests in Vietnam.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has requested localities to keep urging and supervising the registration of tourist accommodations on the app. All tourist accommodations will have to publish QR codes so that tourists can check their safety level before booking. More than 10,000 out of 30,000 lodging facilities nationwide have conducted Covid-19 safety self-assessment on the app.
The rate of Covid-19 safety self-assessment on the app is quite high in some localities, such as Khanh Hoa Province (323 registered tourist accommodations with 9,360 declarations) and Da Nang (376 registered tourist accommodations with 7,100 declarations).
Some localities such as Quang Ninh and Da Nang have begun to reopen tourism services but services and tourist attractions are required to comply with Covid-19 prevention measures.
Vietnam’s tourism industry is facing many difficulties due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a large number of travel agencies declaring bankruptcy. Travel agencies hope that state management agencies and localities will strengthen information dissemination on safe destinations, and the government will offer new support packages. |
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