Quang Ninh to hold 50 tourism stimulus events by year’s end

 

Quang Ninh plans to organise 50 events and activities to stimulate travel demand and promote tourism from now to the end of 2021, Director of the provincial Tourism Department Pham Ngoc Thuy said.

He noted the provincial People’s Committee has built a plan on tourism recovery and tourist attraction for the fourth quarter. It has also completed a provisional set of criteria for COVID-19 safety evaluation for tourism based on which a safe travel model will be devised to minimise pandemic-related risks to locals and visitors.

Quang Ninh identified safety and risk control as the prerequisite for the local administration, travel businesses, and residents to succeed in implementing the tourism recovery plan because only when safety is ensured can tourism activities be resumed.

Besides, each tourism service provider must guarantee the best services at reasonable prices for their customers on the basis of the province’s travel stimulus policy, according to Thuy.

Guided by the provincial administration and tourism authorities’ orientations, localities in Quang Ninh are taking various measures to stimulate local travel demand.

Many entertainment and resort complexes such as Legacy Yen Tu, Vinpearl Ha Long, Tuan Chau international tourism complex, FLC Ha Long, Sun World Halong Complex, Premier Village Halong Bay Resort, and Yoko Onsen Quang Hanh have readied infrastructure, personnel, and plans on pandemic safety control to welcome visitors back.

Quang Ninh has designed several safe travel models applied to the areas relatively isolated from the mainland such as Tuan Chau Island; islands of Co To, Van Don, and Hai Ha districts, and Mong Cai city; along with mountainous communes of Binh Lieu district. It is also encouraging night tours on Ha Long Bay that use all-in-one services and do not cause pandemic risks to the community.

To reactivate tourism in the “new normal”, the People’s Committees of Quang Ninh and neighbouring Hai Phong city held a meeting in late September to discuss cooperation in tourism development.

At this event, the two sides agreed to keep working together to boost tourism, build a coordination mechanism for managing passenger and tourist transport vehicles on Ha Long and Lan Ha bays, and complete a dossier seeking the UNESCO recognition of Ha Long Bay - Cat Ba Archipelago as a world natural heritage site.

They are expected to sign a set of regulations on tourism activities, with pandemic safety taken into account, this October so as to reopen this industry.

Since the start of this month, Quang Ninh has resumed some local travel activities with COVID-19 prevention and control measures carried out seriously. That will provide lessons for the province to pilot welcoming visitors from other localities that have put the pandemic under control, starting November, when all eligible residents will have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus disease.

The provincial administration also asked tourism authorities to swiftly work out a master plan on tourism recovery for 2022 and 2023, when Quang Ninh is reopened to more groups of travellers.

Quang Ninh is striving to attract 1.9 - 2 million travellers and earn 4 - 4.5 trillion VND (175.6 - 197.5 million USD) from tourism services in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The province is endowed with natural advantages for sea and island tourism. It has a coastline of more than 250 kilometres and more than 2,000 islands and islets which account for two-thirds of the total number in Vietnam.

It is home to popular destinations such as Ha Long Bay, Bai Tu Long Bay, Ha Long Bay National Park and some islands.

In particular, Ha Long Bay was recognised twice as a World Natural Heritage site by UNESCO, in 1994 and 2000./.