“The first Chinese travelers are expected to come back to Da Nang on Tet holiday soon. There will be chartered flights from Hong Kong to Da Nang on January 19,” said Cao Tri Dung, chair of the Da Nang Tourism Association.

The association said that travel firms are ready to receive travelers, and believes that the number of Chinese travelers to Da Nang will be high this year. However, this will still depend on the policies of the two countries on tourism encouragement and pandemic control.

“Travel firms want to receive travelers, but they have to observe anti-pandemic regulations. Safety is a top priority,” he said.

Nguyen Duc Quynh, chair of the Da Nang Hotel Association, said Da Nang has high expectations for the return of Chinese travelers in 2023.

Dung said the tourism sector needs to cooperate with agencies to ensure pandemic prevention and create favorable conditions to attract travelers. 

Enterprises, travel firms, and accommodation service providers need to commit to anti-epidemic measures before Da Nang reopens its doors to travelers.

Da Nang recently implemented measures to recover tourism activities, from carrying out promotion programs and building tourism products to ensuring safety and preparing the labor force.

China has been one of the key markets for Da Nang, so the Chinese market reopening on January 8 will be beneficial for the city to diversify tourism sources, in addition to markets that have opened such as South Korea, India and ASEAN.

According to the Da Nang Tourism Department, the city was ready to receive foreign travelers when the government approved the reopening. 

To date, 950 tourism accommodations in the city, which account for 74 percent of total number of accommodations, 300 travel firms and 16 tourism sites have resumed operation.

In 2019, before the pandemic broke out, Da Nang received 3.5 million foreign travelers and 70 percent of them were from South Korea and China (2.5 million).

As for Khanh Hoa, according to Cam Ranh International Terminal, on January 18-26, there will be eight flights between Vietnam and China to land in Cam Ranh International Airport with 150-180 passengers each.

Tran Minh Duc, deputy director of Long Phu Tourism, and his co-workers are working hard these days to prepare to receive travelers on Tet holiday. The entertainment sites on Hoa Lan (Orchid) and Khi (Monkey) Islands, 20 miles away from Nha Trang City’s center, have been examined carefully.

He said that workers have been well trained again though they already have experience in Covid-19 prevention and control.

Vo Quang Hoang, chair of the Khanh Hoa Hotel Association, said accommodations have prepared facilities and the labor force to receive travelers. Hotels and accommodations have repaired rooms, checked services, and recruited and trained more workers.

Ariyana Hotel in Nha Trang began planning the examination of hotel rooms when there was news about China’s border reopening and the return of Chinese travelers in order to ensure high quality of service.

Khanh Hoa’s chair Nguyen Tan Tuan said the Chinese return is good news for the province’s tourism sector.

Asked if he is worried about Chinese coming to Khanh Hoa when nearly all anti-pandemic regulations have been removed, Tuan said Khanh Hoa is one of the localities pioneering in receiving foreign travelers, so it has experience in receiving guests and preventing risks.

The provincial authorities have asked relevant units to implement measures as guided by the Ministry of Health (MOH). 

Cam Ranh Airport needs to closely cooperate with the provincial medical quarantine center to both ensure temperature monitoring for travelers and avoid congestion at the medical quarantine area. 

In 2019, Khanh Hoa received 3.5 million foreign travelers, 70 percent of them from China, while the remaining were from Russia and other countries.

There are 1,100 tourism accommodations in the locality, including 102 3-5-star hotels with 20,000 rooms.

Xuan Ngoc