COVID-19 has taken its toll on all nations impacting several industries which has caused an abrupt increase of unemployment.
The tourism industry across the globe is the first to feel a menacing blow from a series of travel restrictions and quarantine procedures – not to mention canceled flights and the actual banning of travel from country to country including Vietnam.
The tourism rate of the country has dramatically decreased to 99% at the height of the pandemic. Based on the General Statistics Office, Vietnam has estimatedly welcomed an approximate of 13,800 tourists in September 2020 – about 15.5% lower than the previous month and 99.1% lower compared to what it was last year in the same month.
In the same month last year, Vietnam had consecutively welcomed more than 1.5 million international arrivals for four months however, due to several suspension of international flights, this resulted in a massive decline of the numbers. Along with this, the revenue of food and accommodation services all over Vietnam also dwindled as an effect of the global pandemic.
The tourism industry revenue in the last 9 months was approximately 14.2 trillion VND (about US$ 615 million), 56.3% less compared to the revenue last year over the same period. Several provinces and cities also faced sudden decreases like Khanh Hoa (78.7%); HCMC (73.7%); Quang Nam (70.6%); Ba Ria – Vung Tau (68.5%); Da Nang (68.1%) as an example.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism estimates 4 to 4.5 million tourists should the tourism operates in the fourth quarter of this year – a decrease from an estimate of 5-14 million last year.
To help alleviate the tourism industry’s situation, Vietnam has reopened its airports to 6 qualified countries. As of the moment, foreigners are allowed entry provided they have diplomatic and official passports, experts, business managers, high-skilled workers, investors and a family relative to a Vietnamese citizen. However, there is still no certainty as to when the country would accept travellers.
As of the moment, travel agencies are not as excited about this news. Most think the tourism industry won’t be able to quickly recover by the end of the year.
