Policy implications for vietnam tourism industry in the COVID 19 pandemic context

Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế TED-2021 Văn hóa, giáo dục du lịch với phát triển kinh tế _ VHTTDL Educational and Scientific Institute of Culture, Sports and Tourism Culture, Education TED-2021 Proceedings of the International Conference on TOURISM with Economic Development with keynote speakers Professor Bada Mohamed & Michael W Burnbaum, JD NHÀ XUẤT BẢN THÔNG TIN VÀ TRUYỀN THÔNG ` -i- TED-2021 Proceedings of the International Conference on Culture, Education, and Tourism with Economic Development _ VHTTDL Viện Khoa học Giáo dục Văn hóa Thể thao Du lịch Hội thảo khoa học quốc tế TED-2021 VĂN HÓA, GIÁO DỤC VÀ DU LỊCH VỚI PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ đồng tổ chức Khoa Du lịch, Trường Đại học Đà Lạt Viện Khoa học Giáo dục Văn hóa Thể thao Du lịch Khoa Du lịch - Khách sạn, Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ - Tin học TP HCM Đà Lạt, ngày 06-08 tháng năm 2021 KỶ YẾU HỘI THẢO KHOA HỌC QUỐC TẾ CÓ PHẢN BIỆN ISBN: 978-604-80-5756-5 - ii - TED-2021 Proceedings of the International Conference on Culture, Education, and Tourism with Economic Development _ KỶ YẾU HỘI THẢO KHOA HỌC QUỐC TẾ CÓ PHẢN BIỆN International conference papers were revised by the review committee ISBN: 978-604-80-5756-5 - iii - TED-2021 Proceedings of the International Conference on Culture, Education, and Tourism with Economic Development _ LỜI NĨI ĐẦU Tiếp nối thành cơng hội thảo quốc tế lần năm 2019, để góp phần phát triển kinh tế nói chung du lịch nói riêng, sở đảm bảo mục tiêu giáo dục bền vững bảo tồn nguồn tài nguyên văn hóa, Viện Khoa họ c Giá o dụ c Văn hó a Thể thao và Du lịch chủ trì, phối hợp Khoa Du lịch Trường Đại học Đà Lạt Khoa Du lịch - Khách sạn Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ - Tin học Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, đồng tổ chức hội thảo quốc tế với chủ đề: “Văn hóa, giáo dục du lịch với phát triển kinh tế” Ban tổ chức hội thảo chân thành cảm ơn tác giả nước quốc tế, quan tâm viết bài, đóng góp tiếng nói phản biện, xây dựng khoa học nước nhà, mục tiêu phát triển văn hóa, giáo dục, du lịch kinh tế bền vững Ban tổ chức đặc biệt ghi nhận cộng tác bền bỉ diễn giả quốc tế, thành viên ban biên tập phản biện, Nhà xuất Thông tin Truyền thông đồng hành qua kỳ hội thảo Sách kỷ yếu kết cụ thể đóng góp hợp tác Nội dung sách phân chia thành 06 phần, tương ứng với phiên song song hội thảo, bên cạnh tóm tắt phiên tồn thể, cụ thể sau: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ GS Bada Mohamed: Disasters and its impacts on Tourism: The case of COVID-19 TS Michael Burnbaum: Nha Trang tourism through a foreignêr’s impressions Phần I: Văn hóa Văn hóa Du lịch Việt Nam Phần II: Giáo dục với phát triển kinh tế du lịch Phần III: Kinh tế du lịch tác động đại dịch COVID-19 Phần IV: Phát triển du lịch Đà Lạt kinh nghiệm từ địa phương khác Phần V: Du lịch Việt Nam hội nhập phát triển bền vững Phần VI: Việt Nam thời kỳ đại hóa chuyển đổi số Mọi góp ý cho hội thảo sách kỷ yếu vui lòng tiếp nhận thông qua kênh liên lạc sau đây: Viện Khoa họ c Giá o dụ c Văn hó a Thể thao và Du lịch Địa chỉ: 109 Lý Thường Kiệt, Phường 9, thành phố Đà Lạt, tỉnh Lâm Đồng Điện thoại: 08.6690.1080, Email: banbientaphoithao@gmail.com Đà Lạt, ngày 06 tháng năm 2021 - iv - TED-2021 Proceedings of the International Conference on Culture, Education, and Tourism with Economic Development _ NỘI DUNG KỶ YẾU Disasters and its impacts on Tourism: The case of COVID-19 GS Bada Mohamed Nha Trang tourism through a foreigner’s impressions TS Michael Burnbaum Phần I: Văn hóa Văn hóa Du lịch Việt Nam Danh mục viết Phần II: Giáo dục với phát triển kinh tế du lịch Danh mục viết 253 Phần III: Kinh tế du lịch tác động đại dịch COVID-19 Danh mục viết 444 Phần IV: Phát triển du lịch Đà Lạt kinh nghiệm từ các địa phương khác Danh mục viết 628 Phần V: Du lịch Việt Nam hội nhập phát triển bền vững Danh mục viết 875 Phần VI: Việt Nam thời kỳ đại hóa chuyển đổi số Danh mục viết 1122 -v- Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế TED-2021 Văn hóa, giáo dục du lịch với phát triển kinh tế _ DISASTERS AND ITS IMPACTS ON TOURISM: THE CASE OF COVID-19 Bada Mohamed, Prof., Universiti Sains Malaysia ABSTRACT There are two main types of disaster, including natural and man – made disaters such as kidnapping & hijackings, war & riots, bombings, earthquakes and tsunami, haze, the spread of viruses such as Sars, Zika, COVID-19 etc Regardless of the type of disaster, there are always impacts on tourism Among those disasters, COVID-19 is unprecedented Tourism is one of the first and the most affected sector by COVID-19 Tourism is about traveling to places Once the movement is stopped then the whole tourism ecosystem collapses COVID-19 Pandemic hits tourism badly in many countries We analyze that situation through the number of tourists, levels of activities and development of a destination in several countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and China Today, our efforts focus on preparing for and responding to the impacts of this event to restoring confidence among travelers To recover the tourism, it is necessary to look back at the problems that existed in pre – COVID-19 pandemic We are often over-confident with tourism and underestimate or ignore risks We very often over focus on international tourists and take domestic travelers for granted We lack strategic foresights It’s timê for us to rêflêct, corrêct thê past mistakês in prê - pandemic and pre-disaster and continuê with thê adaptation achiêvêd during thê ‘zêro hour’ and to insêrt in thê futurê tourism plans and products Among the strategies are promoting domestic travels and the use of digital platforms such as social media, blogs, websites, as well as e-marketing to regain the confidence of the public to travel again It is time for us to be more effective and efficient in our approach to sustainable tourism development KEYWORDS: Disaster, Tourism, COVID-19 -1- TED-2021 Proceedings of the International Conference on Culture, Education, and Tourism with Economic Development _ NHA TRANG TOURISM THROUGH A FOREIGNER’S IMPRESSIONS Michael Burnbaum, JD., American Bar Association ABSTRACT Having arrived in Nha Trang in January 2015 directly from New York, I have been able to develop impressions of its tourist industry, from cultural roots and infrastructure to its overall direction of development As with any other global destination, I have observed strengths and weaknesses in the style and practice of the interface between tourists from other lands and cultures I’vê obsêrvêd a grêat changê in thê usê of crêdit cards in Viêtnam, particularly by tourists Initially, the international credit card [Visa, MasterCard, American Express] was rarely accepted outside of international hotels As time progressed, many restaurants began accepting Visa and MasterCard, but insisted upon adding a transaction fee to the bill While the amount may be a small one, most travelers are outraged by such a charge and feel cheated by the merchant who does this Fortunately, this seems to have been recognized more recently Nonetheless, many merchants in Nha Trang and in smaller cities still demand cash only like gasoline stations, automobile dealers, and others One more issue which is uniformly disliked is the double standard in pricing Foreign tourists resent learning that the price being charged for goods or services is higher than that chargêd thê Viêtnamêsê and It’s usually NOT disclosêd to forêignêrs who arê at a language disadvantage in addition However, there are many small gestures in Vietnam that are recognized and greatly appreciated by tourists Westerners notice the smile of tourism workers and appreciate them In general, the service industry appears well trained to make visitors feel comfortable in a new culture, perhaps more so than in the west Besides, the quality of service in hotels and airlines is comparable to or superior to western standards I can only hope that this continues as the tourism industry of Vietnam matures Government regulation must focus on maintaining standards KEYWORDS: Nha Trang, Tourism, Foreigner -2- Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế TED-2021 Phần III: Kinh tế du lịch tác động đại dịch COVID-19 _ Văn hóa, giáo dục Kỷ yếu hội thảo khoa học quốc tế TED-2021 DU LICH với phát triển kinh tế Đà Lạt, ngày 06-08 tháng năm 2021 Phần III Kinh tế du lịch tác động đại dịch COVID-19 KỶ YẾU HỘI THẢO KHOA HỌC QUỐC TẾ CÓ PHẢN BIỆN ISBN: 978-604-80-5756-5 - 445 - Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế TED-2021 Phần III: Kinh tế du lịch tác động đại dịch COVID-19 _ DANH MỤC BÀI VIẾT PHẦN Trách nhiệm xã hội doanh nghiệp du lịch tác động đại dịch COVID-19 Mã Xuân Vinh 448 Vietnam with the investment wave after COVID-19: Discussion on responsibility of multinational corporation for host country Bùi Văn Bính, Lê Anh Vân 453 Factors affecting marketing innovation in tourism enterprises to meet the COVID-19 challenges: Evidence from Da Nang city Nguyễn Thị Hồng Nhung, Vũ Trần Hoàng, Nguyễn Thị Phụng 459 Solutions to attract domestic visitors to Da Lat in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic Trần Thu Hương, Nguyễn Thanh Tú 471 Developing Quang Tri tourism based on tourism trends in the COVID-19 pandemic context Hoàng Thị Thắm 477 Training tourism human resources during the Covid-19 pandemic: Opportunities and challenges for colleges and universities in Vietnam Lê Thanh Tú 483 Demand trends in HORECA services during Covid-19 pandemic: An investigation of Gen Z customers in Vietnam Nguyễn Việt Hoàng, Nguyễn Phạm Hùng 488 Ensuring social security and economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Anh 499 Policy implications for Vietnam tourism industry in the COVID-19 pandemic context Hồng Chí Cương, Cao Thị Thu 504 Impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on Son La tourism Nguyễn Thị Hạnh 512 The role of Vietnam Tour Guide Association in workforce strategies for post-COVID-19 recovery Chung Lê Khang, Hoàng Hồng Anh 517 Solutions to restructure the housing market in Vietnam Phạm Văn Bái 522 Thực trạng du lịch tỉnh Bến Tre giai đoạn đại dịch COVID-19 Trần Thị Kim Tuyến 528 Các yếu tố tác động đến kinh doanh dịch vụ du lịch bối cảnh dịch COVID-19 số giải pháp marketing: Nghiên cứu thực tiễn cơng ty du lịch Lâm Đồng Tạ Hồng Giang 533 Hoạt động du lịch cộng đồng dân tộc thiểu số Sapa bối cảnh đại dịch COVID-19 Nguyễn Thị Quỳnh Hương 540 - 446 - Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế TED-2021 Phần III: Kinh tế du lịch tác động đại dịch COVID-19 _ Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh bối cảnh vừa chống dịch COVID-19 vừa phát triển kinh tế Nguyễn Thị Thanh Bình, Trần Mai Ước, Nguyễn Anh Tuấn 545 Ảnh hưởng đại dịch COVID-19 đến sẵn lòng tài trợ quỹ bảo vệ môi trường điểm du lịch Phạm Thị Mộng Hằng, Nguyễn Thị Kim Tín 551 Giải pháp thúc đẩy ngành du lịch Việt Nam vượt qua đại dịch COVID-19 Nguyễn Bá Tuyến 558 Giải pháp phục hồi du lịch làng nghề truyền thống sau thời kì COVID-19: Trường hợp huyện Châu Thành, tỉnh Sóc Trăng Nguyễn Minh Ca 564 Tác động truyền thơng có trách nhiệm marketing số thời kỳ đại dịch COVID-19 đến phát triển bền vững du lịch Việt Nam Lê Thị Nhã Trúc, Nghị Khắc Nhu, Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Huyền 570 Tác động đại dịch COVID-19 đến nguồn nhân lực du lịch tỉnh Khánh Hòa Trần Thị Hạnh Nguyên, Huỳnh Ngọc Phương 577 Cơ cấu lại thị trường khách du lịch cho Du lịch Việt Nam hậu COVID-19 Phạm Thị Hương Giang 584 Du lịch có trách nhiệm: Xu hướng du lịch hậu COVID-19 Việt Nam Nguyễn Thị Hồng Hà 590 Đào tạo nguồn nhân lực quản trị khách sạn chất lượng cao bối cảnh đại dịch COVID-19 Phùng Thị Hạnh 598 Phát triển ngành du lịch Việt Nam hậu COVID-19: Biến thách thức thành hội Phí Hải Long 604 Giải pháp bảo hiểm du lịch nâng cao lợi cạnh tranh doanh nghiệp lữ hành thời kỳ hậu COVID-19 Nguyễn Ngọc Diệp 610 Thực trạng giải pháp thu hút khách du lịch đến chợ Cái Răng thành phố Cần Thơ sau thời kì COVID-19 Nguyễn Thúy Diễm 616 Doanh nghiệp Việt Nam phát triển kinh tế số đại dịch COVID-19 Nguyễn Thái Hịa, Nguyễn Hồng Văn, Nguyễn Huỳnh Thùy Linh, Lương Nguyễn Duy Thông 621 - 447 - Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế TED-2021 Phần III: Kinh tế du lịch tác động đại dịch COVID-19 _ Policy implications for Vietnam tourism industry in the COVID-19 pandemic context Hồng Chí Cương, Cao Thị Thu Abstract This research employs qualitative, quantitative research tools and descriptive analysis with the relevant current media and data offered by Vietnamese authorities to examine the effects of Covid-19 pandemic to Vietnam’s tourism industry The results show that Vietnam’s tourism industry has had a revenue loss of over 23 billion USD since the late 2019 due to the social distancing and decrease of both domestic and international visitors However, the difficulty reveals the wisdom, there is a shifting trend to cope with the outbreak Some policy implications are also proposed Key words: Covid-19 pandemic, effects, tourism industry, Vietnam Introduction Located in the Eastern Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is a land of challenging myths and appealing scenic beauty The elongated roughly S shaped country has a north-to-south distance of 1,650 km and a coastline of 3,260 km Vietnam overcomes the hard past of wars to become the attractive tourist destination with various gorgeous highlights From the historical museums to the ecotourism sites with innumerable landmarks The country is proud to welcome even the most fastidious vacationers The list of the best destinations in Vietnam includes the top names which are best for ecotourism, festival, beach, adventure, homestay, cruise, etc Just get to know Ha Long Bay, Cat Ba Island, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Hanoi Capital, Sapa Town, Da Lat City, Nha Trang Beach City, Da Nang City, Hue, Hoi An, Quang Binh Province, Mekong Delta, and so forth Each of the destinations is praiseworthy with many magnificent sites to explore and unique activities to experience Tourists even find no boring moment in Vietnam Tourism industry has played an important role in the development process of Vietnam’s economy According to MCST’s statistics, the tourism industry saw an average growth rate of 22% per year for three consecutive years from 2016 to 2019 In 2019, Vietnam served 18 million international tourists (an increase of 16% compared to 2018) and over 157 million domestic tourists (an increase of 6% compared to 2018) As a result, Vietnam has been named one of the 10 fastest-growing tourism countries in the world Every year, tourism industry’s revenue covers around ten percent of the country’s GDP Accidently, in the late 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic happened resulting in serious impacts on tourism industry of the country The Covid-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) The virus was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China The number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in Vietnam are much lower than in most countries worldwide due to early and aggressive anti-pandemic responses But this does not mean that the impact of the pandemic on Vietnam is less severe especially in tourism industry This paper will give an examination of the negative impact of Covid-19 pandemic on Vietnam’s tourism industry since the late 2019 and it also proposes some policy implications A brief literature review Tourism and public health crises are closely related Understanding their relationship is key to developing effective health safety practices in an increasingly global economy (Burkle, 2006) The global nature of tourism means that tourism is affected and influenced by many interrelated industries, political decisions, and cultural systems across the world (Sigala, 2020) Previous studies have shown how outbreaks of contagious disease can impact tourism (Timothy & Hall, 2019; Scott & Gössling, 2015; Hall, 2011) and how tourism itself contributes to the spread of such diseases (Nicolaides et al., 2020; Renaud, 2020; Hall, 2011) Therefore, the relationship between tourism and outbreaks of contagious disease has significant social and economic consequences (Bakar & Rosbi, 2020; Sigala, 2020) The interconnected nature of today’s world means that regional health, economic, and social crises can quickly become global crises with broad effects Crises such as the 9/11 attacks of 2001, global economic crisis of 2008, and outbreaks of contagious disease like the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, swine flu outbreak in 2009, Ebola outbreak in 2014, and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in 2015 have had significant effects on society at large - 504 - Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế TED-2021 Phần III: Kinh tế du lịch tác động đại dịch COVID-19 _ These crises dramatically affect the tourism industry because they introduce uncertainty, travel restrictions, harsher economic calculus, and so on into tourists’ decision to travel and destinations’ ability to receive them (Timothy & Hall, 2019; Scott & Gössling, 2015) Currently, the world is facing an outbreak of Covid-19, a disease spread by a novel coronavirus This outbreak rapidly spread all over the globe in the early months of 2020 and has had significant social and economic impacts worldwide (Tuyen et al., 2020) Covid-19’s high rate of infection has seen almost every country in the world slow economic activity and restrict travel to slow the spread of the virus (Bakar & Rosbi, 2020; Jamal & Budke, 2020; Renaud, 2020) As a result, Covid-19 has almost frozen the tourism industry and related industries Some have studied how crises can destroy tourism-and hospitality-related jobs (Bakar & Rosbi, 2020; UNWTO, 2020) Others have studied the impact of contagious disease outbreaks on tourism at the local (Correa-Martínez et al., 2020; Hadi & Supardi, 2020), national (Foo et al., 2020; Ulak, 2020), and regional levels (Baum & Hai, 2020; Prideaux et al., 2020) Still other scholars have focused on the tourism industry’s response to and preparedness regarding crises (Prideaux et al., 2020; Sigala, 2020; Walker, 2005) by trying to learn from past crises (McKibbin & Fernando, 2020; Prideaux et al., 2020; Maphanga & Henama, 2019), predict future crises (Gössling et al., 2021; Wen et al., 2020; Lean & Smyth, 2009), estimate their impacts (Romano, 2020), and suggest recovery strategies (Sigala, 2020; Hystad & Keller, 2008) For the case of Vietnam, some studies mentioned the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the social and economic aspects or the policy responses to the outbreak from the Government (Nguyen et al., 2021; Quang et al., 2020) However, those studies have not reflected the overall impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on tourism industry in Vietnam It means, there still exist the research gap in this field that needs further studies Methodologies and data collection This research will employ the qualitative, quantitative research tools and descriptive analysis with the relevant current media and data offered by GSO Vietnam The aim is to take a whole picture of Vietnam’s tourism industry in the time of pandemic and propose some policy implications An analysis of the negative effects of Covid-19 pandemic to Vietnam’s tourism industry 4.1 An analysis of Vietnam’s tourism industry during 2010-2019 18000 16252.4 14957.5 16000 13747.3 14000 11811 12000 10000 9810.9 9594.6 9569.1 9869.9 2011 2012 2013 2014 8637.9 12697.4 8000 6000 4000 2000 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Number of international tourists (unit: 1000) Figure Number of international tourists arrived to Vietnam during 2010-2019 Source: GSO Vietnam, 2021 - 505 - Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế TED-2021 Phần III: Kinh tế du lịch tác động đại dịch COVID-19 _ 180000 157729.8 160000 144683.1 132837.9 140000 117037.8 120000 102200 90571.6 100000 80000 60000 57897.3 61405.4 70085.4 77863.8 40000 20000 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Number of domestic tourists (unit: 1000) Figure Number of domestic tourists in Vietnam during 2010-2019 Source: GSO Vietnam, 2021 The number of both domestic and international tourist has stably increased during 2010-2019 Specifically, the number of international tourists has increased from 8.637 million in 2010 to 16.252 million arrivals in 2019, 1.88 times higher after 10 years (see Figure 1) The number of domestic tourists has also increased from 57.897 in 2010 to 157.729 million in 2019, 2.72 times higher in comparison with that of in 2010 (see Figure 2) 35000 31495.989 30000 27431.11 25000 22838.999 18238.325 15585.632 20000 15000 9544.089 10000 5157.958 6340.28 10875.733 7681.967 5000 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Revenue (million USD) Figure Vietnam’s tourism revenue from 2010 to 2019 Source: https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/vietnam/tourism-revenue Figure above illustrates Vietnam’s tourism revenue from 2010 to 2019 Obviously, Vietnam’s tourism revenue has had the upward trend in this duration The revenue has increased from 5.157 billion USD in 2010 to 31.499 billion USD in 2019, compared with 27.431 billion USD in the previous year These were the figures before the Covid-19 pandemic appeared According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in 2019, the tourism industry contributed over 9.2% to the country’s GDP; created 2.9 million jobs, including 927 thousand direct jobs Generally, in the period 2015-2019, the tourism industry achieved a high growth rate of 22.7% The achievements and efforts of Vietnam’s tourism industry have been highly appreciated by the world - 506 - Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế TED-2021 Phần III: Kinh tế du lịch tác động đại dịch COVID-19 _ The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) ranked Vietnam sixth in the 10 countries with the fastest tourism growth in the world In 2019, Vietnam tourism also won many prestigious awards of continental and world stature With the growth momentum of the previous five years, entering 2020, Vietnam’s tourism industry welcomed a record number of international visitors in January, reaching million arrivals, up 32.8% over the same period in 2019 4.2 An analysis of the effects of Covid-19 pandemic to Vietnam’s tourism industry Unfortunately, the Covid-19 arrived in Vietnam during peak tourist season – the festival season, which takes place after the Lunar New Year Immediately, Vietnam took early and strong actions such as developed action plans and technical guidelines for Covid-19 responses; implemented screening and testing nationwide; focused upon high-risk groups regardless of their symptoms or exposure to detect new cases and identify chains of transmission; undertook rigorous contacted tracing to identify close contacts exposed to infectious cases in the previous 14 days (Nguyen et al., 2021) This timing produced a massive loss of revenue and forced many businesses to decide between closing down and operating through the pandemic The pandemic has also had a huge impact in particular on accommodation and catering businesses Since the country implemented social distancing measures, a mass of hotels, restaurants, dining, amusement parks, and outdoor recreational areas have temporarily suspended operations Entering 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has quickly “frozen” the world tourism industry According to the UNWTO report, the number of international tourists globally in 2020 decreased by 1.1 billion The total global tourism revenue lost 1.1 trillion USD; about 100-120 million workers in the industry lost their jobs Vietnam’s tourism industry is not out of its influence According to the year-end report of the General Statistics Office (GSO), in 2020, due to the border closure to prevent Covid-19, international visitors to Vietnam only reached about 3.7 million arrivals, down 79.5% compared to 2019 Domestic tourists reached 56 million arrivals, down 34.1% About 40-60% of workers lost their jobs or cut their working days About 95% of international tour operators have stopped operating Many hotels have to close, the occupancy rate is sometimes only 10-15% Many plans are almost impossible to implement, the set targets are reduced sharply Total tourism revenue of the country lost up to 530 trillion VND (equivalent to over 23 billion USD) In 2020, the whole country has 3,339 travel businesses, including 2,519 international travel businesses, 820 domestic travel businesses, but 90-95% of travel businesses temporarily stop operating Also in 2020, there were 201 travel companies applying for a new license, but 338 companies applied to have their license revoked International travel companies have switched to domestic travel business 26,721 instructors, with 16,965 also switching to domestic instruction or changing careers More than 30,000 accommodation establishments with 650,000 rooms across the country, but the number of rooms for renting covers only 20-25% of the capacity in the provinces and cities In some key tourist areas, many hotels were forced to close or change their use because they could not maintain anymore In the first months of 2021, international visitors to Vietnam was estimated at 81,000 arrivals, down 97.8% over the same period last year According to a report of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, strictly following the Government’s direction on the prevention of the Covid-19 epidemic, many cultural and tourist activities serving tourists in localities throughout the country have stopped organizing So, the number of domestic tourists has decreased sharply compared to the same period in 2020 (about 60-80% in average) The occupancy rate at accommodation establishments is only 10-20% with low tourism revenue Some tourist areas, attractions and tourist accommodation establishments are closed to welcome guests Some tourism businesses continue to adjust business plans in accordance with the epidemic situation 4.3 Domestic tourism becomes a spearhead But, “the difficulty reveals the wisdom”, thanks to the good control of the Covid-19 pandemic as soon as possible, impressing the international community, and the determination to realize the dual goal of “while ensuring the safety of fight against the epidemic while recovering the economy” of the Government, many tourism organizations have determined to restructure the tourism market, taking domestic tourism as a spearhead, quickly implementing domestic tourism stimulus programs including - 507 - Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế TED-2021 Phần III: Kinh tế du lịch tác động đại dịch COVID-19 _ “Vietnamese people and domestic tourists” “Safe and attractive Vietnam tourism” in September 2020 has been promoted Domestic stimulus programs targeting not only Vietnamese people but also foreigners living long-term in Vietnam have attracted the responses of travel agencies and tourism businesses across the country Before the Covid-19 pandemic, international tours accounted for 80% of some companies’ revenue Due to the pandemic, some were forced to downsize their operations, cut down employees to adapt the volatile nature of the market, and focus entirely on domestic tourism Never being seen before, domestic tours have been as diverse as in the past year, with different prices, durations and target audiences A series of alliances to stimulate tourism demand were formed throughout the country with products and services at increasingly attractive prices and improved service quality That is the program linking Ho Chi Minh City with regions throughout the country such as the Mekong River Delta, the Southeast, the expanded Northwest, and the Northeast provinces Or the program to stimulate tourism demand between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and provinces and cities in the Central Key Economic Region Alliance stimulus program of three provinces Nghe An - Hai Phong - Binh Dinh; The program to stimulate tourism demand in the Northern Autumn-Winter tourism includes the Quang Ninh Department of Tourism, the Quang Ninh Tourism Association, the Tourism Associations of some provinces in the North - Central - South region 2020 also witnessed the strong development of stay-vacation tourism in the country Many hotels are looking to revive operations with deep discount packages, targeting domestic guests to experience on-site vacations The trend of stay-vacation gives domestic tourists the opportunity to enjoy weekends at prestigious hotels with prices nearly 50% lower than before Covid-19 but the quality remains unchanged, especially in the large hotel group in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Ha Long Thanks to the timely diversion, domestic tourism activities have been restarted, bringing many positive results For the whole of 2020, the number of domestic visitors reached 56 million, accounting for nearly 66% of domestic visitors in 2019 The occupancy rate of hotel rooms in many localities such as in Da Lat, Sam Son, Sa Pa, Ha Long, Phu Quoc has reached 30-50%, peak period, weekend up to 8090% The recovery of Vietnam’s tourism industry is partly reflected in the report of the world’s busiest flight routes in November 2020 by OAG - the world’s leading organization providing data on tourism and aviation According to OAG’ statistics, with nearly 893,000 passengers in November, the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City route is the second-busiest flight route in the world, just after Jeju - Seoul (South Korea) with more than 1.3 million passengers 4.4 Keeping up with the trend of digital transformation In parallel with the shift to take the domestic market as a spearhead to revive the tourism industry, Vietnam’s tourism has quickly grasped the digital transformation to reach more customers, take better care of customers, reduce costs, and increase business efficiency Grasping this trend, 2020, has witnessed a remarkable effort of the whole Vietnamese tourism industry to increase the application of technology to change the way it operates and develop new products Most of the major travel companies such as Saigon tourist, Viet travel, Hanoi tourist, Viet tran tour, Golden tour have applied technology, implemented digital transformation in management, building new products, promoting tours, and dealing with customers through applications Not only travel agencies apply technology, tourist destinations across the country also apply technology to build smart tourism products and promote tourism These include the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam relic, Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Hoa Lo Prison, Bat Trang Ceramic Village, Independence Palace, Ho Chi Minh City Post Office, Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture, Caves, etc Dance, bird garden Thung Nham (Ninh Binh), has successfully applied the automatic voiceover system, launched a website to look up destination information, implemented virtual reality tours 4.5 The goals for the future Vietnam currently has many advantages as a country that successfully controls the Covid-19 epidemic, which is highly appreciated by countries around the world This is an advantage for Vietnam to enhance the image of safe and attractive Vietnamese tourism The goal of Vietnam’s tourism - 508 - Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế TED-2021 Phần III: Kinh tế du lịch tác động đại dịch COVID-19 _ development strategy to 2030 is to turn the tourism industry into a spearhead economic sector, creating a driving force for the development of other industries, striving to welcome 35 million international visitors by 2025 The total revenue contributes 12-14% of the country’s GDP (MCST, 2021) Conclusion and policy implication Vietnam’s tourism industry continues to be one of the sectors hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic and the outlook remains highly uncertain Domestic tourism has restarted and is helping to mitigate the impact on jobs and businesses in some destinations However, real recovery will only be possible when international tourism returns This requires global co-operation and evidence-based solutions so travel restrictions can be safely lifted The survival of businesses throughout the tourism ecosystem is at risk without continued government support and although governments have taken impressive action to cushion the blow to tourism, to minimize job losses and to build recovery in the coming times and beyond, more needs to be done, and in a more coordinated way Key policy priorities include: (1) Restoring traveler’s confidence; (2) Supporting tourism businesses to adapt and survive; (3) Promoting domestic tourism and supporting safe return of international tourism; (4) Providing clear information to travelers and businesses, and limiting uncertainty (to the extent possible); (5) Evolving response measures to maintain capacity in the sector and address gaps in supports; (6) Strengthening cooperation within and between countries; (7) Building more resilient, sustainable tourism While flexible policy solutions are needed to enable the tourism economy to live alongside the virus in the short to medium term, it is important to look beyond this and take steps to learn from the crisis, which has revealed gaps in government and industry preparedness and response capacity Coordinated action across governments at all levels and the private sector is essential Thus, the crisis is an opportunity to rethink tourism for the future Tourism is at a crossroads and the measures put in place today will shape the tourism of tomorrow Governments need to consider the longer-term implications of the crisis, while capitalizing on digitalization, supporting the low carbon transition, and promoting the structural transformation needed to build a stronger, more sustainable and resilient tourism economy Overall, although this research has been conducted with an examination of the negative effects of Covid-19 pandemic to Vietnam’s tourism industry, there are a number of limitations regarding this study The first is that the figures published by the various government agencies such as the Ministries of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the General Statistics Office of Vietnam so these figures are sometimes not unified Second, the data is only an initial estimate to assess the damage during the ongoing 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