HCMC – As the Covid-19 pandemic is spreading rapidly, many tourists have canceled tours to and hotel room bookings in Danang City in May and June, causing multiple difficulties for travel firms.
On May 12, the Danang Department of Tourism said that the city currently has 700 tourists at hotels and resorts, mainly for long-term business trips, Tuoi Tre Online newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, travel companies reported that most of their customers had canceled tours to the city as all tourist sites have shut down to prevent the pandemic from spreading further.
Lodging facilities faced the same fate. In order to ensure mutual benefits, they will reserve the booked rooms for customers until August 31 or December 31. Some hotels have canceled customers’ bookings and given them refunds.
Huynh Tan Phap, director of the Suoi Hoa ecotourism area in Hoa Vang District, said the area had made huge investments as it expected to attract many tourists during the summer holiday.
Employees of the ecotourism area continue to report to work, except for those working at the canteen. The area will adjust its plans as with the current developments of the pandemic, tourist sites will not be reopened soon and the ecotourism area cannot afford to pay the salaries of employees.
Enterprises need State support to access capital to exist and develop, while the interest rates of loans from private entities are high, Phap added.
Nguyen Duc Huynh, vice chairman of the Danang Hotel Association, said most of the hotels and resorts in the city had shut down, except for those used as quarantine centers and for long-term stays.
Travel enterprises in Danang faced multiple difficulties over the previous Covid-19 waves. With this new wave, the situation is worsening.
Before the holidays of Reunification Day on April 30 and International Labor Day on May 1, tourism companies had high expectations for the summer holiday, so they invested in their facilities and asked their employees to return to work.
However, the pandemic re-emerged soon after that and many firms have incurred heavy losses and are on the verge of bankruptcy.
Covid-19 vaccines are the most important for tourism enterprises. Once Vietnam popularizes Covid-19 vaccines, the local tourism sector can recover.
