HCMC – The latest Covid-19 resurgence put a dampener on the seven-day Tet holiday, which was expected to boost the country’s tourism sales, as it prompted tourists to cancel booked tours, leaving Vietnam’s tourism revenue last month down a whopping 40.8% month-on-month to VND915 billion and 60.8% against 2020, according to the General Statistics Office.
Local residents, too, refrained from travelling and participating in entertainment activities with mass gatherings.
Aside from the fall in tourism revenue, the country’s lodging and catering services last month saw revenue drop by 11.5% month-on-month to VND41.5 trillion and 0.1% compared to last year’s figure.
During the first two months of the year, the sales of lodging and catering services stood at VND88.4 trillion, dipping over 4% versus the same period last year, while that of tourism services contracted over 62% against last year’s figure to VND2.5 trillion.
Localities such as Hai Duong, Thua Thien-Hue, HCMC, Danang and Hanoi recorded a sharp decline in tourism sales. Of them, Hai Duong, which is one of the two provinces that reported the first Covid-19 community case during the latest coronavirus wave and is now the country’s biggest coronavirus hotbed, saw its revenue declining more than 89%. The central province of Thua Thien-Hue also recorded a 73.3% decrease.
Data from HCMC, the largest tourism hub in Vietnam, showed that eateries, hotels and travel businesses continued to be hit hard by the virus.
The southern city earned some VND6 trillion in the sales of catering and lodging services in February, declining over 27% against that of the previous month, and a mere VND501 billion in tourism sales, down nearly 30% month-on-month and over 67% versus the 2020 figure.
By Dao Loan
