Khanh Hoa affirms it is ready to welcome tourists back safely. Some businesses and small businesses said they need more time to open.
On the afternoon of October 15, Vice Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee Dinh Van Thieu said that from 0:00 on October 16, the locality will allow tourism service establishments and businesses to resume operations and must strictly ensure epidemic prevention and control criteria according to regulations.
Accordingly, from October 16, all tourism service businesses are allowed to resume operations and welcome tourists from localities across the country.
Big businesses are ready
Before the government's move to open tourism, some businesses and business units said they were ready to welcome guests.
According to Vingroup representative, the company has now completed preparations to welcome domestic and foreign tourists.
Mr. Le Khac Hiep, Vice President of Vingroup Corporation, said that currently Vinpearl Owns a chain of 45 hotels, resorts, spas, conference centers, culinary centers and 5-star golf courses in 17 provinces and cities nationwide.
He emphasized that facing the opportunity to restore tourism, Vinpearl has prepared infrastructure, services, and products to serve tourists as soon as tourism reopens.
In addition to strictly following the instructions in the implementation plan to welcome guests of localities and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Vinpearl also introduced a set of advanced safety standards, such as staff serving tourists are all zoned in their activities to ensure the highest safety, monitoring all contact schedules of each person, and checking body temperature at the beginning and end of the working day.
Also according to Mr. Hiep, at Khanh Hoa, Vinpearl has met all the criteria for safety in epidemic prevention and control in the new situation and has been inspected and assessed by Khanh Hoa Department of Tourism to meet the safety requirements set by the province.
Similarly, some businesses also said they have built their own safety criteria to meet the regulations of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee.
However, some places are still hesitant to open their doors to visitors. Mr. Pham An, owner of a 4-star hotel in Nha Trang, said his hotel is qualified to welcome guests. However, the only problem for the facility is that the staff have not received 2 doses of vaccine.
“Currently, hotels that reopen must recruit enough staff, but most of them have only received one injection. If they go to work, they must periodically undergo rapid Covid-19 tests, which results in very high costs. Not to mention the large amount of money spent to maintain safety criteria in epidemic prevention at the accommodation facility throughout the process of welcoming guests,” said Mr. An.
Similarly, some accommodation service businesses in Nha Trang also said that the number of guests at this stage is not much, so it will be difficult for small businesses to reopen.
At this stage, large businesses with better customer sources and connections with travel agencies will have the advantage. Small and medium-sized businesses and establishments will have to wait longer, until there are more customers and conditions are more relaxed to reopen.
Mr. Thanh, director of a hotel in Nha Trang
Mr. Thanh, a hotel owner, said that during this period, large businesses with better customer sources and connections with travel agencies will have the advantage. Meanwhile, small and medium-sized businesses and establishments will have to wait longer, until there are more customers and conditions are more relaxed to reopen.
In addition, businesses also said that currently popular services such as bars, dance clubs, karaoke, pubs, etc. are not allowed to open, which is also a big obstacle in attracting tourists.
Mr. Nguyen Tuan Dung, Deputy Director of Khanh Hoa Province Monuments Conservation Center, said that from October 15, Hon Chong scenic spot and Ponagar Tower relic site will open to welcome tourists after the unit has met the safety criteria set by Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee.
“However, this is just a stepping stone to better welcome guests in the coming period, but we do not hope that many tourists will come to visit,” he said.
Businesses are allowed to self-assess their safety level to welcome guests.
Speaking to Zing, Ms. Nguyen Thi Le Thanh, Director of Khanh Hoa Province Department of Tourism, said that from October 16, businesses and tourism and accommodation service establishments are free to welcome tourists according to the plan previously issued by the Provincial People's Committee.
Enterprises must develop their own plans, solutions, and scenarios to respond to the Covid-19 epidemic within the scope of their operations. These must meet criteria such as having 1001 TP3T workers with "green cards" and "yellow cards"; implementing communication to advise workers and tourists to comply with epidemic prevention measures; conducting periodic rapid tests for workers...
According to the Director of Khanh Hoa Department of Tourism, tourism service businesses must self-assess safety criteria based on the province's plan.
“"The Department will conduct a post-inspection. If any unit meets the criteria, it will be allowed to continue operating. If it does not meet the criteria, the Department will request immediate termination of operations," said Ms. Thanh.
Also according to Ms. Thanh, on September 30, the Provincial Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control issued a set of criteria for safe adaptation to the Covid-19 epidemic. There are 12 criteria for evaluating accommodation establishments; 11 criteria for evaluating travel businesses and 11 criteria for evaluating tourist areas and attractions.
Vice Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee Dinh Van Thieu said that from 0:00 on October 16, the locality will reopen many activities and services, including swimming at the beach. Except for areas under lockdown and medical quarantine, people in the remaining areas are allowed to leave their homes, strictly follow the 5K measures, and limit large gatherings.
Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee allows businesses, production facilities, tourism services, restaurants, markets, and supermarkets to reopen, but they are required to create QR codes for locations and apply Covid card solutions to control people and visitors to the locality.
“From October 16, the province allows restaurants and food service establishments to reopen and only serve on-site dining to people who have received two doses of the vaccine. People who have received one dose of the vaccine must have a negative SARS-CoV-2 test certificate,” Mr. Thieu said.
