Ha Noi focuses on stimulating domestic tourism

Illustration photo

At a meeting of the Ha Noi People’s Committee on May 6, the local tourism sector reported that tourism activities have been seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accordingly, tourist arrivals to Ha Noi in April decreased by 98.4% year-on-year to around 35,500, including over 8,500 arrivals of international visitors (6,000 overnight stays), down 98.6%, and an estimated 27,000 domestic arrivals (9,990 overnight stays), down 98.3%. 

In the first four months of 2020, the capital city served 3.89 million arrivals of tourists, down 59.2% over the same period last year, with international arrivals hitting more than 964,000, down 58.2%, and domestic arrivals staying at about 2.92 million, a year-on-year decrease of 59.5%.

Ha Noi’s total revenue from tourists during the January-April period was estimated at VND15.83 trillion(US$675.46 million), down 53.2% from a year ago. The average occupancy of hotels was estimated at 12.8% last month, a decline of 10.6% compared to March 2020 and down 61.8% year-on-year.

At the meeting, Hai said that in April, due to the impact of COVID-19, tourists to Hai were mainly those left at accommodation establishments (only 1.5%). During the recent April 30-May Day holiday, domestic visitors to the capital city only reached 8.1% compared to the figure recorded last year, he stated.

In addition, the pandemic forced 1,200 establishments to announce temporary suspension. Around 1,364 tour operators had stopped operation before the April 30-May Day occasion, resulting in more than 35,000 people unemployed.

However, to date, there are room for Ha Noi’s tourism industry to grow following the resumption of tourist activities, the official affirmed.

By Vien Nhu