Vietnamese coastal cities to attract more visitors as virus fears ease

Visitors at a beach in Nha Trang City on the early morning of May 17

By Phong Lan
Vietnam

HANOI: Vietnamese people are having chances to enjoy a cool summer holiday at the beaches as the country has so far successfully curbed the virus outbreak.

After staying at home for some time following the government’s social distancing regulation, life has now almost returned to normal in Vietnam and people are flocking to the beaches to enjoy the freedom in the hot summer weather.

While foreign tourists are still denied entry into the country, local tourism authorities are offering various promotion programs with discounts on hotel rooms and entries to tourist sites to lure more domestic visitors.

Some of the coastal cities of Hue, Nha Trang, Ha Long, and Quy Nhon are becoming the best choice for a summer beach trip for many people.

Most tourism firms in the southern coastal province of Binh Thuan have lowered fees to get more visitors. Hotel service charges are reduced by an average of 50%. Some places lowered prices by 80%.

Authorities of the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh are also offering free tickets to some local tourist sites including Ha Long Bay for all Vietnamese visitors.

A resident from the capital city of Hanoi, Nguyen Thanh Ha said that he had just returned from a four-day-three-night tour package to Nha Trang and had a wonderful time.

“We desperately felt the need to go somewhere to change the atmosphere after some weeks being in a lockdown as part of the Covid-19 prevention measures,” the 36-year-old man said. “And we decided to book a beach tour to Nha Trang.”

Ha said that what he loved most was the safe feeling on crowded beaches.

“We no longer had to worry about the virus,” he said. “And what’s more the prices were really cheap. It cost us only $100 each for a package including air tickets and hotel room.”

According to the Nha Trang Tourism Association, local beaches have become crowded after reopening on May 4. However, most of the visitors to the beaches are local people while the number of tourists remains modest.

“At present only about 10-15 percent of hotels have reopened in the area,” the association said. “We are going to launch a promotion program at the end of May to attract more tourists. Local hotels, restaurants, travel companies as well as entertainment centres will join in the program which will offer discounts of up to 50 percent on service prices to tourists.”