Policy implications for vietnam tourism industry in the COVID 19 pandemic context

Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế TED-2021
Văn hóa, giáo dục và du lịch với phát triển kinh tế
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VHTTDL

Educational and Scientific
Institute of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Culture, Education

TED-2021 Proceedings of the International Conference on

TOURISM
with Economic Development

with keynote speakers
Professor Bada Mohamed & Michael W. Burnbaum, JD

NHÀ XUẤT BẢN
THÔNG TIN VÀ TRUYỀN THÔNG
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TED-2021 Proceedings of the International Conference on Culture, Education, and Tourism with Economic Development
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VHTTDL

Viện Khoa học Giáo dục
Văn hóa Thể thao và Du lịch

Hội thảo khoa học quốc tế TED-2021

VĂN HÓA, GIÁO DỤC VÀ DU LỊCH
VỚI PHÁT TRIỂN KINH TẾ
được đồng tổ chức bởi
Khoa Du lịch, Trường Đại học Đà Lạt
Viện Khoa học Giáo dục Văn hóa Thể thao và Du lịch
Khoa Du lịch - Khách sạn, Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ - Tin học TP. HCM
Đà Lạt, ngày 06-08 tháng 8 năm 2021

KỶ YẾU HỘI THẢO KHOA HỌC QUỐC TẾ CÓ PHẢN BIỆN
ISBN: 978-604-80-5756-5

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TED-2021 Proceedings of the International Conference on Culture, Education, and Tourism with Economic Development
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KỶ YẾU HỘI THẢO KHOA HỌC QUỐC TẾ CÓ PHẢN BIỆN
International conference papers were revised by the review committee
ISBN: 978-604-80-5756-5

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TED-2021 Proceedings of the International Conference on Culture, Education, and Tourism with Economic Development

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LỜI NĨI ĐẦU
Tiếp nối thành cơng của hội thảo quốc tế lần 1 năm 2019, để góp phần phát triển
kinh tế nói chung và du lịch nói riêng, trên cơ sở đảm bảo các mục tiêu giáo dục bền vững
và bảo tồn các nguồn tài nguyên văn hóa, Viện Khoa họ c Giá o dụ c Văn hó a Thể thao và Du
lịch chủ trì, phối hợp Khoa Du lịch Trường Đại học Đà Lạt và Khoa Du lịch - Khách sạn
Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ - Tin học Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, đồng tổ chức hội thảo quốc
tế với chủ đề: “Văn hóa, giáo dục và du lịch với phát triển kinh tế”.
Ban tổ chức hội thảo chân thành cảm ơn các tác giả trong nước và quốc tế, đã quan
tâm viết bài, đóng góp tiếng nói phản biện, cùng nhau xây dựng nền khoa học nước nhà,
vì mục tiêu phát triển văn hóa, giáo dục, du lịch và kinh tế bền vững. Ban tổ chức đặc biệt
ghi nhận sự cộng tác bền bỉ của các diễn giả quốc tế, các thành viên trong ban biên tập và
phản biện, cũng như Nhà xuất bản Thông tin và Truyền thông đã luôn đồng hành cùng
chúng tôi qua các kỳ hội thảo.
Sách kỷ yếu này là kết quả cụ thể của những đóng góp hợp tác đó. Nội dung sách
được phân chia thành 06 phần, tương ứng với các phiên song song của hội thảo, bên cạnh
các bài tóm tắt của phiên tồn thể, cụ thể như sau:
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪

GS. Bada Mohamed: Disasters and its impacts on Tourism: The case of COVID-19
TS. Michael Burnbaum: Nha Trang tourism through a foreignêr’s impressions
Phần I: Văn hóa và Văn hóa Du lịch Việt Nam

Phần II: Giáo dục với phát triển kinh tế và du lịch
Phần III: Kinh tế và du lịch dưới tác động của đại dịch COVID-19
Phần IV: Phát triển du lịch Đà Lạt và kinh nghiệm từ các địa phương khác
Phần V: Du lịch Việt Nam trong hội nhập và phát triển bền vững
Phần VI: Việt Nam thời kỳ hiện đại hóa và chuyển đổi số

Mọi góp ý cho hội thảo và sách kỷ yếu rất vui lòng được tiếp nhận thông qua kênh
liên lạc sau đây:
Viện Khoa họ c Giá o dụ c Văn hó a Thể thao và Du lịch
Địa chỉ: 109 Lý Thường Kiệt, Phường 9, thành phố Đà Lạt, tỉnh Lâm Đồng
Điện thoại: 08.6690.1080, Email:
Đà Lạt, ngày 06 tháng 8 năm 2021

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TED-2021 Proceedings of the International Conference on Culture, Education, and Tourism with Economic Development
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NỘI DUNG KỶ YẾU
Disasters and its impacts on Tourism: The case of COVID-19
GS. Bada Mohamed.......................................................................................................................................... 1
Nha Trang tourism through a foreigner’s impressions
TS. Michael Burnbaum................................................................................................................................... 2
Phần I: Văn hóa và Văn hóa Du lịch Việt Nam
Danh mục bài viết ............................................................................................................................................ 4
Phần II: Giáo dục với phát triển kinh tế và du lịch
Danh mục bài viết ....................................................................................................................................... 253
Phần III: Kinh tế và du lịch dưới tác động của đại dịch COVID-19
Danh mục bài viết ....................................................................................................................................... 444

Phần IV: Phát triển du lịch Đà Lạt và kinh nghiệm từ các địa phương khác
Danh mục bài viết ....................................................................................................................................... 628
Phần V: Du lịch Việt Nam trong hội nhập và phát triển bền vững
Danh mục bài viết ....................................................................................................................................... 875
Phần VI: Việt Nam thời kỳ hiện đại hóa và chuyển đổi số
Danh mục bài viết .................................................................................................................................... 1122

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Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế TED-2021
Văn hóa, giáo dục và du lịch với phát triển kinh tế
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DISASTERS AND ITS IMPACTS ON TOURISM: THE CASE OF COVID-19
Bada Mohamed, Prof., Universiti Sains Malaysia
ABSTRACT
There are two main types of disaster, including natural and man – made disaters such as
kidnapping & hijackings, war & riots, bombings, earthquakes and tsunami, haze, the
spread of viruses such as Sars, Zika, COVID-19 etc. Regardless of the type of disaster, there
are always impacts on tourism.
Among those disasters, COVID-19 is unprecedented. Tourism is one of the first and the
most affected sector by COVID-19. Tourism is about traveling to places. Once the
movement is stopped then the whole tourism ecosystem collapses.
COVID-19 Pandemic hits tourism badly in many countries. We analyze that situation
through the number of tourists, levels of activities and development of a destination in
several countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and China.
Today, our efforts focus on preparing for and responding to the impacts of this event to
restoring confidence among travelers. To recover the tourism, it is necessary to look back
at the problems that existed in pre – COVID-19 pandemic. We are often over-confident

with tourism and underestimate or ignore risks. We very often over focus on international
tourists and take domestic travelers for granted. We lack strategic foresights.
It’s timê for us to rêflêct, corrêct thê past mistakês in prê - pandemic and pre-disaster and
continuê with thê adaptation achiêvêd during thê ‘zêro hour’ and to insêrt in thê futurê
tourism plans and products. Among the strategies are promoting domestic travels and the
use of digital platforms such as social media, blogs, websites, as well as e-marketing to
regain the confidence of the public to travel again. It is time for us to be more effective and
efficient in our approach to sustainable tourism development.
KEYWORDS: Disaster, Tourism, COVID-19

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TED-2021 Proceedings of the International Conference on Culture, Education, and Tourism with Economic Development
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NHA TRANG TOURISM THROUGH A FOREIGNER’S IMPRESSIONS
Michael Burnbaum, JD., American Bar Association
ABSTRACT
Having arrived in Nha Trang in January 2015 directly from New York, I have been able to
develop impressions of its tourist industry, from cultural roots and infrastructure to its
overall direction of development. As with any other global destination, I have observed
strengths and weaknesses in the style and practice of the interface between tourists from
other lands and cultures.
I’vê obsêrvêd a grêat changê in thê usê of crêdit cards in Viêtnam, particularly by tourists.
Initially, the international credit card [Visa, MasterCard, American Express] was rarely
accepted outside of international hotels. As time progressed, many restaurants began
accepting Visa and MasterCard, but insisted upon adding a transaction fee to the bill.
While the amount may be a small one, most travelers are outraged by such a charge and
feel cheated by the merchant who does this. Fortunately, this seems to have been

recognized more recently. Nonetheless, many merchants in Nha Trang and in smaller
cities still demand cash only like gasoline stations, automobile dealers, and others.
One more issue which is uniformly disliked is the double standard in pricing. Foreign
tourists resent learning that the price being charged for goods or services is higher than
that chargêd thê Viêtnamêsê and. It’s usually NOT disclosêd to forêignêrs who arê at a
language disadvantage in addition.
However, there are many small gestures in Vietnam that are recognized and greatly
appreciated by tourists. Westerners notice the smile of tourism workers and appreciate
them. In general, the service industry appears well trained to make visitors feel
comfortable in a new culture, perhaps more so than in the west.
Besides, the quality of service in hotels and airlines is comparable to or superior to
western standards. I can only hope that this continues as the tourism industry of Vietnam
matures. Government regulation must focus on maintaining standards.
KEYWORDS: Nha Trang, Tourism, Foreigner

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Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế TED-2021

Phần III: Kinh tế và du lịch dưới tác động của đại dịch COVID-19

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Văn hóa, giáo dục

Kỷ yếu hội thảo khoa học quốc tế TED-2021

DU LICH
với phát triển kinh tế

Đà Lạt, ngày 06-08 tháng 8 năm 2021

Phần III

Kinh tế và du lịch
dưới tác động của đại dịch COVID-19

KỶ YẾU HỘI THẢO KHOA HỌC QUỐC TẾ CÓ PHẢN BIỆN
ISBN: 978-604-80-5756-5

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DANH MỤC BÀI VIẾT PHẦN 3
Trách nhiệm xã hội của các doanh nghiệp du lịch dưới tác động của đại dịch COVID-19
Mã Xuân Vinh ...................................................................................................................... 448
Vietnam with the investment wave after COVID-19: Discussion on responsibility of
multinational corporation for host country
Bùi Văn Bính, Lê Anh Vân .................................................................................................. 453
Factors affecting marketing innovation in tourism enterprises to meet the COVID-19
challenges: Evidence from Da Nang city
Nguyễn Thị Hồng Nhung, Vũ Trần Hoàng, Nguyễn Thị Phụng ..................................... 459
Solutions to attract domestic visitors to Da Lat in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic

Trần Thu Hương, Nguyễn Thanh Tú ................................................................................. 471
Developing Quang Tri tourism based on tourism trends in the COVID-19 pandemic context
Hoàng Thị Thắm .................................................................................................................. 477
Training tourism human resources during the Covid-19 pandemic: Opportunities and
challenges for colleges and universities in Vietnam
Lê Thanh Tú ......................................................................................................................... 483
Demand trends in HORECA services during Covid-19 pandemic: An investigation of Gen Z
customers in Vietnam
Nguyễn Việt Hoàng, Nguyễn Phạm Hùng.......................................................................... 488
Ensuring social security and economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
Nguyễn Văn Anh .................................................................................................................. 499
Policy implications for Vietnam tourism industry in the COVID-19 pandemic context
Hồng Chí Cương, Cao Thị Thu......................................................................................... 504
Impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on Son La tourism
Nguyễn Thị Hạnh ................................................................................................................. 512
The role of Vietnam Tour Guide Association in workforce strategies for post-COVID-19
recovery
Chung Lê Khang, Hoàng Hồng Anh .................................................................................. 517
Solutions to restructure the housing market in Vietnam
Phạm Văn Bái ....................................................................................................................... 522
Thực trạng du lịch của tỉnh Bến Tre trong giai đoạn đại dịch COVID-19
Trần Thị Kim Tuyến ............................................................................................................ 528
Các yếu tố tác động đến kinh doanh dịch vụ du lịch trong bối cảnh dịch COVID-19 và một số
giải pháp marketing: Nghiên cứu thực tiễn tại công ty du lịch Lâm Đồng
Tạ Hoàng Giang ................................................................................................................... 533
Hoạt động du lịch của cộng đồng dân tộc thiểu số tại Sapa trong bối cảnh đại dịch COVID-19
Nguyễn Thị Quỳnh Hương .................................................................................................. 540
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Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học Quốc tế TED-2021

Phần III: Kinh tế và du lịch dưới tác động của đại dịch COVID-19

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Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh trong bối cảnh vừa chống dịch COVID-19 vừa phát triển kinh tế
Nguyễn Thị Thanh Bình, Trần Mai Ước, Nguyễn Anh Tuấn .......................................... 545
Ảnh hưởng đại dịch COVID-19 đến sự sẵn lòng tài trợ quỹ bảo vệ môi trường tại các điểm du
lịch
Phạm Thị Mộng Hằng, Nguyễn Thị Kim Tín .................................................................... 551
Giải pháp thúc đẩy ngành du lịch Việt Nam vượt qua đại dịch COVID-19
Nguyễn Bá Tuyến ................................................................................................................. 558
Giải pháp phục hồi du lịch làng nghề truyền thống trong và sau thời kì COVID-19: Trường
hợp huyện Châu Thành, ở tỉnh Sóc Trăng
Nguyễn Minh Ca................................................................................................................... 564
Tác động của truyền thơng có trách nhiệm và marketing số trong thời kỳ đại dịch COVID-19
đến sự phát triển bền vững của du lịch Việt Nam
Lê Thị Nhã Trúc, Nghị Khắc Nhu, Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Huyền .......................................... 570
Tác động của đại dịch COVID-19 đến nguồn nhân lực du lịch ở tỉnh Khánh Hòa
Trần Thị Hạnh Nguyên, Huỳnh Ngọc Phương.................................................................. 577
Cơ cấu lại thị trường khách du lịch cho Du lịch Việt Nam hậu COVID-19
Phạm Thị Hương Giang ...................................................................................................... 584
Du lịch có trách nhiệm: Xu hướng du lịch hậu COVID-19 tại Việt Nam
Nguyễn Thị Hồng Hà ........................................................................................................... 590
Đào tạo nguồn nhân lực quản trị khách sạn chất lượng cao trong bối cảnh đại dịch COVID-19
Phùng Thị Hạnh ................................................................................................................... 598
Phát triển ngành du lịch Việt Nam hậu COVID-19: Biến thách thức thành cơ hội
Phí Hải Long ......................................................................................................................... 604
Giải pháp bảo hiểm du lịch nâng cao lợi thế cạnh tranh của doanh nghiệp lữ hành thời kỳ hậu

COVID-19
Nguyễn Ngọc Diệp ................................................................................................................ 610
Thực trạng và giải pháp thu hút khách du lịch đến chợ nổi Cái Răng thành phố Cần Thơ trong
và sau thời kì COVID-19
Nguyễn Thúy Diễm............................................................................................................... 616
Doanh nghiệp Việt Nam phát triển kinh tế số trong đại dịch COVID-19
Nguyễn Thái Hòa, Nguyễn Hồng Văn, Nguyễn Huỳnh Thùy Linh, Lương Nguyễn Duy
Thơng ..................................................................................................................................... 621

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Phần III: Kinh tế và du lịch dưới tác động của đại dịch COVID-19

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Policy implications for Vietnam tourism industry in the COVID-19 pandemic context
Hồng Chí Cương, Cao Thị Thu
Abstract
This research employs qualitative, quantitative research tools and descriptive analysis with the
relevant current media and data offered by Vietnamese authorities to examine the effects of Covid-19
pandemic to Vietnam’s tourism industry. The results show that Vietnam’s tourism industry has had a
revenue loss of over 23 billion USD since the late 2019 due to the social distancing and decrease of both
domestic and international visitors. However, the difficulty reveals the wisdom, there is a shifting trend
to cope with the outbreak. Some policy implications are also proposed.
Key words: Covid-19 pandemic, effects, tourism industry, Vietnam
1. Introduction
Located in the Eastern Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is a land of challenging

myths and appealing scenic beauty. The elongated roughly S shaped country has a north-to-south
distance of 1,650 km and a coastline of 3,260 km. Vietnam overcomes the hard past of wars to become
the attractive tourist destination with various gorgeous highlights. From the historical museums to the
ecotourism sites with innumerable landmarks. The country is proud to welcome even the most fastidious
vacationers. The list of the best destinations in Vietnam includes the top names which are best for
ecotourism, festival, beach, adventure, homestay, cruise, etc. Just get to know Ha Long Bay, Cat Ba
Island, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Hanoi Capital, Sapa Town, Da Lat City, Nha Trang Beach City, Da
Nang City, Hue, Hoi An, Quang Binh Province, Mekong Delta, and so forth. Each of the destinations is
praiseworthy with many magnificent sites to explore and unique activities to experience. Tourists even
find no boring moment in Vietnam. Tourism industry has played an important role in the development
process of Vietnam’s economy. According to MCST’s statistics, the tourism industry saw an average
growth rate of 22% per year for three consecutive years from 2016 to 2019. In 2019, Vietnam served 18
million international tourists (an increase of 16% compared to 2018) and over 157 million domestic
tourists (an increase of 6% compared to 2018). As a result, Vietnam has been named one of the 10
fastest-growing tourism countries in the world. Every year, tourism industry’s revenue covers around
ten percent of the country’s GDP. Accidently, in the late 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic happened
resulting in serious impacts on tourism industry of the country. The Covid-19 pandemic, also known as
the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19)
caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was first
identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in Vietnam
are much lower than in most countries worldwide due to early and aggressive anti-pandemic responses.
But this does not mean that the impact of the pandemic on Vietnam is less severe especially in tourism
industry. This paper will give an examination of the negative impact of Covid-19 pandemic on
Vietnam’s tourism industry since the late 2019 and it also proposes some policy implications.
2. A brief literature review
Tourism and public health crises are closely related. Understanding their relationship is key to
developing effective health safety practices in an increasingly global economy (Burkle, 2006). The
global nature of tourism means that tourism is affected and influenced by many interrelated industries,
political decisions, and cultural systems across the world (Sigala, 2020). Previous studies have shown
how outbreaks of contagious disease can impact tourism (Timothy & Hall, 2019; Scott & Gössling,

2015; Hall, 2011) and how tourism itself contributes to the spread of such diseases (Nicolaides et al.,
2020; Renaud, 2020; Hall, 2011). Therefore, the relationship between tourism and outbreaks of
contagious disease has significant social and economic consequences (Bakar & Rosbi, 2020; Sigala,
2020).
The interconnected nature of today’s world means that regional health, economic, and social
crises can quickly become global crises with broad effects. Crises such as the 9/11 attacks of 2001,
global economic crisis of 2008, and outbreaks of contagious disease like the severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, swine flu outbreak in 2009, Ebola outbreak in 2014, and Middle
East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in 2015 have had significant effects on society at large.
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These crises dramatically affect the tourism industry because they introduce uncertainty, travel
restrictions, harsher economic calculus, and so on into tourists’ decision to travel and destinations’
ability to receive them (Timothy & Hall, 2019; Scott & Gössling, 2015).
Currently, the world is facing an outbreak of Covid-19, a disease spread by a novel coronavirus.
This outbreak rapidly spread all over the globe in the early months of 2020 and has had significant social
and economic impacts worldwide (Tuyen et al., 2020). Covid-19’s high rate of infection has seen almost
every country in the world slow economic activity and restrict travel to slow the spread of the virus
(Bakar & Rosbi, 2020; Jamal & Budke, 2020; Renaud, 2020). As a result, Covid-19 has almost frozen
the tourism industry and related industries. Some have studied how crises can destroy tourism-and
hospitality-related jobs (Bakar & Rosbi, 2020; UNWTO, 2020). Others have studied the impact of
contagious disease outbreaks on tourism at the local (Correa-Martínez et al., 2020; Hadi & Supardi,
2020), national (Foo et al., 2020; Ulak, 2020), and regional levels (Baum & Hai, 2020; Prideaux et al.,

2020). Still other scholars have focused on the tourism industry’s response to and preparedness
regarding crises (Prideaux et al., 2020; Sigala, 2020; Walker, 2005) by trying to learn from past crises
(McKibbin & Fernando, 2020; Prideaux et al., 2020; Maphanga & Henama, 2019), predict future crises
(Gössling et al., 2021; Wen et al., 2020; Lean & Smyth, 2009), estimate their impacts (Romano, 2020),
and suggest recovery strategies (Sigala, 2020; Hystad & Keller, 2008).
For the case of Vietnam, some studies mentioned the negative impacts of the Covid-19
pandemic on the social and economic aspects or the policy responses to the outbreak from the
Government (Nguyen et al., 2021; Quang et al., 2020). However, those studies have not reflected the
overall impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on tourism industry in Vietnam. It means, there still exist the
research gap in this field that needs further studies.
3. Methodologies and data collection
This research will employ the qualitative, quantitative research tools and descriptive analysis
with the relevant current media and data offered by GSO Vietnam. The aim is to take a whole picture of
Vietnam’s tourism industry in the time of pandemic and propose some policy implications.
4. An analysis of the negative effects of Covid-19 pandemic to Vietnam’s tourism industry
4.1. An analysis of Vietnam’s tourism industry during 2010-2019
18000

16252.4
14957.5

16000
13747.3

14000
11811

12000

10000

9810.9

9594.6

9569.1

9869.9

2011

2012

2013

2014

8637.9

12697.4

8000
6000
4000
2000
0

2010

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Number of international tourists (unit: 1000)
Figure 1. Number of international tourists arrived to Vietnam during 2010-2019.
Source: GSO Vietnam, 2021.

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180000
157729.8

160000

144683.1
132837.9

140000
117037.8

120000

102200
90571.6

100000
80000
60000

57897.3 61405.4

70085.4

77863.8

40000
20000
0
2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Number of domestic tourists (unit: 1000)
Figure 2. Number of domestic tourists in Vietnam during 2010-2019.
Source: GSO Vietnam, 2021.
The number of both domestic and international tourist has stably increased during 2010-2019.
Specifically, the number of international tourists has increased from 8.637 million in 2010 to 16.252
million arrivals in 2019, 1.88 times higher after 10 years (see Figure 1). The number of domestic tourists
has also increased from 57.897 in 2010 to 157.729 million in 2019, 2.72 times higher in comparison
with that of in 2010 (see Figure 2).
35000

31495.989

30000

27431.11

25000

22838.999

18238.325
15585.632

20000
15000
9544.089

10000
5157.958

6340.28

10875.733

7681.967

5000
0
2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Revenue (million USD)
Figure 3. Vietnam’s tourism revenue from 2010 to 2019.
Source: />Figure 3 above illustrates Vietnam’s tourism revenue from 2010 to 2019. Obviously, Vietnam’s
tourism revenue has had the upward trend in this duration. The revenue has increased from 5.157 billion
USD in 2010 to 31.499 billion USD in 2019, compared with 27.431 billion USD in the previous year.
These were the figures before the Covid-19 pandemic appeared.
According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in 2019, the tourism industry
contributed over 9.2% to the country’s GDP; created 2.9 million jobs, including 927 thousand direct
jobs. Generally, in the period 2015-2019, the tourism industry achieved a high growth rate of 22.7%.
The achievements and efforts of Vietnam’s tourism industry have been highly appreciated by the world.
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Phần III: Kinh tế và du lịch dưới tác động của đại dịch COVID-19

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The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) ranked Vietnam sixth in the 10 countries with the fastest
tourism growth in the world. In 2019, Vietnam tourism also won many prestigious awards of continental
and world stature. With the growth momentum of the previous five years, entering 2020, Vietnam’s

tourism industry welcomed a record number of international visitors in January, reaching 2 million
arrivals, up 32.8% over the same period in 2019.
4.2. An analysis of the effects of Covid-19 pandemic to Vietnam’s tourism industry
Unfortunately, the Covid-19 arrived in Vietnam during peak tourist season – the festival season,
which takes place after the Lunar New Year. Immediately, Vietnam took early and strong actions such
as developed action plans and technical guidelines for Covid-19 responses; implemented screening and
testing nationwide; focused upon high-risk groups regardless of their symptoms or exposure to detect
new cases and identify chains of transmission; undertook rigorous contacted tracing to identify close
contacts exposed to infectious cases in the previous 14 days (Nguyen et al., 2021). This timing produced
a massive loss of revenue and forced many businesses to decide between closing down and operating
through the pandemic. The pandemic has also had a huge impact in particular on accommodation and
catering businesses. Since the country implemented social distancing measures, a mass of hotels,
restaurants, dining, amusement parks, and outdoor recreational areas have temporarily suspended
operations.
Entering 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has quickly “frozen” the world tourism industry.
According to the UNWTO report, the number of international tourists globally in 2020 decreased by 1.1
billion. The total global tourism revenue lost 1.1 trillion USD; about 100-120 million workers in the
industry lost their jobs.
Vietnam’s tourism industry is not out of its influence. According to the year-end report of the
General Statistics Office (GSO), in 2020, due to the border closure to prevent Covid-19, international
visitors to Vietnam only reached about 3.7 million arrivals, down 79.5% compared to 2019. Domestic
tourists reached 56 million arrivals, down 34.1%. About 40-60% of workers lost their jobs or cut their
working days. About 95% of international tour operators have stopped operating. Many hotels have to
close, the occupancy rate is sometimes only 10-15%. Many plans are almost impossible to implement,
the set targets are reduced sharply. Total tourism revenue of the country lost up to 530 trillion VND
(equivalent to over 23 billion USD).
In 2020, the whole country has 3,339 travel businesses, including 2,519 international travel
businesses, 820 domestic travel businesses, but 90-95% of travel businesses temporarily stop operating.
Also in 2020, there were 201 travel companies applying for a new license, but 338 companies applied
to have their license revoked. International travel companies have switched to domestic travel business.

26,721 instructors, with 16,965 also switching to domestic instruction or changing careers. More than
30,000 accommodation establishments with 650,000 rooms across the country, but the number of rooms
for renting covers only 20-25% of the capacity in the provinces and cities. In some key tourist areas,
many hotels were forced to close or change their use because they could not maintain anymore.
In the first 5 months of 2021, international visitors to Vietnam was estimated at 81,000 arrivals,
down 97.8% over the same period last year. According to a report of the Vietnam National
Administration of Tourism, strictly following the Government’s direction on the prevention of the
Covid-19 epidemic, many cultural and tourist activities serving tourists in localities throughout the
country have stopped organizing. So, the number of domestic tourists has decreased sharply compared
to the same period in 2020 (about 60-80% in average). The occupancy rate at accommodation
establishments is only 10-20% with low tourism revenue. Some tourist areas, attractions and tourist
accommodation establishments are closed to welcome guests. Some tourism businesses continue to
adjust business plans in accordance with the epidemic situation.
4.3. Domestic tourism becomes a spearhead
But, “the difficulty reveals the wisdom”, thanks to the good control of the Covid-19 pandemic
as soon as possible, impressing the international community, and the determination to realize the dual
goal of “while ensuring the safety of fight against the epidemic while recovering the economy” of the
Government, many tourism organizations have determined to restructure the tourism market, taking
domestic tourism as a spearhead, quickly implementing domestic tourism stimulus programs including
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Phần III: Kinh tế và du lịch dưới tác động của đại dịch COVID-19

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“Vietnamese people and domestic tourists”. “Safe and attractive Vietnam tourism” in September 2020
has been promoted. Domestic stimulus programs targeting not only Vietnamese people but also

foreigners living long-term in Vietnam have attracted the responses of travel agencies and tourism
businesses across the country.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, international tours accounted for 80% of some companies’
revenue. Due to the pandemic, some were forced to downsize their operations, cut down employees to
adapt the volatile nature of the market, and focus entirely on domestic tourism. Never being seen before,
domestic tours have been as diverse as in the past year, with different prices, durations and target
audiences. A series of alliances to stimulate tourism demand were formed throughout the country with
products and services at increasingly attractive prices and improved service quality. That is the program
linking Ho Chi Minh City with regions throughout the country such as the Mekong River Delta, the
Southeast, the expanded Northwest, and the Northeast provinces. Or the program to stimulate tourism
demand between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and provinces and cities in the Central Key Economic
Region. Alliance stimulus program of three provinces Nghe An - Hai Phong - Binh Dinh; The program
to stimulate tourism demand in the Northern Autumn-Winter tourism includes the Quang Ninh
Department of Tourism, the Quang Ninh Tourism Association, the Tourism Associations of some
provinces in the North - Central - South region...
2020 also witnessed the strong development of stay-vacation tourism in the country. Many
hotels are looking to revive operations with deep discount packages, targeting domestic guests to
experience on-site vacations. The trend of stay-vacation gives domestic tourists the opportunity to enjoy
weekends at prestigious hotels with prices nearly 50% lower than before Covid-19 but the quality
remains unchanged, especially in the large hotel group in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Phu
Quoc, Ha Long...
Thanks to the timely diversion, domestic tourism activities have been restarted, bringing many
positive results. For the whole of 2020, the number of domestic visitors reached 56 million, accounting
for nearly 66% of domestic visitors in 2019. The occupancy rate of hotel rooms in many localities such
as in Da Lat, Sam Son, Sa Pa, Ha Long, Phu Quoc has reached 30-50%, peak period, weekend up to 8090%.
The recovery of Vietnam’s tourism industry is partly reflected in the report of the world’s
busiest flight routes in November 2020 by OAG - the world’s leading organization providing data on
tourism and aviation. According to OAG’ statistics, with nearly 893,000 passengers in November, the
Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City route is the second-busiest flight route in the world, just after Jeju - Seoul
(South Korea) with more than 1.3 million passengers.

4.4. Keeping up with the trend of digital transformation
In parallel with the shift to take the domestic market as a spearhead to revive the tourism
industry, Vietnam’s tourism has quickly grasped the digital transformation to reach more customers,
take better care of customers, reduce costs, and increase business efficiency. Grasping this trend, 2020,
has witnessed a remarkable effort of the whole Vietnamese tourism industry to increase the application
of technology to change the way it operates and develop new products. Most of the major travel
companies such as Saigon tourist, Viet travel, Hanoi tourist, Viet tran tour, Golden tour... have applied
technology, implemented digital transformation in management, building new products, promoting
tours, and dealing with customers through applications. Not only travel agencies apply technology,
tourist destinations across the country also apply technology to build smart tourism products and
promote tourism. These include the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam relic, Thang Long Imperial
Citadel, Hoa Lo Prison, Bat Trang Ceramic Village, Independence Palace, Ho Chi Minh City Post
Office, Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture, Caves, etc. Dance, bird garden Thung Nham (Ninh
Binh),... has successfully applied the automatic voiceover system, launched a website to look up
destination information, implemented virtual reality tours.
4.5. The goals for the future
Vietnam currently has many advantages as a country that successfully controls the Covid-19
epidemic, which is highly appreciated by countries around the world. This is an advantage for Vietnam
to enhance the image of safe and attractive Vietnamese tourism. The goal of Vietnam’s tourism
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Phần III: Kinh tế và du lịch dưới tác động của đại dịch COVID-19

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development strategy to 2030 is to turn the tourism industry into a spearhead economic sector, creating
a driving force for the development of other industries, striving to welcome 35 million international

visitors by 2025. The total revenue contributes 12-14% of the country’s GDP (MCST, 2021).
5. Conclusion and policy implication
Vietnam’s tourism industry continues to be one of the sectors hardest hit by the coronavirus
pandemic and the outlook remains highly uncertain. Domestic tourism has restarted and is helping to
mitigate the impact on jobs and businesses in some destinations. However, real recovery will only be
possible when international tourism returns. This requires global co-operation and evidence-based
solutions so travel restrictions can be safely lifted. The survival of businesses throughout the tourism
ecosystem is at risk without continued government support and although governments have taken
impressive action to cushion the blow to tourism, to minimize job losses and to build recovery in the
coming times and beyond, more needs to be done, and in a more coordinated way. Key policy priorities
include: (1) Restoring traveler’s confidence; (2) Supporting tourism businesses to adapt and survive; (3)
Promoting domestic tourism and supporting safe return of international tourism; (4) Providing clear
information to travelers and businesses, and limiting uncertainty (to the extent possible); (5) Evolving
response measures to maintain capacity in the sector and address gaps in supports; (6) Strengthening
cooperation within and between countries; (7) Building more resilient, sustainable tourism. While
flexible policy solutions are needed to enable the tourism economy to live alongside the virus in the
short to medium term, it is important to look beyond this and take steps to learn from the crisis, which
has revealed gaps in government and industry preparedness and response capacity. Coordinated action
across governments at all levels and the private sector is essential. Thus, the crisis is an opportunity to
rethink tourism for the future. Tourism is at a crossroads and the measures put in place today will shape
the tourism of tomorrow. Governments need to consider the longer-term implications of the crisis, while
capitalizing on digitalization, supporting the low carbon transition, and promoting the structural
transformation needed to build a stronger, more sustainable and resilient tourism economy.
Overall, although this research has been conducted with an examination of the negative effects
of Covid-19 pandemic to Vietnam’s tourism industry, there are a number of limitations regarding this
study. The first is that the figures published by the various government agencies such as the Ministries
of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the General Statistics Office of Vietnam so these figures are sometimes
not unified. Second, the data is only an initial estimate to assess the damage during the ongoing Covid19 disease. Therefore, it does not reflect the overall impact on the economy from a tourism perspective.
This is understandable because in the midst of such a fierce pandemic, it is virtually impossible to make
an accurate statistical prognosis. And the pandemic still exists in the society as a part of people’ life.

Therefore, future research should take into account the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on local
communities, local tourism households and their perspectives that can find the partway in exploring the
possibility of recommending a ratification of pandemic-response strategies for Vietnam’s tourism
industry.
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lifestyle and travel, Tourism Review. />Authors information
Name: Hoàng Chí Cương
Position: Giảng viên
Email:
Tel: 0912607889
Workplace: Bộ mơn QTKD, Khoa QT-TC, Trường ĐH Hàng hải Việt Nam
ADD: 484 Lạch Tray, Lê Chân, Hải Phòng
Name: Cao Thị Thu
Position: Giảng viên
Email:
Tel: 0912499667
Workplace: Khoa QTKD, ĐH Quản lý và Công nghệ Hải Phòng
Add: Số 36, Đường Dân lập, phường Dư Hàng Kênh, quận Lê Chân, Hải Phòng

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