Less than 4 days to go until G time, the time when Vietnam fully opens to tourism (March 15). Enterprises are still anxious because some regulations are not consistent as well as no specific instructions.
Boldly open, not afraid of infections
At the forum “Green stream for tourism to take off” organized by the Vietnam Federation of Trade and Industry (VCCI) on the morning of March 11, Mr. Tran Dac Phu, former Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health) said that, as of early March, there were about 4 million people infected with Covid-19, but domestic transmission was mainly, accounting for 99.7%; only 0.3% is from immigrants.
Therefore, we should boldly open the door, not afraid of the number of infections from people entering Vietnam, but still have to be wary of the sea of new strains.
However, even with the Omicron strain, which is spreading rapidly, it is unstoppable, so our point is to just slow it down so as not to overload the health system.
The expert on preventive medicine said that the anti-epidemic view is now different. Vietnam loosened but did not relax, changed from prohibition to control risk, accepted community transmission but not severe, did not overload the health system, did not die. That’s because we have experience, epidemic prevention capacity, and high vaccine coverage. Since then, realizing the dual goal of both effective anti-epidemic and economic development.
In addition, Mr. Tran Dac Phu emphasized the need for synchronous easing. For open entry, we will have tourists, with tourism, there will be hotels and entertainment areas; thereby generating income and creating jobs for many different industries.
Regarding 5K in tourism, Mr. Phu noted that it needs to be applied flexibly, not always applied at all times, but complementary to each other. But masks need to be applied as much as possible; disinfection is important, to be done at all points; the distance depends on the group, according to the group; communication, printing leaflets to disseminate information to guests; which F0 group handled that group, which hotel handled that group, even in that room. “Unchanged, improvised, depending on the situation, we can handle it flexibly and effectively,” Mr. Phu commented.
Hope to have instructions soon
However, until now, Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, Director General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, admitted that there are still some different opinions of the Ministry of Health regarding the requirements to ensure medical safety for entry-level visitors, so the Ministry of Health Culture, Sports and Tourism has reported to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision.
Less than 4 days to go until G time, the time when Vietnam fully opens to tourism (March 15). Enterprises are still anxious because some regulations are not consistent as well as no specific instructions.
Mr. Pham Ha, Chairman of Lux Group, is afraid that it will be difficult for Vietnam to welcome international visitors because we still do not have specific information about visa policy and health regulations. Not to mention, after announcing the opening of tourism, it is not clear what to do.
Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Tran Doan The Duy, General Director of Vietravel Travel Company, is really worried because the opening date is nearing without official guidance on medical isolation and visa policy. still in the form of proposals of ministries and branches. According to him, it is not necessary to open the door to have customers, but also to promote and provide information about Vietnam’s products and epidemic prevention policies to partners, etc.
With current vaccination rates and conditions like Dr. Tran Dac Phu mentioned, Mr. Nguyen Quy Phuong, Director of the Travel Department (VNAT), hopes that the Ministry of Health will soon have guidelines for the tourism industry to apply to open the door, the Ministry of Public Security will remove the restrictions. restrictions on visa barriers to facilitate travel for visitors.
“We expect international and domestic tourists to be treated equally. March 15 is a landmark for tourism opening, so it is necessary for the synchronous participation of agencies from the central to local levels and the tourism community. “, he said.
Regarding visa policy, Ms. Phan Thi Minh Giang, Assistant Director, Head of the Consular Department (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), said that following the direction of Vice President Vu Duc Dam at the meeting on February 15, The ministry is focusing on three main things: applying visa policy in accordance with regulations; consider abolishing, not controlling according to the purpose of entry; visa-free as before Covid-19.
The draft Government resolution on bilateral visa exemption for some markets and unilaterally for 13 countries as before has been completed, Ms. Giang informed. However, she recommended that, although the epidemic prevention and control work is under control, all fields still need to coordinate closely and harmoniously to ensure the safe and effective opening of tourism.
Time to get support has expired
On the side of enterprises, the most concerned issue today is human and financial resources. Le Mai Khanh, Vice President of the Vietnam Hotel Association, said that the epidemic caused 80% of hotel staff to quit. Even when tourism has opened, the consultation capacity is very low, so staff only work in rotation or a few hours.
Therefore, the training of human resources is very important and enterprises themselves must make efforts.
She said that the policy to support human resource training is clearly specified in Resolution 68, effective from 7/2021. Accordingly, each person is supported 1.5 million VND/month, up to 6 months. However, since then, tourism has gradually recovered. The training is going on. June 2022 is the end of the support policy. Therefore, the Hotel Association proposes to extend the support period for labor training to at least the end of this year or 2023. In addition, it is necessary to support low interest rates for businesses to borrow capital to improve and upgrade facilities. , make sure to meet the conditions to welcome guests.
Statistics from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the General Department of Vocational Education and Training, cited by Ms. Tran Thi Lan Anh – General Secretary of VCCI – show that so far we have disbursed 5.44 billion VND for 15 employers. in 10 provinces such as Quang Nam, Da Nang, Quang Tri, Nghe An, Ninh Binh,… The records of 4,644 workers have been approved, which means the number of people benefiting from this policy is very low. In the field of tourism, we see the name Muong Thanh hotel.
“Therefore, after March 15, we must push harder. Enterprises need to strongly propose to extend the support period, cut down on difficult procedures such as the requirement to have social insurance when employees have quit their jobs”, she shared.
@ Vietnamnet
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Source: Vietnam Insider