The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe impacts on Ninh Binh's tourism sector. However, it has been carrying out various solutions to adapt to the pandemic and boost strong recovery in 2022. Director of the provincial Department of Tourism Bui Van Manh granted an interview to Quan doi Nhan dan (People's Army) Newspaper, clearing up the sector's solutions to revive tourism activities.
Water procession ceremony of Bai Dinh festival 2022.
Reporter: What are the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Ninh Binh province's tourism in 2021?
Mr Bui Van Manh: In 2021, Ninh Binh welcomed 1.3 million visitors, equivalent to 50.47 percent of the figure in the same period of 2020, and earned 935 billion VND.
Many local travel firms must halt their operations and reduce their numbers of employees while other local destinations must close their doors.
Promotion programmes at fairs and conferences both in and outside the country were restricted while other tourism activities within the framework of Visit Vietnam Year 2021 - Hoa Lu Ninh Binh were scaled down.
Ninh Binh also faced a lot of difficulties in supporting travel firms to maintain and revive their operations.
Reporter: How will Ninh Binh's tourism sector change in order to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, recover and develop in the coming time?
Mr Bui Van Manh: On February 2 (the second day of the first lunar month), Trang An ecological tourism site officially opened for visitors. And four days later, the opening ceremony of Bai Dinh festival 2022 was held with ritual ceremonies only.
According to statistics, around 180,000 tourists visited Ninh Binh during the Tet (Lunar New Year) Festival (from January 31 to February 6), an increase of 35.52 percent compared to last year's festival.
In order to adapt to the CODIV-19 pandemic, the province has built a set of criteria to assess how to ensure safety for visitors and employees. The province's tourism sector will guide travel companies to implement measures to safely and flexibly adapt to and effectively control the COVID-19 pandemic in tourism activities.
Especially, the tourism sector has successfully taken advantage of social network platforms to promote and organise weekly online tours. It has also stepped up digitalisation while building a digital information system of Ninh Binh's tourism.
In 2022, the sector will focus on supporting travel firms in training human resources.
Reporter: What will Ninh Binh's tourism sector do to fulfill the target of earning over 8 trillion VND by 2025?
Mr Bui Van Manh: In the time to come, Ninh Binh's tourism sector will pay heed to mobilising all resources to invest in tourism infrastructure and facilities. It will form national tourism sites of Trang An and Kenh Ga-Van Trinh; and step up cooperation with domestic and foreign investors to attract investment.
The sector will build investment incentives and mechanisms for tourism projects, assist travel firms in human resource training and develop tourism products and brands.
It will also develop Ninh Binh's tourism images in combination with the images and values of Hoa Lu ancient capital, and Trang An landscape in a modern, specialised and synchronic manner.
Reporter: What should Ninh Binh's tourism industry do to attract and keep visitors come back?
Mr Bui Van Manh: In addition to opening doors to visitors, local destinations have upgraded their infrastructure, and connected tourism destinations in a bid to provide favourable conditions for visitors.
Ninh Binh also builds new tourism products and improve the quality of services.
In particularly, the province gives priority to developing green tourism products, respecting and exploiting the natural and cultural factors of ancient Hoa Lu capital.
Besides, it will fully tap potential of natural lakes, sea, and traditional craft villages to create new tours and products. I believe that with these efforts, Ninh Binh's tourism sector will witness positive receovery in 2022.
Reporter : Thank you very much!