HCM CITY — Given Việt Nam’s successful control of COVID-19, experts in tourism and hospitality have predicted a positive outlook for Việt Nam’s tourism post-COVID crisis.

Upcoming opportunities include investing in domestic travel, new tourism products, high-quality human resources, digitalisation in tourism, and infrastructure to help the country shine on both the local and international stage, local and international tourism industry leaders said at a roundtable organised by RMIT University on Wednesday (Jan 20).

Promoting domestic tourism and building smart tourism are the major objectives of the city’s tourism sector this year, said Lê Trương Hiền Hòa, director of the HCM City Tourism Promotion Centre.

“One of the main focuses of city tourism this year is deploying joint programmes with key economic zones and provinces as well as tourism industries to build new tourism products and services to promote domestic tourism,” Hòa said.

“With a low inflow of international tourists to the country, it is also a good time for the city to implement its smart tourism project.”

“Our tourism database is playing a key role to ensure a successful smart tourism project which needs to involve many industries and fields in standardising the data collection system and digitising of travel services.” 

Trần Thùy Trang, deputy manager of Vietravel’s inbound department, said that Việt Nam should promote the country as a safe and attractive destination in the world. 

“Not only businesses in the tourism and hospitality industry, but also the Government needs to showcase and promote the image of Việt Nam as a safe destination so that we can increase international tourists once the country borders reopen and travel normalises,” Trang said. 

Dr Nuno Ribeiro, tourism and hospitality management senior lecturer and research cluster lead at RMIT University, said: “We are already seeing positive signs of these efforts with a very dynamic domestic tourism market, and the Government’s initiatives have been extremely successful in generating more demand for internal travel while maintaining rigorous health and safety standards.”

“I am certain that Việt Nam will become one of the leading tourism destinations, not just in Southeast Asia but in the world,” Ribeiro said.

The Grand Hồ Tràm Hotel and Casino chief operating officer Craig Douglas stressed the importance of high-quality human resources development post-pandemic.  

“With several projects still moving forward in the country, not only in the tourism industry but also in other industries, and the relocation of international manufacturing companies to Việt Nam, the demand for human resources will be a big challenge and reinforce that our people are the most valuable asset,” Douglas said. —VNS