On the evening of April 20, the opening ceremony of the National Tourism Year 2021 took place at the special national historical and cultural site of Hoa Lu ancient capital, Ninh Binh.
With the theme “Hoa Lu – Thousand years old capital”, the host unit is Ninh Binh province will preside over 38 activities; The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism presides over 4 activities; 27 provinces and cities across the country will hold 103 response events.
Typical of them are: Tourism Festival and culinary culture in Hanoi; Opening ceremony of Tam Chuc pagoda; Viet Trung International Trade – Tourism Fair; Mau Son Tourism Festival; Thanh Hoa Beach Tourism Festival; The 7th Quang Nam Heritage Festival.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam highly appreciated the efforts of the people and local authorities to control the disease; especially businesses, households and individuals unanimously help the tourism industry gradually recover, becoming a bright spot on the world tourism map.
According to him, the national tourism year 2021 is the driving force for the development of the tourism industry in the country. In the context that the country has not yet opened its doors to international visitors, this is a good opportunity for Vietnamese people to explore more nature and culture of their country and experience high-end services that are only available under normal conditions. people with high incomes.
The Deputy Prime Minister urged people and businesses to continue to be creative. Local authorities prepare ready conditions to welcome international visitors, continue to build a safe, friendly, cultural and civilized tourism environment.
At the ceremony, delegates and visitors enjoyed the Art Program with the theme Hoa Lu – A thousand years, including 3 chapters: Hoa Lu at that time, Young country thousands of miles, Vietnam – I love You . The program was meticulously staged, showing pride in the traditions of the ancient capital and strong transformation steps of Ninh Binh.
The opening ceremony of the National Tourism Year also had the presence of the Party Central Secretary, Head of the Central Propaganda Department Nguyen Trong Nghia; Member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Dinh Tien Dung; Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung, Head of the Steering Committee of the National Tourism Year – Ninh Binh 2021; leaders of Ninh Binh province, leaders of a number of provinces, associations, businesses, and thousands of guests and visitors from all over the world.
In 2019, Vietnam tourism welcomed 18 million international visitors; serving 85 million domestic tourists. The total revenue from tourism reached more than 720,000 billion VND, contributed over 9.2% of the national GDP; creating 2.9 million jobs, of which 927 thousand are direct jobs.
With the growth of 5 years ago, entering 2020, Vietnam tourism welcomed a record number of international visitors in January, reaching nearly 2 million, up 32.8% over the same period in 2019. From February, Covid-19 dealt a heavy blow, causing all five international visitors to Vietnam only about 3.7 million, down 79.5% compared to 2019. Domestic visitors reached 56 million, down 34.1%. Total tourism revenue reached 312 trillion VND, down 58.7% – a decrease equivalent to 19 billion USD.
About 40-60% of workers lose their jobs or have workdays cut. About 95% of international travel businesses have ceased operations. Many hotels have to close, the occupancy at times only reaches 10-15%.
However, thanks to its positive results in disease control, Vietnam was soon recognized by the international community as one of the safe destinations in the middle of the epidemic season. In 2020, the readers of Condé Nast Traveler travel magazine voted Vietnam ranked 9th in the top 20 most popular tourist countries. In March 2021, CNBC put Central Vietnam in the top 7 safe destinations after Covid-19. Follow vnexpress