Tourists on a bus tour around HCM City in October. The city Department of Tourism wants the administration to adopt policies that help revive an industry that has been devastated by COVID-19. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The HCM City Department of Tourism has called for policies to revive tourism businesses from their COVID-19-induced slump, especially small and medium-sized ones, that include providing interest-free and unsecured loans.

The Department of Planning and Investment is working on a plan to support local small and medium-sized businesses until 2025.

The Department of Tourism said tourism has been the worst impacted industry since 2020 and wanted the plan to comprise certain supportive policies exclusively for it to help businesses recover and pay their employees.

Small and medium-sized businesses should also have their land rent and tax subsidised or waived, it said.

The department has been helping businesses work on domestic tourism products for New Year and Tết 2022.

Việt Nam plans to resume commercial flights on January 1 to nine destinations with a high level of epidemiological safety: Beijing/Guangzhou (China), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (the Republic of Korea), Taipei (China), Bangkok (Thailand), Singapore, Vientiane (Laos), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), and San Francisco/Los Angeles (US).

Bùi Thị Ngọc Hiếu, deputy director of the tourism department, said a set of criteria has been created for businesses and authorities to ensure the safety of tourists and locals from COVID.

“We hope to completely revive HCM City’s tourism sector right from January 1 by welcoming foreign tourists.”

The city has been Việt Nam’s COVID epicentre with over 500,050 cases found since April. — VNS