by Lê Hương

Together with the development of the country, it’s impossible to deny the essential role played by local media.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, local media outlets have been working to provide information on safety measures amid the spread of the virus.

For the domestic tourism sector, local media have acted as a source of information, helping policymakers and State managers to understand the situation and issue proper directions, helping both locals and foreigners understand Việt Nam’s policies for tourism and products in the 'new normal' period.

According to Nguyễn Thị Lệ Thanh, director of Khánh Hòa Tourism Department, local media has been playing a very active and essential role in promoting tourism during the pandemic.

“At present, the media’s role is even more important, accompanying the tourism sector to affirm and highlight its role in promoting the development of other sectors,” she said.

“Informative articles help readers travel in safety and with peace of mind in the new normal situation."

Local leaders and tourists at a ceremony to receive the first visitors from South Korea to Phú Quốc Island, southern province of Kiên Giang, on November 20. The tourists are the first in the “vaccine passport” programme, marking the recovery of Việt Nam’s tourism market. Photo VNAT

Journalists have promoted new tourism products and made considerable contributions to advertise the images, culture and people of Việt Nam, she said.

“The media has highlighted various factors and issues to support the tourism sector to rapidly recover and prepare for growth again," she said.

Associate Prof Nguyễn Thành Lợi, Editor-in-Chief of Người Làm Báo (Journalists) newspaper, said the pandemic has had negative effects on various fields of the economy including tourism.

“Many tourism enterprises have had to change their business methods or focused just on domestic tourism,” he said. “Media agencies have spared no efforts to provide the most up-to-date information on domestic tourism to readers.”

Deputy editor-in-chief of Tourism Magazine Ngô Hải Dương stressed that local media helped spread the slogan “Vietnamese people travel in Việt Nam”.

“Local media has also provided information on policies and solutions for recovering tourism in other countries as examples for Vietnamese tourism workers to recover the domestic and foreign markets,” he said.

Tourism sector leaders from provinces of Khánh Hòa, Quảng Bình, Lạng Sơn, and Quảng Ninh underlined the active role of local media in tourism over the past year.

Since the middle of November, Việt Nam has trialled receiving international guests in Quảng Nam, Phú Quốc (Kiên Giang), Đà Nẵng, Nha Trang, and Quảng Ninh. Local media have utilised modern applications to promote a friendly and safe country with abundant high-quality tourism products.

Nguyễn Hồng Hà, a journalist from Việt Nam Television’s Education Desk, said it is necessary to apply new ways of communication to promote the country’s tourism sector effectively in the integration process.

“Media agencies should further co-operate to share images and video clips to one another to create the best communication products on tourism,” he said.

Phạm Duy Nghĩa, director of Vietfoot Travel, said today, enterprises should invest in technology and human resources to meet the demands of the fourth industrial revolution.

“We really need the help of managing agencies, associations, economic groups and enterprises at all levels to implement PR programmes in order to stimulate tourism,” he said.

Chairman of UNESCO Travel Agencies Club Trương Quốc Hùng proposed travel enterprises push up co-operation with media agencies to better promote tourism.

“I also hope travel agencies can approach capital sources from banks more easily to recover soon,” he said.

He also asked enterprises to re-train and recruit new staff to cover the human resources lost during the pandemic.

Nguyễn Quý Phương, head of Travel Department of the Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), said the pandemic has seriously hit the tourism sector. Though the administration has issued various domestic promotion policies, the growth of the sector is still in serious decline.

VNAT has helped the culture ministry draft solutions to overcome obstacles, promote destinations and digital transformation.

“In the process, the tourism sector needs journalists,” he said.

Lợi added that media agencies should co-operate with social communication channels and other new communication devices to create more effective products, which should focus on the role of local authorities and all level agencies of the Journalists Association.

“Media should be involved in the process to develop tourism, prevent and fight the pandemic, through which promote economic activities in the new context,” he said. VNS