Tourists who have not been able to visit the country now can explore many landmark destinations, tasty food, and unique culture via an online tool called “Stay at Home with Việt Nam”. Photo vietnamtourism.gov.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and the Việt Nam Tourism Advisory Board have launched an online tool called “Stay at Home with Việt Nam” to offer foreign tourists the next best thing to a holiday in Việt Nam.
“Tourists who have not been able to visit the country now can explore many landmark destinations, tasty food, and unique culture via 360-degree tours of well-known UNESCO heritage sites, colouring-in paintings of Việt Nam, and watching videos from a series called 'MyVietnam'."

They can admire the beauty of Hạ Long Bay in the northern province of Quảng Ninh and Phong Nha Caves in the central province of Quảng Bình, or try cooking Vietnamese dishes such as phở (rice noodle), bánh mì (Vietnamese bread) or bún chả (rice noodle served with grilled pork meat) with easy recipes.

In addition, people can also learn about Vietnamese culture through a carefully curated selection of Vietnamese books, songs, artworks and TV series.

The VNAT hopes the tool will help connect the country with international tourists and inspire them return to visit in the near future.
Further information can be found at https://vietnam.travel/things-to-do/stay-at-home. 

One of the posters on the online tool kit “Stay at Home with Việt Nam”. — Photo vietnamtourism.gov.vn

​Việt Nam is forecast to witness a 80 per cent drop in the number of foreign tourists visiting the country in 2020 if the COVID-19 pandemic is not controlled by the end of the year, according to the VNAT.

The administration said following a 33 per cent growth in January, the number of foreign arrivals fell sharply by 22 per cent in February and 68 per cent in March.

The number of international visitors from April to June is unlikely to improve, but it could pick up towards the end of the year, albeit with much lower figures than in 2019. 

According to Lê Tuấn Anh, director of VNAT’s tourism information centre, the Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition tourism is likely to recover first due to the urgent need for commercial transactions and business and production cooperation.

Việt Nam is predicted to see an earlier recovery of arrivals from Asian markets rather than other continents, he said. 

If the pandemic is controlled in June, the number of international tourists to Việt Nam in 2020 may decrease by nearly 70 per cent compared to the previous year to only 5.5 million.
But if the pandemic lasts until the end of September or December, the number of foreign arrivals to the country may fall nearly 75 per cent and 80 per cent to about 4.6 and 3.7 million, respectively, Anh noted. — VNS