
HCM
City – More independent trips, “free
& easy” tours and guided small group tours will be high on
travellers’ agendas for 2021, the HCM City Department of Tourism has said.
Staycations and luxury leisure vacations are also popular this year, the
department said in a report. Short-distance itineraries to the
southeastern region and Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, following health and safety protocols,
are favoured by travellers.
Independent trips, including self-drive itineraries located near the city such
as Vung Tau, Da Lat and Phan Thiet, saw a rise in visitors during the Tet holiday.
Lai Minh Duy, general director of TST Tourist, said domestic tours could be
customised for each group or family, with socially-distanced and
mask-wearing guidelines.
Many Tet tours had been delayed until the Reunification Day holiday
on April 30, when COVID-19 outbreaks were expected to be contained by
that time, Duy said.
Travellers scrambled to cancel trips and get refunds for tours during
the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday due to COVID-19 outbreaks in late
January, just a few days ahead of Tet.
Around 500 customers cancelled Tet tours worth a total of 6 billion VND (260,400
USD) at leading travel firms in the city. Most of them required full
refunds and refused to delay trips, firms said.
Travel demand during Tet was nearly at a standstill. During
the holiday, popular tourist and entertainment sites in the city such as Dam
Sen Park, Suoi Tien Theme Park, Van Thanh and Binh Quoi tourist sites were
closed to contain the spread of the virus.
Hotels in HCM City are now operating at occupancy rates of less than 10 percent,
according to the department. Many hotels prepared special F&B
programmes and offered promotions to meet rising demand during the Tet season
but were then affected by the new outbreaks.
As many as 29 hotels with a total of 2,053 rooms have been approved to
serve as hotel quarantine areas, and four more, with a total of more than
440 rooms, are waiting for approval from city authorities./.