Tourism businesses overcome difficulties.

Việt Nam•25/09/2024

In just the last few years, tourism businesses have continuously faced significant challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a lack of tourists and stringent requirements for disease prevention and control, forcing businesses to innovate in order to survive and thrive. Shortly after the pandemic, Super Typhoon Yagi struck, severely damaging infrastructure and requiring businesses to overcome further difficulties to remain afloat…

The entertainment and resort areas of the Quang Ninh Gate tourist complex have been ready to welcome visitors since the beginning of October.

Located adjacent to the Vang Chua River in Binh Duong commune (Dong Trieu town), the staff and employees of Quang Ninh Gate tourist area probably never imagined that the river water would rise so high a few days after Typhoon Yagi had passed. Hydroelectric dams upstream released floodwaters, and heavy rains following the typhoon in many areas caused the river to rise, flooding the entire tourist area, with the highest points submerged up to a meter.

So, before the clearing of fallen trees after the storm was even finished, businesses had to deal with the flooding. While furniture could be elevated in many places, many others were submerged. Many electrical equipment items in the water parks were damaged. Fish in ponds that had been raised for years were swept away by the rising water. Some earthen houses were also damaged. Many animals in the Purple Island experience area escaped through the nets. After the flood, many wooden floors on the first floor of the resort were severely damaged after being submerged in deep water for days, making repairs very difficult. In addition, mud accumulated on the ground to a depth of twenty centimeters…

Ms. Nguyen Thi Trang, CEO of Quang Ninh Gate Tourist Area, recounted: "The cleanup took a lot of time and manpower. At that time, there was no electricity or running water, so we had to wait for the water to recede and clean immediately. We had to manually scoop water bucket by bucket. The generators were overloaded and broke down. Even if we had electricity, we didn't dare connect to many areas immediately because the infrastructure was flooded; we had to inspect and check everything to avoid short circuits and fires…"

The number of foreign visitors to Legacy Yen Tu has remained stable after the storm.

Despite extensive damage and a lengthy repair period, the business remains determined to reopen from the beginning of October. Repairing the damaged facilities will proceed simultaneously with welcoming guests. Organizing experiential courses for students, a strength of Quang Ninh Gate, will be particularly advantageous, mainly in outdoor areas. As for the resort, rooms on the first floor that have not yet been repaired will be temporarily closed, while rooms on the upper floors will continue to welcome guests…

Also affected by flooding caused by the rising waters of the Giai Oan stream at Yen Tu during Typhoon Yagi, along with extensive damage to trees, prolonged power outages, water shortages, and communication disruptions, Tung Lam Development Joint Stock Company quickly organized cleanup and made thorough preparations to welcome visitors, ensuring that tourists visiting Yen Tu would feel the aftermath of the storm as little as possible.

Mr. Le Trong Thanh, Deputy General Director of the company, shared: "We suffered significant losses, and there are still many areas that need to be repaired, but that's a done deal. Businesses must proactively compensate for the losses and invest in restoration. We are determined to be proactive, to avoid service disruptions, and to retain pre-booked groups of customers, even though receiving guests at that time was very costly and increased business expenses."

Many services at the SunWorld Ha Long entertainment complex have now reopened.

Immediately after the storm, we cleaned up, determined to welcome guests so that tourists could quickly "forget" about the storm and return to Quang Ninh instead of changing their itineraries to other destinations, which would cause even longer-term losses for businesses. Therefore, the number of foreign tourists coming to Legacy has remained consistent, including traditional groups from South Korea, as well as European and American tourists, along with a new, stable group of Taiwanese tourists who have recently traveled to Legacy through travel agencies. And just 3 days after the storm, we welcomed a group of 300 Taiwanese tourists brought from Ho Chi Minh City by Saigontourist, filling all the rooms at Legacy… We will now continue to find ways to improve our products to better serve the upcoming autumn, winter, and spring seasons.

Following this approach, the 4-star Novotel Ha Long Bay hotel (Ha Long City), despite investing heavily in repairing infrastructure damage after the storm, continues to welcome guests. Many businesses are dedicating time to maintaining and repairing infrastructure and will reopen to guests by the end of September, such as: Tuan Chau Golf Course officially reopening on September 27th; and the Queen Cable Car - Sun Hill in SunWorld Ha Long amusement park continuing to welcome its first visitors after the storm from September 23rd.

Most of the services at the SunWorld Ha Long entertainment complex are ready to serve visitors, including: the bay-view cable car, Koi Bridge, Bao Hai Linh Thong Temple, Japanese Garden, Samurai Slide, Sword Forging Village, wax museum, Kidoland children's play area, and many other exciting games. Dragon Park is expected to reopen in October, while the water park remains closed due to weather conditions and the Ferris wheel is temporarily out of service for maintenance.

Cao Son Flower Garden in Dong Van commune (Binh Lieu district) has undergone infrastructure renovations and received additional investment to welcome visitors during this year's autumn-winter tourist season.

It's not just large, experienced businesses with long-standing tourism operations that have invested early to quickly resume welcoming guests; many small and medium-sized tourism businesses have also made efforts to overcome the difficult period after being severely affected by Typhoon Yagi.

This autumn and winter season can be considered an opportunity for the mountainous border district of Binh Lieu to welcome tourists. Therefore, the local authorities and tourism businesses have made thorough preparations. According to information from the Binh Lieu District Department of Culture and Information, the accommodation system, comprising 3 hotels, 24 guesthouses, and 13 homestays with a capacity of approximately 1,200 guests, suffered minor damage and was basically unaffected by Typhoon Yagi, so services for tourists were not interrupted. In preparation for the year-end tourist season, these establishments are now actively renovating their grounds, hiring staff, and investing in additional activities to better meet the needs of tourists for sightseeing and experiences.

The most severely damaged tourist attraction by Typhoon Yagi in Binh Lieu was Cao Son Flower Garden in Dong Van commune, where the greenhouses had their roofs blown off and several trees were uprooted by the storm. However, immediately after the storm subsided, the gardeners began repairing the damage, re-roofing, reinforcing the wooden bridges, cleaning up, and replacing some fallen trees. The gardeners also proactively prepared a supply of fresh vegetables and free-range chickens, and invested in an additional area for experiencing traditional ethnic costumes to meet the needs of tourists visiting this tourist spot for photo opportunities during this year's autumn-winter season.

Many businesses, large, small, and medium-sized, in the province have been making efforts in various ways to overcome the damage caused by the storm. And with each passing day, more businesses and establishments are able to partially or fully reopen to welcome back customers. This is something that deserves attention and encouragement, and it is necessary to create more practical conditions for tourism businesses to recover quickly, contributing to the development of one of the province's key economic sectors.

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