The tourism industry alone is difficult to handle.

Some people take advantage of street vending and shoe shining to harass and overcharge tourists , especially international visitors...

Regarding the issue of street vendors and shoe shiners charging exorbitant prices and deliberately harassing and bothering foreign tourists, Mr. Le Truong Hien Hoa, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, outlined solutions to address this problem.

Reporter: Tourists frequently complain about street vendors aggressively soliciting, or even trying to force-sell, their goods at many tourist destinations in the central area of Ho Chi Minh City. Has the Department of Tourism received any such complaints, sir?

- Mr. LE TRUONG HIEN HOA: Regarding the issues raised by the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism has received feedback and regularly directs specialized forces to consider them as key priority tasks that need to be focused on resolving.

Người bán hàng rong đeo bám, mời chào khách quốc tế ở trung tâm TP HCM Ảnh: LAM GIANG — Street vendors persistently approach and solicit international tourists in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: LAM GIANG

The Department regularly directs its specialized departments to strengthen specialized inspections at tourist routes and destinations, coordinating with relevant functional units to monitor the situation and promptly handle complaints from tourists. At the same time, this year, the Department of Tourism has proactively coordinated with the City Police; the Culture and Information Departments of Districts 1 and 3; the Police of Districts 1 and 3; and the City's Youth Volunteer Force to establish a task force to carry out a specialized program on addressing price gouging and street vending that disrupt public order.

The relevant authorities have conducted investigations, reviews, and compiled lists of individuals involved in complex occupations such as unlicensed taxi services, cyclo-rickshaws, coconut vendors, and other street vendors in the area. Simultaneously, they have filed warnings and required these individuals to sign commitments not to solicit customers and to comply with regulations on public security and urban order.

These forces also regularly conduct patrols to detect groups of street vendors gathering in key areas, public spaces, and tourist attractions within the region.

In addition, the Department of Tourism regularly holds quarterly meetings to evaluate the results of implementation and to orient and deploy tasks that need to be carried out in the coming time. Up to now, these subjects have tended to decrease in number and narrow the scope of activities.

Why have cases of overcharging, harassment, and intimidation of tourists occurred for so long, for many years, yet the tourism industry has failed to address them effectively?

- Addressing the issue of price gouging, harassment, and intimidation of tourists has posed many challenges for state management agencies in recent times. However, tourism is a comprehensive economic and service sector involving many other industries. Therefore, the tourism industry alone cannot completely resolve this situation.

Investigations and reviews have revealed that the majority of coconut vendors, street vendors, shoe shiners, etc., are immigrants or temporary residents in various suburban districts and counties. Besides those who conduct legitimate business to earn a living, a small number exploit street vending and shoe shining to harass, extort, and damage the property of tourists, especially international visitors. These individuals operate in small groups, during the off-hours of authorities, and within specific geographical areas.

However, law enforcement agencies face many difficulties in handling these individuals, particularly in the post-procedure coordination between state management agencies and local authorities. Because the law lacks specific regulations, penalties for acts of soliciting, harassing, and inconveniencing tourists are still lenient. Most offenders only receive administrative penalties, which are insufficient to deter future violations, leading to easy recidivism and often more reckless behavior in subsequent offenses.

What are the biggest difficulties and problems, sir?

- Many individuals exploit street vending and shoe shining to harass, steal, or damage the property of tourists... and do not have stable residences. The most difficult aspect of handling these cases is the lack of evidence, the small value of the damaged property, and tourists' reluctance to report; the main penalties are administrative fines, low fines, and confiscation of vending equipment, which are insufficient to deter offenders. Many repeat offenders and find ways to evade law enforcement, such as changing their operating areas, disguising their vending activities, and hiding from authorities... Furthermore, some individuals who are penalized fail to pay fines, and confiscated goods lack storage facilities...

Meanwhile, ensuring the security and safety of tourists is a high-risk area of activity, frequently facing social ills, which poses difficulties for law enforcement agencies.

Furthermore, the personnel of the Tourism Order Team (under the city's Youth Volunteer Force) are only tasked with prevention and do not have the authority to handle violations, thus requiring coordination and support from relevant agencies. Therefore, the effectiveness of ensuring security and order in tourism in the area is not high and lacks stability. The problems of robbery, street vending, begging, and harassment of tourists have not been fundamentally resolved.

So, in your opinion, what solutions are there to eliminate the problem of street vendors bothering tourists, especially the overcharging for shoe shiners and the persistent soliciting of customers, and the persistent and annoying practice of selling coconut water for years?

- Addressing this situation requires decisive and consistent involvement from many functional agencies. At the conference summarizing the three-year implementation of the Regulations on Coordination to Ensure Security and Order and Improve the Quality of Tourism Management in Ho Chi Minh City, the City Police and the Department of Tourism identified ensuring security and order in tourism, including thoroughly addressing the issue of street vending and price gouging, as one of the key tasks. In the coming time, the two units will strengthen coordination to implement specific solutions to resolve this problem.

(To be continued)

(*) See the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper, issue dated November 25th.

Proposal to establish a tourist support force.

The Department of Tourism stated that it will apply information technology to support tourists; receiving information and warnings to assist tourists. At the same time, it will continue to advise and propose the establishment of a specialized force to support tourists.