Current Issues in Tourism

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Is Vietnam ready to welcome tourists back?

Assessing COVID-19’s economic impact and the
Vietnamese tourism industry’s response to the
pandemic

Tuyen D. Quang , Thi C. Tran , Vu H. Tran , Thao T. Nguyen & Thu T. Nguyen

To cite this article: Tuyen D. Quang , Thi C. Tran , Vu H. Tran , Thao T. Nguyen & Thu T. Nguyen
(2020): Is Vietnam ready to welcome tourists back? Assessing COVID-19’s economic impact and
the Vietnamese tourism industry’s response to the pandemic, Current Issues in Tourism, DOI:
10.1080/13683500.2020.1860916

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CURRENT ISSUES IN TOURISM
https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2020.1860916

Is Vietnam ready to welcome tourists back? Assessing COVID-19’s

economic impact and the Vietnamese tourism industry’s
response to the pandemic
Tuyen D. Quang, Thi C. Tran, Vu H. Tran, Thao T. Nguyen and Thu T. Nguyen
Faculty of Tourism, Van Lang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

This paper qualitatively assesses COVID-19’s impact on the tourism Received 6 August 2020
industry in Vietnam and the Vietnamese government and tourism Accepted 30 November 2020
industry’s responses to the pandemic. It includes data from government
KEYWORDS
media sources, semi-structured interviews with 30 managers of travel Economic impacts; COVID-
enterprises, and two group discussions with 50 representatives of 19; tourism crisis; responses;
tourism and hospitality businesses in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Its Vietnam
findings indicate that Vietnam’s tourism sector responded passively in
the first stages of the pandemic and then responded reactively and
successfully alongside the Vietnamese government’s planned re-
opening of society and the economy. In particular, it shows how
government authorities and tourism companies are implementing
strategies to encourage domestic tourism and boost the sector’s
economic recovery. This paper also explores how various tourism
stakeholders in Vietnam (a) see the pandemic as an opportunity to
restructure various practices and yet (b) have not prepared contingency
plans and long-term strategies to help prevent and mitigate the risks to
the industry posed by future crises. This paper concludes by reflecting
on how the pandemic illustrates the need for proactive efforts to
prepare reduction and readiness strategies and draw up initiatives for
long-term development of tourism in Vietnam.

Introduction
Tourism and public health crises are closely related, and understanding their relationship is key to
developing effective health safety practices in an increasingly global age (Burkle, 2006). The
global nature of tourism means that tourism is affected and influenced by many interrelated indus-
tries, political decisions, and cultural systems across the world (Sigala, 2020). Previous studies have
shown how outbreaks of contagious disease can impact tourism (Hall, 2011; Scott & Gössling, 2015;
Timothy & Hall, 2019) and how tourism itself contributes to the spread of such diseases (Hall, 2011;
Nicolaides et al., 2020; Renaud, 2020). Therefore, the relationship between tourism and outbreaks of
contagious disease has significant social and economic consequences (Bakar & Rosbi, 2020; McKibbin
& Sidorenko, 2006; Sigala, 2020; Siu & Wong, 2004).
The interconnected nature of today’s world means that regional health, economic, and social
crises can quickly become global crises with broad effects. Crises such as the 9/11 attacks of 2001,
global economic crisis of 2008, and outbreaks of contagious disease like the severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, swine flu outbreak in 2009, Ebola outbreak in 2014, and Middle

CONTACT Tuyen D. Quang tuyen.qd@vlu.edu.vn

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2020.1860916
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
2 T. D. QUANG ET AL.

East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in 2015 have had significant effects on society at large.
These crises dramatically affect the tourism industry because they introduce uncertainty, travel
restrictions, harsher economic calculuses, and so on into tourists’ decision to travel and destinations’
ability to receive them (Scott & Gössling, 2015; Timothy & Hall, 2019; Wilder-Smith, 2006). For
example, according to a The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) report (2005), the severe
acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic of 2003 reduced international tourism by 12 million
visitors – a 1.5% decrease – and reduced tourism to Southeast Asia by almost 14%. In particular,
the number of international visitors to many destinations was halved in two consecutive months
(April and May). Tourism to the Asia and Pacific region, which had been growing steadily, has
been dramatically reduced (−9.0%); that to Southeast Asia decreased by 13.9% (UNWTO, 2005).
Today, the world is facing an outbreak of COVID-19, a disease spread by a novel coronavirus. This
outbreak rapidly spread all over the globe in the early months of 2020 and has had significant social
and economic impacts worldwide. COVID-19’s high rate of infection has seen almost every country in
the world slow economic activity and restrict travel to slow the spread of the virus (Bakar & Rosbi,
2020; Jamal & Budke, 2020; Renaud, 2020). As a result, COVID-19 has almost frozen the tourism indus-
try and related industries. According to a May 2020 UNWTO report, COVID-19’s impact in the first
quarter of 2020 alone is estimated to total 67 million fewer international tourists, $80 billion
(USD) in lost exports (UNWTO, 2020).
Scholarship on tourism risk management and recovery has developed rapidly over the past two
decades and has taken many perspectives within the tourism supply chain (Goodwin, 2020; Nico-
laides et al., 2020). Some have studied how crises can destroy tourism-and hospitality-related jobs
(Bakar & Rosbi, 2020; Kuo et al., 2008; UNWTO, 2020; Wang, 2009). Others have studied the
impact of contagious disease outbreaks on tourism at the local (Correa-Martínez et al., 2020; Hadi
& Supardi, 2020), national (Foo et al., 2020; Ulak, 2020), and regional levels (Baum & Hai, 2020; Pri-
deaux et al., 2020). Still other scholars have focused on the tourism industry’s response to and pre-
paredness regarding crises (Prideaux et al., 2020; Sigala, 2020; Walker, 2005) by trying to learn from
past crises (Maphanga & Henama, 2019; McKibbin & Fernando, 2020; Prideaux et al., 2020), predict
future crises (Gössling et al., 2021; Lean & Smyth, 2009; Wen et al., 2020), estimate their impacts
(Romano, 2020; Siu & Wong, 2004), and suggest recovery strategies (Hystad & Keller, 2008; Sigala,
2020).
In short, crisis management has become a crucial concern of tourism studies scholarship. Crisis-
management-oriented tourism scholars are mostly concerned with creating plans to protect tourists,
business, and destinations from crises (Hadi & Supardi, 2020; Niewiadomski, 2020; Wang et al., 2008).
They suggest proactive crisis responses, including the development of strategic plans to help cope
with eventual crises (Jamal & Budke, 2020; Mair et al., 2016; Mansfeld, 1999; Ritchie, 2004). An
example of this was mentioned in Ritchie (2004) where the need of proactive planning, effectively
strategic implementation, evaluation and the feedbacks of outcomes to crisis management for
ensuring the constant refinement in tourism industry was called. Other scholars argue that crises
present an opportunity to reset tourism practices and foster better ones (Cohen, 2011; Nepal,
2020; Niewiadomski, 2020; Tremblay-Huet, 2020; Zeng et al., 2005). The Vietnamese case is interest-
ing for two reasons. Economically, the country has managed the pandemic remarkably well with rela-
tively small resources. While from a sanitary point of view, the situation is under control. The
economic consequences of the pandemic have been dramatic for tourism, that is one of the most
affected sectors with the collapse of international tourism arrivals and a significant drop in domestic
tourism. However, in recent years, Vietnam has bet on a strong development strategy for the sector.
In the past decade, the Vietnamese government has made tourism a pillar of the country’s
economy. In 2011, it implemented a 10-year strategy to promote and develop tourism as a key
driver of economic development. This has spurred industry growth: between 2015 and 2019, the
number of international visitors to Vietnam grew by an average of 22% per year (Tourist Information
Center, 2020). In 2019, Vietnam attracted over 18 million international tourists and 85 million dom-
estic tourists, making it one of the top 10 fastest-growing tourism industries in the world (Travelmag,
 CURRENT ISSUES IN TOURISM 3

2020). That same year, Vietnam’s Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (MCST) emphasized that he
saw 2020 as a year of great opportunity, and that Vietnam would aim to attract 20.5 million inter-
national visitors and spearhead economic growth by creating 3.5 million tourism jobs in 2020
(Nhat Nam, 2019).
Ho Chi Minh City is the transportation hub and gateway city of Vietnam. Moreover, Vietnam is
located in a strategic geographical position connecting local, regional and global trading partners.
Furthermore, by having a variety of natural and human tourism resources, Ho Chi Minh City offers
various tourism aspects to the world such as MICE tourism, shopping tourism, cultural and historical
tourism etc. Therefore, Ho Chi Minh City is considered to be the most vibrant destination in the
country. In 2019, the total number of international visitors to Ho Chi Minh City reached 8,619,000,
up 13.48% over the same period in 2018. Domestic tourism to the city reached 32.77 million arrivals,
an increase of 13% compared to 2018; The total revenue of Ho Chi Minh City’s tourism industry
reached 140,017 billion VND [$US 6.04 million], an increase of 10.15% compared to 2018. Ho Chi
Minh City tourism has notably contributed approximately 50% of Vietnam’s international visitors
accounting for nearly 20% of the country’s tourism revenue (HCM Tourism Department, 2020). In
the latter part of 2019, the tourism industry in Ho Chi Minh city was growing at a rapid pace.
However, the COVID-19 outbreak reversed this situation.
The Vietnamese government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been among the most
effective in the world, and has attracted much attention from world leaders. Vietnam was one of
the first countries to re-open its society and economy after implementing a lockdown to stop the
spread of the disease – as of April 16, Vietnam had no new cases of COVID-19. This situation and
Vietnam’s unique focus on tourism as a driver of economic development make it an interesting
case study through which to examine the impacts of crises on tourism. Therefore, it is relevant to
ask what the answers were given to the crisis by the actors of Vietnamese tourism, in a post-socialist
context where the State remains very present. We would like to compare the official actions under-
taken by the government with the ground reality experienced by the managers of tourism compa-
nies. Through a qualitative assessment, this paper aims to explore three interrelated aspects of this
unique case study. First, it examines COVID-19’s major impacts on Vietnam’s tourism industry.
Second, it explores how the Vietnamese government and tourism companies responded to the pan-
demic, with a focus on their plans to restart tourism activities. Third, it explores some lessons from
the current pandemic and suggests ways to increase the tourism industry’s resiliency to future crises.

Methods and data collection

This qualitative research employs the relevant current media, in-depth interviews, and group discus-
sions as its materials. Qualitative research methods can effectively explore important ideas, mean-
ings, and contexts in depth and go beyond the mere statistical analysis of quantitative research
methods (Bernard, 2006; Silverman, 2009) to explore individuals’ perspectives, experiences, and
opinions in more detail than other research methods (Bernard, 2011; Creswell, 2014, p. 398).
This study employed a three-pronged qualitative research methodology. First, we analysed sec-
ondary data gathered from COVID-19 media sources (e.g. news websites) and the literature sur-
rounding tourism and crises (e.g. Bernard, 2006; Postill & Pink, 2012; Salmons, 2016). Next, we
conducted interviews with over 30 travel managers in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on 23 April
2020 (Supplemental Table Online 1). Third, we organized a group discussion with 50 managers of
hotels, restaurants, and travel companies on 28 May 2020. Our interviews focused on some key
themes: (1) Impacts of COVID-19 on the tourism enterprises; (2) The various responses of tourism
enterprises and their effective approach during COVID-19 and planning for post-COVID-19; (3) Gov-
ernment’s support to tourism businesses during and after the pandemic outbreak, and its effective-
ness; (4) Tourism stakeholders’ recommendation to the government’s COVID-19 responses
concerning tourism industry.
4 T. D. QUANG ET AL.

Interviewies were intentionally sampled with the snowball approach (Bernard, 2011; Creswell,
2014). Prior to conducting the interviews, we contacted the potential respondents based on our per-
sonal relationships. Then interviews were scheduled upon receiving confirmation from the partici-
pants. Respondents were free to answer and withdraw the interviews at any time. During the
interview, responsdents were asked to recommend other potential interviewees. We then contacted
those individuals to explain the purpose of the study and invited them to participate in the interview.
Virtually all suggested interviewees were willing to participate in this research as they were intro-
duced by their fellow coworkers.
Participants were required to have at least 1 years working experience in managing tourism ser-
vices. This strategy was employed to ensure we received the most valuable insight from each par-
ticipant. This insight would pertain to the impact of tourism regarding the interviewee’s business
and the tourism industry at large. After interviewing 30 respondents we became saturated with
data (Bernard, 2011; Glaser & Strauss, 1967). No additional information could be gathered to inves-
tigate this phenomenon. We began finding similar instances in every case (Glaser & Strauss, 1967,
p. 61).
Each interview took approximately 45–60 min and was conducted in the Vietnamese language.
Interviews were not digitally recorded as the majority of participants were uncomfortable with
being recorded. This is typical of the Vietnamese post-socialist society. Their responses were
recorded in notebooks which were then transcribed into Vietnamese. We then used traditional
analysis techniques to identify, code, categorize and analyse the themes (Bernard & Ryan, 2010).
In particular, the meaning of the texts were coded and interpreted (Bernard & Ryan, 2010), analysed
and then compared with other texts in relation to the whole (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). We also ana-
lysed respondents’ statements for purposes of comparison and contrast. Words, expressions, or
statements that described the same phenomenon were assigned to a overarching theme
(Bernard, 2011; Glaser & Strauss, 1967).
After face to face interviews, we organized two focus groups (Creswell, 2014; Morgan, 2006): (1)
one for travel companies, (2) one for hotel and restaurant companies. They appreciated the oppor-
tunity to freely share their experience, exchange tips, and be inspired by other companies. For us, it
was an effective way to organize a contradictory debate. For example, domestic tourism and its
potential to compensate the losses of international tourism.
We cite some of our interviewees’ relevant concerns to support our findings and
recommendations.

Respondent profiles
This study’s findings were generated by summarizing the contents of qualitative interviews and
other data collection. The study ended on 1 June 2020, so COVID-related developments after this
date are not referenced in this paper. Respondents’ profiles and characteristics are displayed in
Tables 1 and 2, respectively.

Findings
COVID-19’s major impacts on the tourism industry in Vietnam
Decrease in the number of tourists
Tourism has played a major role in the development of the modern Vietnamese economy. According
to MCST’s statistics, the tourism industry saw an average growth rate of 22% per year for three con-
secutive years from 2016 to 2019. In 2019, Vietnam served 18 million international tourists (an
increase of 16% compared to 2018) and 85 million domestic tourists (an increase of 6% compared
to 2018). As a result, Vietnam has been named one of the 10 fastest-growing tourism countries in
the world (Travelmag, 2020). In particular, in 2019, Vietnam welcomed more than 5.8 million
 CURRENT ISSUES IN TOURISM 5

Table 1. Profiles of respondents.

Sample distribution Percentage
Director 47%
Respondent profile Department manager 33%
Officer 20%
Female 40%
Gender Male 60%
Less than 1 year 0%
1–2 years 0%
Working experience 3–7 years 13%
8–12 years 37%
13–20 years 33%
More than 20 years 17%
Inbound 27%
Market Domestic 23%
Domestic and outbound 50%

Chinese tourists, accounting for one-third of the total international tourists to Vietnam (Vietnamtour-
ism, 2020a). Figure 1 compares international tourist traffic to Vietnam during the first quarters of
2018, 2019 and 2020 (Vietnamtourism, 2020b).
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 22% fewer international tourists overall visited Vietnam
in February 2020 than in February 2019, and 68% fewer in March 2020 than in March 2019. Tourist
traffic from China and South Korea during these months alone decreased by 91.5% and 91.4%,
respectively (Ho Ha, 2020). Total international tourism to Vietnam in the first quarter of 2020 was
down 18% compared to the same period in 2019. In particular, tourism decreased sharply from
most major markets: That from China decreased 31.9% from the same period last year; from
South Korea by 26.1%; from Japan by 14.1%; from Taiwan by 7.2%; and from Malaysia by 19.1%
(VNAT, 2020a). In addition, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT),
Vietnamese domestic tourism in the first quarter of 2020 reached 13 million (a decrease of – 48%

Table 2. Respondents’ characteristics.

Hotel and restaurant enterprise (20
Travel enterprise (30 enterprises) enterprises)
Sample distribution Percentage Sample distribution Percentage
Age of company ≤5 years: 17% Age of company ≤5 years 0%
6–10 years 23% 6–10 years 0%
≤7 years 0% ≤7 years 20%
8–13 years 0% 8–13 years 10%
11–≤20 years 50% 11–≤20 years 0%
14–≤17 years 0% 14–≤17 years 10%
18–≤27 years 0% 18–≤27 years 20%
>20 years 10% > 20 years 0%
28–≤34 years 0% 28–≤34 years 15%
> 34 years 0% >34 years 25%
Human resources ≤10 20% Human resources ≤10 0%
11–< 20 17% 11–< 20 0%
20–<50 23% 20–<50 0%
50–≤100 27% 50–<100 15%
100–≤200 0% 100–≤200 50%
>100 13% >100 0%
>200 0% >200 35%
Market Inbound 27% Market Inbound 0%
Inbound and Domestic 0% Inbound and Domestic 90%
Domestic 23% Domestic 10%
Domestic and Outbound 50% Domestic and Outbound 0%
Type State-owned enterprise 13% Type State-owned enterprise 15%
Private enterprise 87% Private enterprise 85%
6 T. D. QUANG ET AL.

Figure 1. International arrivals to Vietnam in the first 3 months from 2019 to 2020 (VNAT, 2020b).

compared to 2019) (Vietnamtourism, 2019; 2020a). Thus, COVID-19 has dramatically reduced tourist
traffic to Vietnam.

Decrease in tourism revenue

This decrease in international tourist traffic led to decreases in Vietnam’s overall tourism-related
revenue. Vietnam’s total tourism revenue in the first 3 months of 2020 reached 143.6 billion VND
– down 18% from the same period in 2019 (VNAT, 2019, 2020c). Because the tourism industry is con-
nected with many other industries, the decline in the number of tourists and tourism revenue has
affected several related services and industries. For example, the revenues of tourism, accommo-
dation, and catering services in the first five months of 2020 decreased by 8.3 billion VND compared
to the same period last year (GSO, 2020a). Figure 2 charts this decline in Vietnam’s tourism revenues
(GSO, 2018, 2019, 2020b).
This revenue continues to decline sharply. According to the GSO’s statistical data of the first 5
months of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, the revenue of accommodation and food ser-
vices decreased by 25.8%, and 54.1% drop in travel service (GSO, 2020c). These type of income gen-
erating sectors also dropped considerately in major tourist destinations in the country; most
specifically, Khanh Hoa Province, that experienced the highest declining rate in both types of
revenue. Figure 3 illustrates the trends of leading tourist destination of Vietnam.

Increase in unemployment rates

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the global tourism employs 320 million
people, and the COVID-19 pandemic has put an estimated 50 million jobs at risk (Wendy, 2020). In
Vietnam, about 66% of tourism businesses reduced their staff by half and 20% of tourism businesses
eliminated their staff entirely (Hong Thao, 2020). An estimated 98% of workers in Vietnam’s tourism
industry and related services had to leave work during the pandemic (Trong Quynh, 2020), including
150,000 in Ho Chi Minh City (Gia Cu, 2020), 17,100 in Khanh Hoa (Xuan Thanh, 2020), and between
23,000 and 35,000 in Da Nang (Thai Hai, 2020). However, these statistics do not necessarily represent
the true depth of COVID-19’s impact: they only include employees under contract and do not include
freelancers such as tour guides, of whom there were 27,683 in December 2019 (Tourist Information
Center, 2020). These tour guides face unemployment without benefits as a result of COVID-19. Their
 CURRENT ISSUES IN TOURISM 7

Figure 2. Revenue reduction of the Hotel & Restaurant and Travel sectors in the first quarter from 2018 to 2020 (GSO, 2018, 2019,
2020b).

plight gives us some insight into how the pandemic poses economic and human resource manage-
ment problems which lead to broader political and social instability.

Tourist businesses face decommissioning or bankruptcy

COVID-19 arrived in Vietnam during peak tourist season – the festival season, which takes place after
the Lunar New Year. This timing produced a massive loss of revenue and forced many businesses to
decide between closing down or operating through the pandemic. The number of tourism compa-
nies temporarily suspended business increased by 32.2% compared to the first quarter of 2019 and is

Figure 3. Revenue reduction rates of several provinces in Vietnam’s tourism industry in the first 5 months of 2020 (GSO, 2020a).
8 T. D. QUANG ET AL.

the highest growth rate among the business sectors in Vietnam (National Business Registration,
2020). The shutdown has disproportionately affected smaller businesses. For example, 90% of
small- and medium-sized travel businesses in Ho Chi Minh City had temporarily suspended their
operations as of April 2020 (Ha Mai, 2020b).
The pandemic has also had a huge impact in particular on accommodation and catering
businesses. Since the country implemented social distancing measures on 31 March 2020, a mass
of hotels, restaurants, dining, amusement parks, and outdoor recreational areas have temporarily
suspended operations. For example, Vinpearl, one of the biggest resorts, leisure, and entertainment
brands in Vietnam, temporarily closed seven hotels; Silverland Hospitality, one of Vietnam’s leading
private hotel chains and spas, suspended operation of more than half its hotels in Ho Chi Minh City.
From this discussion, it is clear that the sharp decline in the number of tourists coming to Vietnam
as a result of COVID-19 has had a spillover effect which seriously affects the revenue and potential of
the tourism industry and related industries. Thus, the Vietnamese government and tourist industry’s
responses to the pandemic required the coordination of all stakeholders in order to effectively
develop strategic adaptation plans, overall objectives, and measures to cope with short- and
long-term risks.

State and tourism authorities’ response to COVID-19

Figure 4 maps out the disparate effects of COVID-19 on tourism in Vietnam and various stakeholders’
responses.
Furthermore, Table 3 displays the Vietnamese government’s implementation of prevention and
control measures to slow the spread of the disease in early 2020, including some specific to the
tourism industry.
The Vietnamese government’s speedy and comprehensive response ensured its relative success.
Several government departments, including the MCST, the VNAT, and the Vietnam Tourism Associ-
ation also issued specific guidelines regarding effective disease prevention and control measures
within the industry (GOV, 2020). These included self-isolation within the tourism industry commu-
nity, suspensions of sightseeing activities at tourist destinations, and strengthened prevention

Figure 4. Overview of Government’s COVID-19 responses, and its’ impacts on tourism.

 CURRENT ISSUES IN TOURISM 9

Table 3. The Vietnamese government’s COVID-19 response in three stages.

January 2019 to February 2020
23 Jan 2020: strictly control border entry,
public education campaigns
28 Jan 2020: cancellation of tours, close
monitoring of Chinese tourists in Vietnam
31 Jan 2020: paused flights between
epidemic areas of China and Vietnam;
adjustment of visa and immigration
policies for Chinese visitors
March and April 2020 May 2020
4 March 2020: implement measures to support 23rd April 2020: cease social
production and business, ensure social isolation measures
security to cope with the disease
11–31 March 2020: adjust social distancing 25 April 2020: continue
requirements; social isolation for 15 days COVID-19 disease
prevention and control
measures
12–24 March 2020: adjust visa policies; 8 May 2020: reopen the
temporarily suspend entry into Vietnam and economy
review all cases of entry from 8 March 2020
onward
25–27 March 2020: suspension of international
flights; cut domestic flights.
28 March to 15 April 2020: temporarily suspend
service businesses.

and control measures in hotels and restaurants. The remainder of this section lays out how the Viet-
namese government and tourism industry worked together to combat the effects of COVID-19.

General strategies for the tourism sector

In early February 2020, the VNAT sent two open letters to international friends and partners. The
letters outlined some of the proceedings of an industry conference to develop effective responses
to the pandemic. This conference saw the establishment of a Tourism Stimulation Alliance. Each par-
ticipant in the alliance is mandated to ensure that its tourist services are safe for visitors and offer
programmes and content at attractive prices. The alliance created a unified platform from which
businesses could act to mitigate the worst effects of COVID-19.
The formation of the alliance led industry stakeholders to develop responses to three phases of
the pandemic: the outbreak, the moment after the pandemic’s peak, and the pandemic’s end. Con-
ference attendees also suggested that tourism promotion campaigns should begin in April to
promote domestic and international tourism later in the year and offset the year’s early losses,
and that domestic tourism could recover as soon as the end of May.
The Vietnamese government outlined three potential scenarios for the end of the pandemic and
proposed corresponding responses that the tourism industry might undertake for each scenario. In
the first scenario, the pandemic ends in Vietnam alone. Under this scenario, the tourism industry
would focus on stimulating domestic tourism, especially through the programme, ‘Vietnamese
people travel Vietnam,’ which communicates about tourism activities, promotes tourist destinations,
and promotes attractive tourist products at reasonable prices. In addition, promoting localities that
reopen to tourism and are ready to welcome guests, and which can ensure guest safety amid epi-
demic conditions. In the second scenario, the pandemic ends in countries across Asia. Under this
scenario, the tourism industry would promote its products online through the Safe Vietnam
Tourism campaign, emphasizing international tourist travel to places where the pandemic had
lifted. Under this scenario, the government also proposed reconsidering its visa exemption policies,
including the exemption and reduction of entry visa fees for international visitors. In addition, build-
ing a smart tourism control centre to host and analyse digital tranformation on tourism to create
more effective and adaptable plans and responses to the pandemic. In the final scenario, the pan-
demic ends around the world. Under this scenario, Vietnam’s tourism industry would deploy insights
from digital data collection and various stimulus and policy packages – including revisions to its visa
policies – in order to maximize the potential revenue from domestic and international tourism (GO,
2020a, 2020b). These plans represent the first-ever risk contingency plans in the history of Vietnam’s
tourism industry, and thus represent a significant departure from past practices. They see effective
disease prevention and control measures as an opportunity to develop a flexible and competitive
10 T. D. QUANG ET AL.

advantage for Vietnam tourism in the wake of the pandemic. The next section details specific gov-
ernment policy solutions to aid the economic recovery of the tourism industry in the wake of the
pandemic.

Proposed policy responses to COVID-19

Vietnam’s MCST proposed a series of possible policy responses to the pandemic in the interest of
spurring economic recovery within the tourism industry. First, it proposed a financial support
package which would see tourism businesses issue ‘tour vouchers’ for a period of 12–18 months
with a value equivalent to tours that customers have purchased but could not use due to the
disease. In another word, business will be able to redeem these vouchers with the government to
recover lost costs that these vouchers go to tourists. The ministry also asked the Vietnam Aviation
Administration to direct airlines to support travel businesses in refunding deposits for buying air
tickets during the pandemic (MCST, 2020). The ministry also suggested passing a 62 billion VND
stimulus package to help small and medium businesses and their employees make ends meet
during the pandemic. In a show of effective coordination, Vietnam’s state bank has developed
timely policies to reschedule debt payments, reconsider loan interest exemptions and reductions,
and reduce fees for Vietnamese citizens. Its 250 trillion VND credit support package includes
specific measures for tourism-related investments, including reduction of loan interest rates and
extensions of grace periods (Viet Chung, 2020).
The government also suggested that it deploy exemptions from value-added tax and exempt
50% of such tax for tourism businesses and consumers in the first three quarters of 2020. Additional
proposed tax-related measures include the reduction of presumptive taxes on individual business
households, land and housing taxes, land rental charges, and the postponement of tourism
businesses’ deadlines for paying various kinds of tax until the end of June 2021 (Ha Mai, 2020a).
The government has proposed various other measures to help tourism businesses weather the
pandemic and recover from it. These include applying the electricity production price (instead of
service price) to restaurants and tourist accommodation establishments (Ha Mai, 2020a) and redu-
cing the fee for evaluating businesses’ licenses by 50% (Ministry of Finance, 2020).

Human-resource-specific policies
To resolve or mitigate the effects of labour issues arising from COVID-19, Vietnam’s MCST proposed
the following supports for tourism workers. First, the ministry proposed that it funds human
resources training and helps industry-related training institutions effectively move their operations
online. These measures also include the provision of preferential recruitment and acceptance pol-
icies for workers who are participating in re-training programmes, improving their skillsets, and
improving their labour productivity according to Vietnam Tourism Occupational Standards (MCST,
2020). Second, the ministry suggested providing general financial support packages. Resolutions
and decisions were issued to support people in desperate situation, workers who lost their jobs in
tourist accommodation establishments due to this crisis outbreak (Thi Hong, 2020). Third, it
suggested that the government adjust regulations regarding unemployment insurance for the
year 2020 by reducing the minimum requirements for eligibility, exempting employees from
making unemployment insurance contributions, and increasing the amount of the monthly unem-
ployment insurance benefit.

Policies for tourists

The VNAT and other agencies have developed specific policies to help keep tourists safe. These
include practical measures and policy measures. Practical measures include the distribution of infor-
mation through official channels, providing industry stakeholders with the necessary supplies, con-
ducting health checks at the border, enforcing quarantine orders, compiling information profiles to
help the effective implementation of quarantine and related measures, and encouraging desti-
nations to maintain hygienic standards (Thuy, 2020). Officials in Ho Chi Minh City also spray
 CURRENT ISSUES IN TOURISM 11

disinfectant on religious relics and other oft-touched tourist attractions. In other hand, policy
measures include supporting foreign tourists stranded in Vietnam during the pandemic by extend-
ing their visas, providing exemption from certain policies, and helping them self-isolate in safety
(Nhat Nam, 2020). In addition, the Vietnamese government has supported travellers’ return flights
and healthcare and worked to reduce the living expenses of foreign tourists trapped in Vietnam
(Trinh Nguyen, 2020).
In short, tourism businesses, tourism workers, and tourists alike have been dramatically affected
by the COVID-19 pandemic, just as they have been by previous outbreaks of contagious disease.
Early, effective, and coordinated practical and policy responses from the Vietnamese government
and tourism industry have created the conditions for the industry to rebound and recover well
from the crisis (Ministry of Finance, 2020; Ministry of Health, 2020; Tourist Information Center,
2020). As a result, Vietnam has moulded its identity as a global leader in emergency response and
tourism.
As of June 25, 2020, localities paid about 11.320 billion VND [450.000 USD] assisting 11.2 million
beneficiaries in Vietnam (GSO, 2020d). The government released policies to support those who are
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been urgently implemented to the localities, that
also reached individuals and operating units in the tourism and hospitality industry. However, the
sector continues to experience challenges despite the government’s aid. According to our inter-
views, tourism mainly receive support from policy changes on tax and land leases, social insurance,
as well as electricity price reduction; but the most important matter that needs to be addressed at
this time is the financial aspect. Tourism businesses need credit and loans to be able to cover the
expenditure of operational costs. Be that as it may, the industry experiences difficulties accessing
the support due to lack of financial capabilities. Our interviews in Ho Chi Minh City show that 7
out of 50 hospitality and travel companies have been supported to reduce land tax, and to
reduce bank interest rates. For the 10% electricity price discount, 20 out of 20 hotels and 3 out of
30 travel businesses benefited. However, the number of supported enterprises is quite modest
due to complex approval criteria, difficult approval conditions, and slow approval process. This
shows that although, the government, in a timely manner, issues policies to support the affected
sectors, its reach is very limited. In the real sense, this support is not totally useful to tourism and
hospitality businesses during this pandemic.

How tourism companies have responded to COVID-19

This section covers tourism companies’ specific responses to COVID-19 in detail, with reference to
our qualitative interviews with industry stakeholders. These companies have adopted several
response strategies. First, tourism businesses moved quickly to refund travel plans or offer services
at a reduced rate in the post-pandemic. This approach, our interviewees said, both developed the
business’ brands and ensured their continue revenue and operation.
Second, tourism businesses have reduced their staffs and staff’s salaries and, in some cases,
allowed them to work from home. Our interviews indicated that 28/30 tour operators and 17/20
hotel businesses reduced their staff’s salaries and hours and allowed employees to work from
home. Others encouraged employees to take unpaid leave, and still others paid their employees
partial wages for the duration of the pandemic. This was the case at the Ben Thanh Tourist
Company, whose ‘board of directors encouraged employees to stay with their employer and overcome
the crisis together’ by helping them balancing their budgets (TE15, May 2020).
Some travel agents have responded by engaging in active market research and developing new
products and packages for the return of tourism-as-normal, and others have improved the quality of
old tourism products to meet market demand. The director of Bi Travel stated that:
We are focusing on the optimisation of old products and researching new products. We intend to focus first on
retail customers, groups customers, and family customers. (TE2, May 2020)

TNK Travel International’s tour manager concurred:

12 T. D. QUANG ET AL.

TNK Travel is focusing on researching new tourism products, specifically guided eco-tours and picnics. (TE1, May
2020)

These businesses see preparing new tourism products as an effective way to promote their brand,
maintain their target customer base, and create a steady foundation from which to serve new
target customers post-pandemic.
Travel agents are also actively seeking ways to stimulate tourism in cooperation with other indus-
try stakeholders. This has taken the form of offering domestic tourism packages at a greatly reduced
price, including greatly reduced air fare, sometimes at a discount of 70% or more (Thuy, 2020). Thus,
Vietnam Airlines has cooperated with tour operators to implement the ‘Hello Sun’ programme,
offering domestic tour packages with air tickets included to tourist destinations in Vietnam.
Others have transformed their business model by selling essential and timely products (food, disin-
fectant, face masks, etc.) online during the pandemic (TE 2, TE 3, TE 5, TE 6, TE 7, TE 17, TE 20, HL1-7,
May 2020). Others still have turned their focus toward real estate, education, and visa services (HL4,
HL9, TE 15, TE 16, TE 21, TE 27, TE 30, May 2020).
Like the Vietnamese government, tourism industry stakeholders in Vietnam have invested in pro-
fessional human resources training to improve the performance and efficiency of their business
operations in a post-pandemic world. Many businesses have engaged in training to upgrade their
quality management processes and applied advanced technology to company activities (HL19, TE
4, TE 6, TE9, 15, TE 19, May 2020). Other businesses have used the pandemic has an opportunity
to train employees in soft skills and upgrade the quality of their human resources operations to
better handle the post-pandemic market (TE 12, TE 17, TE 21, TE 23, TE 28, May 2020). In this vein,
the Vice Director of Cho Lon Tourists acknowledged that:
Our staff has been trained to help consult with customers who are buying or renting apartments, townhouses,
and villas in the short term. (TE 19, May 2020)

Likewise, the Director of JMT Travel Co. stated that:

Because the company ‘cannot operate in tourism at this time, we have moved to open an English teaching
centre for workers and begun a real estate business’. (TE27, May 2020)

Furthermore, the Director of V-ONE Travel stated that their company had ‘temporarily suspended our
inbound customer market business’ and are now ‘focusing on visa extension services for inter-
national visitors stuck in Vietnam’ (TE 22, May 2020).
Hotels, resorts, and restaurants have taken advantage of their unique infrastructure to become
food delivery services and to host Vietnamese citizens who are returning from abroad and need to
quarantine for several weeks for a fee. These businesses are undertaking food delivery services to
workers and guests who are working in office buildings. As of March 2020, there were 156 three- to
five-star hotels in Vietnam which were registered as self-isolation facilities (Thanh Binh, 2020). In all,
the flexibility of various tourism industry stakeholders has helped them maintain and create jobs,
promote their brand, and produce an image of community engagement and responsibility.
Table 4 categorizes tourism businesses’ responses to COVID-19 into basic groups – those focused
on customers, those focused on business partners, and those focused on the tourism businesses
themselves.
Our research findings show that most businesses have similar solutions to cope with COVID-19
crisis. These solutions include increasing focus on the domestic tourism market, temporarily switch-
ing to other business services such as real estate, food, souvenirs, cafes, grocery stores, insurance,
visa extension services, mostly done online. The responses to the effects of COVID-19 differ based
on the nature of the business (e.g. domestic, inbound, and domestic-outbound). In particular, (1)
For tourism firms targeting the domestic market: when the pandemic has been almost contained
in Vietnam during the first wave, tourism businesses run through the market in cooperation with
transport businesses, airlines, and hotels to create inexpensive package tours that would attract
domestic tourists. (2) Regarding the outbound and inbound market travel businesses that are
 CURRENT ISSUES IN TOURISM 13

Table 4. Tourism industry responses to COVID-19.

Object Content of the solution
For customers . Refund to customers who want to cancel the service;
. Commit to providing services at a discounted price to customers who want to keep the
service.

For partners in the travel service . Cooperate with supply chain partners (airlines, restaurants, hotels, tourist attractions) to
supply chain develop low-cost package tours to attract customers and stimulate the tourism industry
after the depandemic.

For internal businesses
. Human resource policy: Cut unnecessary expenses, reduce personnel, reduce salary,
support part of salary for employees, and let employees working online; strengthen
professional training for staff.
. Policies on tourism products: Ensure the quality of services for old products, research new
tourism products and services; research new target customer segments to adapt to the
post-pandemic market trend.
. Change of business model: Travel businesses and hotels have moved to real estate,
education, visa extension services, necessities, food, cuisine and working at quarantine
places.

dependent on the COVID-19 condition outside Vietnam, most have to suspend operations, and some
switched to other businesses or adding more presence on domestic markets.

Lessons to be learned
In general, most tourism businesses did not have strategic emergency contingency plans in place
when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. As a result, they responded rather passively. This section
details some distinct but interrelated ways in which the Vietnam tourism industry can formulate
detailed plans to meet the challenges of other, similarly large crises in the future.

Focusing on the industry’s sustainable development

Crises offer opportunities for stakeholders to re-establish sustainable development as a top priority
(Piketty, 2015). The COVID-19 crisis is no exception – in fact, it provides several key lessons for sta-
keholders seeking sustainable development and increased resiliency of the tourism industry to large-
scale crises. First, it is clear that such development requires several strategically planned and proac-
tive risk management measures (Jamal & Budke, 2020; Mair et al., 2016; Mansfeld, 1999; Ritchie,
2004). In the context of a pandemic, these might include swifter, more decisive, and more drastic
measures to ensure public health and safety – not only social measures such as implementing
social distancing, but economic measures such as equipping industry leaders with the funds necess-
ary to continue their operations and pay their employees. This is especially important in the context
of Vietnam, where 95% of businesses are small- and medium-sized businesses (Tran Thuy, 2020). If
the country had not lacked a crisis contingency fund at the outset of 2020, that might have pre-
vented the closure of many businesses. Thus, the establishment of a crisis fund and of funding for
sustainable and resilient industry development should be key elements of any forthcoming risk man-
agement strategies.

Restructuring the tourism market

The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the Vietnamese tourism industry’s dependence on international
tourist markets. For example, one-third of all international tourists to Vietnam in 2019 came from
14 T. D. QUANG ET AL.

China. The pandemic underscored how unsustainable this approach to tourism really is, as Chinese
tourism to Vietnam dropped by over 90% and effectively threw the entire tourism industry into crisis.
Thus, in order to improve its resiliency to crises, Vietnam’s tourism industry should consider diversi-
fying and restructuring its tourist market by paying greater attention to domestic tourism, maintain-
ing its traditional market, and expanding into other international markets besides China.

Focusing on the domestic tourism market

According to a 2019 report by Outbox Consulting, the number of Vietnamese tourists traveling over-
seas has grown by 10%–15% per year for several years and is on pace to keep increasing at this rate
until at least 2021 (Outbox Consulting, 2020). The country’s quick and effective response to the
COVID-19 crisis and the impact of that crisis on international tourism means that Vietnam has a
great opportunity to build up its domestic tourism market as a pillar of economic recovery.
Between mid-April and 1 June 2020, Google searches for domestic flights within Vietnam
accounted for up to 85% of all tourism-related searches, searches related to sea travel doubled,
and searches related to parks and national parks increased by 25% (Dang Huy, 2020). These
trends indicate that domestic tourism demand is thriving in Vietnam. We suggest that industry sta-
keholders continue to develop attractive stimulus programmes to boost domestic tourism, such as
the MCST’s ‘Vietnamese people travel Vietnam’ campaign, which coordinates the active and safe par-
ticipation of localities, airlines, and tourism businesses. This programme is being implemented
between 1 June and 31 December 2020, and aims to promote destinations, develop attractive
tourist products, and develop and implement tourism stimulus packages which feature quality
and affordable services and products for consumers.
The Vietnam Tourism Association has also launched a stimulus programme to stimulate domestic
tourism. This programme has two phases: one lasting from 15 May to 15 July 2020 and the second
lasting from 15 July through the end of the year. The programme focuses on producing and promot-
ing novel, affordable, and diverse tourism products and requires the cooperation of many stake-
holders at different levels of the tourism service supply chain. This programme has seen some of
the country’s major tourist destinations open themselves up for free admission or discount their
admission, hotel, and service fees by up to 50%, and has seen Vietnam Airlines partner with presti-
gious travel companies to discount up to 40% of airline ticket prices when tourists travel in groups of
at least six people. The latter discount is applicable to all domestic Vietnam Airlines flights from 15
May through the end of 2020. The rhythmic, synchronized coordination between the Vietnamese
government and tourism industry will not only aid in the industry and country’s economic recovery,
but will build a more resilient tourism industry in the future.
Maintaining traditional tourism markets and expanding into other international markets Vietnam’s
unique geographical position may turn out to be a competitive advantage in the post-pandemic
world, because it can attract visitors from many countries with emerging economies. We suggest
that Vietnam’s traditional tourism markets should be given priority in the short term to aid economic
recovery, and that the industry should then branch out and limit its dependence on a few large,
lucrative markets in order to make it more resilient. We argue that VNAT should step up the pro-
motion of international tourism and that local and business should consider focusing on markets
like Europe, North America, and Australia and New Zealand. In addition, we suggest that the
VNAT pay special attention to key markets with convenient air routes and high rates of economic
growth, such as Korea, Japan, other ASEAN countries, and India.

Conclusion
This study has assessed various impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Vietnamese tourism
industry and the Vietnamese government and tourism industry’s responses to the pandemic. It
asserts that tourist industry stakeholders around the world can learn from Vietnam’s pandemic
experience, and that they should restructure their tourist markets and develop risk management
 CURRENT ISSUES IN TOURISM 15

plans to create a more resilient industry and lay the foundation for the growth of various tourism-
related sectors of the economy. This paper, in short, sees crises as a great opportunity, and
encourages industry stakeholders to adopt this perspective (Cohen, 2011; Nepal, 2020; Niewia-
domski, 2020; Tremblay-Huet, 2020; Zeng et al., 2005).
The preparation of the scenario planning approach is a crucial factor in minimizing and mitigating
the impact of any crisis on the country’s economy. One of the most prominent examples is the Vis-
itScotland organization, which adopted effective response scenarios to successfully combat the
Avian Flu epidemic (Page et al., 2006). The scenario planning approach and crisis response strategies
from the case study of Vietnam can be implemented as one of the COVID-19 eradication models.
Again, these scenarios have shown a clear awareness as pertains to the benefits of successful
disease mitigation. Thus, making them a platform to build a competitive advantage for Vietnam’s
tourism sector.
Reflecting on the country’s strategic approaches in handling the COVID-19, is Vietnam ready to
welcome tourists back? The answer lies on the success of Vietnam in managing the second wave
of COVID-19. However, by having the three successful scenario planning approaches, the state is:
assessing the actual situation, responding quickly, and proactively in overcoming the consequences
of COVID-19. This study suggests a proactive engagement among stakeholders and a strategic
response for future crises.
Although this research has been conducted with rigorous empirical consideration, there are a
number of limitations regarding this study. The first is that the figures published by the various gov-
ernment agencies such as the Ministries of: Culture, Sports and Tourism, Industry and Trade, and
General Statistics Office are not consistent with each other when it comes to COVID-19’s impact on
tourism. In addition, these figures are only an initial estimate to assess the damage during the
ongoing COVID-19 disease. Therefore, it does not reflect the overall impact on the economy from a
tourism perspective. This is understandable because in the midst of such a fierce pandemic, it is vir-
tually impossible to make an accurate statistical prognosis. Secondly, this research solely focuses on
the impact of tourism enterprise. So, it cannot reflect the overall impact of tourism in Vietnam. There-
fore, future research should take into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on local commu-
nities, local tourism households and their perspectives that can pave the way in exploring the
possibility of recommending a ratification of pandemic-response strategies in the tourism industry.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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