According to VinaCapital, an investment fund in Vietnam, “Safe Haven Tourism” is the best way for the country to maximize tourism revenues while minimizing risks and challenges of COVID-19 pandemic in the future.

In a bid to reboot the tourism industry, the idea of “Safe Haven Tourism” will create confidence in both visitors and destinations that health and safety issues are fully addressed.

Mr. Don Lam, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Co-Founder of VinaCapital, said the tourism industry contributed 10 to 15 per cent to the country’s economy and employed 1.3 million people, but had paused almost all economic activities including tourism to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

He said, “We estimate that tourist arrivals to Vietnam could fall by at least 60 per cent in 2020 after falling nearly 40 per cent in the first four months of this year.”

It can take probably two years to recover the tourism industries globally.

Mr. Lam also added, “We encourage a low-risk/high-return strategy be applied where Vietnam specifically targets higher spending tourists from countries with low risk of COVID-19 complemented by controls that lower the risk of new cases occurring in Vietnam.”

The Government can do partnership with resorts and airlines to enable all tourists to enjoy travel once again while minimizing the COVID-19 risks.

The resorts participating in this programme will need to be large, integrated properties with compelling attractions such as nice clean beaches and/or gaming facilities. This can even lead to the Government declaring entire islands (such as Phu Quoc or Con Dao) as “Safe Haven Tourism Zones”.

However, all major steps will need to be taken to ensure that tourists are not suffering from COVID-19 symptoms while travelling and tourists have to follow all required health and safety measures at all time.

Tourists will need to be tested for the virus before boarding a flight to Vietnam. Daily temperature checks of all guests and employees will need to be done at the resort and all people will have to maintain a social distance from each other.

The key to encouraging people to travel again is to minimize the risk as best as possible. People will not travel if they fear they could become ill.