Quickly remove difficulties, grasp trends, and soon restore tourism

…The National Assembly leaders welcomed the initiative of the Committee on Culture and Education together with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism -Tourismand Nghe An province jointly organizedSeminarThis is a very meaningful event, right on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Uncle Ho's second visit to his homeland. This is a continuation of the activities of the National Assembly agencies and relevant agencies, aiming to deepen the issues discussed at the Vietnam Economic Forum 2021 "Recovery and Sustainable Development".

Topic "TourismThe conference's theme "Vietnam - Recovery and Development" is highly topical, receiving the attention of managers, experts, and associations in the context that our country is gradually controlling the epidemic, maintaining and restoring production, business, and services, and realizing the goal of "safe and flexible adaptation and effective control of the COVID-19 epidemic".

Comrade Tran Thanh Man - Politburo member, Permanent Vice Chairman of the National Assembly spoke at the 2021 Tourism Conference "Vietnam Tourism - Recovery and Development" held in Nghe An. Photo: Thanh Cuong

The workshop is even more meaningful when it is held in Nghe An, the land of "geomancy and talent", the homeland of beloved Uncle Ho; a place with many unique architectural works, traditional festivals, associated with rich cultural and spiritual life; along with the unique personality traits of Nghe An people with a simple, affectionate lifestyle; deep and loyal hearts; upright temperament, ready to sacrifice for a great cause; diligence, always looking for new things without forgetting the roots, these are extremely valuable assets, potentials, and advantages that help develop the economy - society, including the field ofTourismof Nghe An in particular and the country in general.

In the socio-economic development strategy of each country, the tourism industry has a very important position and role. Tourism is a smokeless industry, tourism contributes to environmental protection, saves a lot of costs, promises long-term benefits and contributes to promoting the image of the locality and the country; is always considered an important driving force for socio-economic development, has a large spillover coefficient, contributes to diversifying service exports, creating business opportunities for enterprises, jobs for people and the common prosperity of the country.

In 2019, tourism contributed about 10.4% of GDP and 10.6% of global employment. In our country, the tourism industry has many advantages and potentials thanks to the diversity of historical traditions, culture and natural resources. Tourism development is a major policy of our Party and State. Since Resolution 08 dated January 16, 2017 of the Politburo, the tourism industry has continuously made breakthroughs: in 2019, revenue from the tourism industry reached 32.8 billion USD, contributing 9.2% of the gross domestic product, creating 2.5 million jobs.

Since the beginning of 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has broken out, but with the determined and drastic leadership and direction of the Party and the State and the call of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, it has created unity and synergy among the entire Party, people and army, maintaining and developing the socio-economy: the budget revenue for 11 months is estimated at more than 1.39 million billion VND, exceeding the target by 3.7%, up 9% over the same period in 2020, of which domestic revenue increased by 6%. Total import-export turnover reached more than 599 billion USD, up 22.3%. Building the political system, preventing corruption and negativity has achieved many results.
People's material and spiritual life has improved, national defense and security have been ensured, foreign relations have been expanded, and Vietnam's position has continued to be enhanced in the international arena.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the socio-economic development of the country, including the tourism industry. Tourism activities have almost frozen; the growth indicators of the tourism industry have all decreased seriously; most businesses in the tourism sector have had to close or suspend operations; many workers in the industry are unemployed and have had to switch to other jobs. In the context of the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have had policies and measures to open up and restore tourism, and Vietnam also needs to quickly catch up with this trend.

Implementing the conclusions of the 4th Central Conference, 13th tenure on the implementation of the 2021 Socio-Economic Development Plan and the 2022 Socio-Economic Development Plan; the National Assembly and the Government are actively discussing and soon having a Strategy for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, a Program for Socio-Economic Recovery and Development, including key economic sectors such as tourism, transportation, investment, consumption, etc.

At the Vietnam Economic Forum 2021 recently organized by the National Assembly's Economic Committee in coordination with the Central Economic Committee and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, many leaders, experts and associations proposed comprehensive policies and solutions on fiscal, monetary and other non-financial policies; focusing on supporting the recovery of important industries and sectors and businesses directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the forum, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said: The forum is very important, contributing to clarifying scientific and practical arguments and international experiences for the National Assembly and the Government to consider and have effective solutions to support the goal of economic and social recovery and development, concretizing the policy stated in the Documents of the 4th Central Conference of the 13th Party Congress and the Resolution of the 2nd Session of the 15th National Assembly, not only contributing to the completion of socio-economic targets for 2022 but also for the entire 5-year term according to specific goals and targets.

Regarding this topic, there have been many seminars and conferences to discuss solutions to restore the tourism industry. However, today's seminar has a special meaning when it brings together many ideas, initiatives, and dedicated solutions with scientific and practical theories from Party agencies, the National Assembly, the Government, ministries, branches, localities, businesses, associations, and especially experts and scientists who have in-depth knowledge and research in this field and related fields.

…The workshop was prepared very carefully and meticulously; the National Assembly agencies closely coordinated with ministries, branches and localities, promoting the intelligence of many experts and researchers in the fields of tourism, economics, finance, culture and environment. Ministries, branches, localities and enterprises related to the tourism sector were very interested, showing enthusiasm and responsibility through very high-quality presentations, demonstrating the determination to implement the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress to develop tourism into a spearhead economic sector, affirming the position and role of tourism in socio-economic development.

The socio-economic development strategy for the 2021-2030 period and the Vietnam tourism development strategy to 2030 have set goals for the tourism industry: “By 2025, Vietnam will become an attractive destination, striving to be among the top 3 countries in tourism development in Southeast Asia and the top 50 countries in tourism competitiveness in the world. By 2030, tourism will truly be a spearhead economic sector and develop sustainably; Vietnam will become a particularly attractive destination, among the top 30 countries in tourism competitiveness in the world, fully meeting the requirements and goals of sustainable development”; tourism will contribute about 14 to 15% of the gross domestic product”.

Scientists, managers, and businesses participated in giving opinions and suggestions for Vietnam's tourism to recover and develop soon. Photo: Thanh Cuong

In order for the Workshop to achieve the best results, in the discussion program this afternoon and after the Workshop, I propose:

The first:The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the context and development trends of tourism in the world in general and in Vietnam in particular. Therefore, it is necessary to have a comprehensive and in-depth assessment of the impact on economic sectors, especially the tourism industry; assess the current situation and trends of tourism development; study in depth the tasks and solutions set out in Resolution 08 of the Politburo and in the Vietnam Tourism Development Strategy to 2030, as a basis for proposing and recommending solutions to restore and develop tourism in the coming time.

Monday:The first session of the 15th National Assembly issued Resolution 30, creating a legal basis for the Government and the Prime Minister to be more proactive and flexible in directing and operating the work of preventing and fighting the COVID-19 pandemic; the National Assembly Standing Committee issued Resolutions allocating budgets for epidemic prevention and control, supporting workers and employers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and relevant ministries and branches have proactively and promptly advised the Government to issue a number of specific resolutions to support businesses and workers, including the tourism industry. However, in the implementation process, there are still many problems, requiring more effective and comprehensive solutions.

I hope the Workshop will continue to clarify the relationship between the national socio-economic recovery program and programs, plans, and orientations for tourism recovery and development; recommend solutions and policies, especially policies on ensuring epidemic prevention and control for safe opening; fiscal and monetary policies for tourism recovery and development; and policies to enhance the competitiveness of Vietnam's tourism in the new context.

Tuesday:In the context of increasingly deep international integration, solutions to restore and develop Vietnam tourism need to focus on improving the competitiveness of Vietnam tourism; exploiting and maximizing potentials and advantages to develop unique and distinctive tourism products and brands, imbued with Vietnamese cultural and historical identity, reaching world-class standards. In particular, attention should be paid to linking the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage, environmental protection, and natural landscapes with sustainable tourism development.

Each locality must build a bright, green, clean and beautiful environment and landscape, contributing to the effective implementation of Decision 1129 dated July 27, 2020 of the Prime Minister approving the "Project on developing the night-time economy in Vietnam", thereby promoting shopping, sightseeing, enjoying cultural arts and cuisine, contributing to creating more jobs and income for workers. Develop forms of sightseeing tourism, culinary tourism, green tourism, tourism combined with conferences, tourism combined with relaxation, making the most of local resources and resources to attract tourists, creating new momentum for social development.

Wednesday:Tourism is a comprehensive economic sector, related to many other sectors and fields. Therefore, solutions to restore and develop tourism need to be considered harmoniously and comprehensively in the socio-economic development strategy of each locality and the whole country. The workshop needs to discuss in depth, find solutions to promote spread, regional connectivity, develop infrastructure, human resources and perfect institutions to develop tourism associated with cultural development and environmental protection.

Thursday:I propose that the Organizing Committee of the Workshop not only absorb the opinions expressed at today's Workshop, but also need to widely absorb the opinions of the people, domestic and foreign enterprises to cover all affected subjects. At the same time, I also propose that the Government direct state management agencies according to their authority to absorb the opinions of delegates at the Workshop, have specific, implementable, consistent solutions from the Central to local levels to remove difficulties, and soon recover this key economic sector.

(*) Article title given by Nghe An Newspaper.