All the accommodation facilities will have to publish QR codes for tourists to check the safety level of the destination before booking, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The requirement was made amid the serious situation of the fresh outbreak in Vietnam.
| Wyndham Garden Hanoi. Photo: kinhtedothi.vn |
The codes are generated in each business' account after they declare their status in the national Covid-19 safety system.
"Only accommodation establishments across the country, which comply with safety standards on Covid-19 prevention are allowed to serve guests," the ministry noted.
The app was launched by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) in October last year. After seven months of operation, about 9,000 out of 30,000 lodging facilities nationwide have conducted Covid-19 safety self-assessment on this app, in which they filled out the implementation of Covid-19 prevention protocols at their tourist accommodation establishments.
Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Trinh Thi Thuy requested the VNAT to keep urging, guiding, and supervising the registration of localities and accommodation establishments.
These facilities must regularly self-assess and update the national Covid-19 safety system according to the ministry's guidance. Suspended facilities still have to register on the system and declare as “temporarily closed”.
The regulatory bodies of provinces and cities are required to strengthen inspection, supervision, and promptly handle the facilities that do not comply with the Covid-19 prevention and control measures.
“The registration and self-assessment of Covid-19 safety will be maintained in the future, even after the pandemic is put under control, to ensure the management and development of tourism in the near future,” said Thuy.
The VNAT continues to upgrade the assessment system, ensuring that with one-single update of tourism activities in localities, data will be timely recorded in the national Covid-19 safety system.
It is expected to become a useful tool for tourists when Covid-19 is under control in Vietnam.
In addition to providing information about safe places, the Vietnam safe travel app will help management agencies seek and handle violations related to the service quality of tourist places and providers. Recently, an unlicensed taxi driver in Hanoi was fined VND9 million (US$389) for ripping off a German tourist. The German tourist claimed via the Vietnam safe travel app on May 2, he was charged VND200,000 (US$8.6) for a two-and-half-km journey from Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam tourist attraction to the Vietnamese Women’s Museum that should have cost just VND40,000 (US$1.7). In a short time, an investigation team from the Hanoi Department of Transport found the driver and fined him for fleeing and driving without a business license. The taxi driver, admitted his offense and returned the money to the foreign tourist. |
