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Tourists are assured of safety when visiting Hue
The set of criteria for safe tourism in response to the COVID-19 strike is applied to destinations and travel, accommodation, recreation and entertainment, and tourist transportation businesses who are members of the VNAT.
In particular, tourist destinations include historical, cultural relics, places of interest, beauty spots, tourist resorts, and tourist attractions shall fully comply with the safety standards, such as they shall be endorsed by a competent authority that they have not been recorded as an epidemic-hit area.
For tourism enterprises to be considered safe, they must ensure safety criteria such as they must contract only with domestic and foreign individuals and organizations whose tourists are not under quarantine; they must take their tourists to the safe destinations only; must actively coordinate with competent medical agencies to provide training and certification for their drivers, tour guides, and transportation service staff; and must disseminate to tourists the list of safe destinations posted on the enterprise and VNTA’s websites.
Meanwhile, lodging, accommodation, and entertainment services must be ensured that prevention and control of COVID-19 having been taken according to the regulations at Point 1, Section VII of Decision No. 344/QD-BYT dated February 7, 2020 by the Minister of Health. The staff and employees of the establishments must apply personal protective measures as recommended by the Ministry of Health; garbage and waste generated in the service areas must be collected, transported and handled according to regulations; the establishments must set up places for handwashing; and soap and quick disinfectants must be available in their sanitation areas and food and beverage processing areas according to the guidance of the Ministry of Health.
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Upon the acknowledgment of the COVID-19 outbreak, the lodging establishments in Hue have had their staff and employees' temperature tested before, during and after their working shift.
As for food and beverage products and services, these service providers must comply with the criteria for epidemic prevention and control under the guidance at Point 1, Section VII of No. 344/QD-BYT dated February 7, 2020.
Tourist transportation services are accredited safe when they clean and disinfect transportation vehicles following the guidance of the Ministry of Health; their drivers, tour guides, and service attendants working on the vehicles must apply personal protective measures as recommended by the Ministry of Health; and the vehicles must be filled with sufficient masks and quick disinfectants when customers are in need.
Furthermore, travel, accommodation, food and beverage, recreation and entertainment, and tourist transportation services are required to display the phone numbers of competent medical facilities serving the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic in the locality for contact in cases of need.
Mr. Dinh Manh Thang, Vice Chairman of VNTA, Chairman of the Provincial VNTA said that for some localities, businesses have not taken effective prevention measures, or are still subjective in the prevention work. Therefore, the issuance of this set of standards would help businesses better understand the criteria to guarantee safety - the most important objective that the tourism industry in Vietnam in general and Hue in particular are targeting at the moment.
“For Hue tourism, we have implemented the measures quite early and have been known as the first locality that applied safety standards in the country, even before this set of criteria came to effect. Thanks to that proactiveness, visitors to Hue have felt safe, well-cared and acknowledged Hue as a truly safe and friendly destination,” Mr. Dinh Manh Thang affirmed.
Story and photos by Duc Quang