Foreign travelers in Hoi An

A report has been submitted to the Prime Minister on the situation of tourism companies during the fourth pandemic wave.

Board IV has proposed solutions to support businesses and a feasibility plan for the reopening and recovery of the tourism industry.

The experts of the board believe that it’s necessary to provide medium and long-term capital within the framework of the 2022-2023 support package for economic recovery, specifically reserved for hotels, aviation companies, tourism and tourism services. After the last 1.5 years when tourism activities were frozen because of the pandemic, cash flow has become the biggest difficulty for businesses in the industry.

With current limited resources, tourism service companies will find it difficult to recover without timely support from the Government.

Another proposal made by Board IV involves measures to cut operation costs, including expenses on fuel, electricity and water; reduce VAT and corporate income tax (CIT); allow tax payment delays for 12-18 months or longer; delay payment of social insurance premiums and reducing premiums, especially during the period when travel firms need to call workers back; and reduce land rent.

Regarding the workforce, in the time to come, businesses will have to focus on recruiting workers and re-training staff to prepare them with necessary knowledge and discipline that fit new tourism models and products.

The board has proposed that the Prime Minister and Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) remove the requirements for documents to prove damages to businesses and their workforce cuts, or documents to prove that they ‘don’t have money to retrain workers’, because the tourism sector is obviously the biggest sufferer from the pandemic.

The board believes that it would be better to give money to businesses directly so that they can determine reasonable training solutions.

Regarding opening in a safe and effective way, the board has proposed that the Prime Minister preside over a dialogue to discuss the reopening roadmap.

International practice show that most countries that have successfully reopened tourism and established a new normal are facing increasing numbers of Covid cases, but the governments of the countries have maintained the reopening because of their high vaccination rates.

Thu Hang

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