Gloomy in the time of Covid

Looking out to Na Hang wharf, Pac Ta mountain is still standing tall and rolling clouds of the sky. Only difference, the wharf is no longer bustling as before. Hundreds of tourist boats moored neatly.

Sitting next to a new high-speed canoe bought over 600 million VND, Mr. Hoang Hung is thinking about the interest he has to pay on a bank loan every month. It wasn't long before his Na Hang tour project started when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Dozens of tours he had planned had to be cancelled. Not having money from the service of individual business people like him is even more difficult. But he believes that with effective epidemic prevention and control like in Vietnam, Na Hang will also become a safe destination after the epidemic.

These days, the road to the highland commune of Hong Thai, which is considered the Sapa of Na Hang, is unusually deserted. Clouds are still hanging down the village. Pear flowers bloom white, but there are no tourists. Ms. Dang Thi Duong, ethnic Dao money, owner of a homestay in Khau Trang village shared, her house before the pandemic was always crowded. Now there's no one. I listen carefully to the news, hope the pandemic will pass quickly so that everything will return to normal. 
Xem thêm về Ảm đạm thời Covid Phóng tầm mắt ra bến thủy Na Hang, ngọn Pác Tạ vẫn sừng sững cuốn mây trời. Chỉ có khác, bến thủy không còn nhộp nhịp như xưa. Hàng trăm chiếc thuyền du lịch về neo đậu ngay ngắn. Ngồi bên chiếc ca nô cao tốc mới mua trên 600 triệu đồng, anh Hoàng Hưng đang nghĩ về khoản lãi vay ngân hàng mà anh phải trả hàng tháng. Dự án Na Hang tour của anh khởi động chưa được bao lâu thì đại dịch Covid-19 ập tới. Hàng “tá” tour du lịch của anh đã lên kế hoạch đành phải hủy bỏ. Không có tiền từ dịch vụ những người kinh doanh hộ cá thể như anh càng thêm khó khăn. Nhưng anh tin với cách phòng, chống dịch có hiệu quả như ở Việt Nam thì Na Hang sau dịch cũng trở thành một điểm đến an toàn.  Những ngày này đường lên xã vùng cao Hồng Thái, nơi được coi là Sapa của Na Hang vắng vẻ lạ thường. Mây vẫn giăng xuống bản. Hoa lê nở trắng nương nhưng vắng bóng du khách. Chị Đặng Thị Dương, dân tộc Dao tiền, chủ một homestay ở thôn Khau Tràng chia sẻ, nhà em trước khi xảy ra đại dịch lúc nào cũng đông khách. Giờ chẳng có ai. Em rất chăm chú nghe thời sự, mong đại dịch qua mau để mọi việc trở lại bình thường.
 

Ms. Trieu Thi Xuong, Na Tong village, Thuong Lam commune, Lam Binh took advantage
Renovate your Homestay.

The road to Tan Trao, the old Viet Bac war zone with the quiet groves. Special-use forests change the new clothes of spring to become more green. The traditional stilt houses of the Tay people built according to the new rural program appear very beautiful. Tan Trao is quiet today, there are no souvenir shops for sale. Absolutely no tourists, only people working in the fields, children tending buffaloes. Important relic sites such as Na Nua shack, Tan Trao communal house, Tan Trao banyan tree, Tan Trao ATK museum are still cared for by officials and employees of the Management Board of the relic site. On the other side of the field, Tan Lap cultural and tourist village did not see the busy figure of passenger cars. People's life returned to the old normal rhythm. If last year Tan Trao welcomed over 700,000 visitors, then that number this year is a dream.

Challenge and opportunity

Mr. Le Thanh Son, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said: "We are very impatient because the Covid-19 epidemic in the world is still complicated. Tourism activities in the province still have to be closely monitored and cannot be subjective. In the face of the absence of tourists, the provincial tourism industry has strengthened direction and recommended tourist areas, spots and establishments to strengthen environmental sanitation measures. At the same time, take the opportunity to plan and embellish historical sites, build tourism projects. Tourism establishments promote the refurbishment of facilities, improve the quality of tourism services and products. So that when the epidemic is over, we can "explode" to serve tourists with more initiative and method".

Sharing this view with the province's tourism industry, Ms. Trieu Thi Xuong, Tay ethnic, homestay owner Hoang Tuan, Na Tong village, Thuong Lam commune (Lam Binh) discussed with her husband, children, and people without guests to make adjustments. The page to renovate the homestay can be put into operation when the epidemic is over.

At My Lam Mineral Spring Resort, one of the province's future tourist attractions, there are no visitors these days. However, at the construction site of the project of the resort, health care and shopping center project at Vinpearl Tuyen Quang took place very quickly and vibrantly. In the first phase of the project, the investor Vingroup is focusing on deploying a central core area of ​​nearly 30 hectares, including a shopping mall with 134 shophouses, a medical area, a nursing home, a nutrition restaurant, a hotel, and a hill. tea, hot mineral, entertainment. Up to this point, the construction unit has basically finished the foundation and is on the wall for the houses of the functional subdivisions. The Covid-19 pandemic also significantly affected the construction progress of the project, but the investor's determination to soon put the work into use as expected this year.

A good way of the Provincial Museum is to take the opportunity that there are no visitors, officials and employees of the agency to focus on the planning, design and display of artifacts. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Hai, Director of the Provincial Museum ponders: Currently, the Provincial Museum is storing and preserving 21,500 documents and artifacts. We arrange a scientific exhibition on 1,600 m2 divided into 4 parts. With the display of artifacts, unique art architecture, beautiful space, the museum will certainly attract a large number of tourists to visit and historical researchers to learn in the coming time.

According to a report of the provincial tourism industry, in the first quarter of this year, tourist sites and attractions welcomed 129,900 visitors, reaching 6% of the year plan, down 75.6% over the same period last year. Total revenue from tourists was 107 billion VND, reaching 6% of the year plan, down 78% compared to the same period last year. In the immediate future, the industry boldly restructures the service sector by 2025. At the same time, strengthen tourism advertising and promotion on mass media and social networks; redesigning tours and tourist routes in a scientific and reasonable manner, improving service quality. Recently, the Standing Provincial Party Committee has an opinion to direct the authorities to "find solutions to develop safe tourism so that the disease does not spread through tourism activities in the area". Only when it is safe will tourism activities be allowed to resume. In the immediate future, the industry stimulates domestic tourism activities with rich tours and preferential prices. Tourism establishments in the area must focus on human and material resources to overcome difficulties and regain high growth momentum in the coming years.

According to Tuyen Quang Online