Ninh Binh tourism says no to "Zero - dong tour"

The document was issued following Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue's direction on boosting supervision over travel agencies and tour operators providing low-budget tours.

It requires the Department of Tourism, the Department of Commerce and Trade, the Department of Finance, the public security force, the State Bank of Vietnam's provincial branch, the Department of Market Management to partner with relevant agencies to set up inter-department inspection teams to check travel agencies and tour operators in terms of law compliance.

They are asked to promptly detect and handle cases of organizing low-budget tour packages; businesses that provide sub-standard goods or products with unclear origin; cases of transferring money using illegal digital payment platforms.

In the first seven months of 2019, Ninh Binh welcomed over 5.7 million tourist arrivals, including 522,000 internation alones, up 3.63 percent compared to the same period in 2018.

Chinese visitors are always the largest group among Asian visitors to Vietnam. Zero - dong tour packages are mainly organised by Chinese tour operators.

When in Vietnam, Chinese visitors have to follow the travel agencies' itinerary of tourist attractions, restaurants and shopping sites which are provided by Chinese businesses as well. Especially, they are forced to purchase products or services with hike prices. This adversely affects the prestige of Vietnam's tourism sector.

So,the province's tourism sector must straightly take measures to prevent the provision of low-budget tour packages.

The authority must supervise tour operators to tackle anypractice of zero-dong tour packages so to protect the prestige of the local tourism and the image of a hospitable country and honest, friendly people of Vietnam.

Translated by Nguyen Thuy