Nguyen Thi Hai Nam, deputy general manager of Vietnam Global International Tourism Group Co., Ltd., said the company is working with partners to review the quality of restaurants specifically serving Chinese tourists.
After three years without Chinese tourists, many restaurants have closed or scaled back operations to cut losses, Nan said.
She said that some tourist hotspots such as Hanoi, Ha Long Bay and Da Nang are facing a shortage of Chinese restaurants. This is an urgent problem that should be solved as soon as possible, because eating is the biggest concern of Chinese tourists traveling abroad.
Typically, restaurants serving Chinese tourists must have ample space, as tourists from the world’s largest outbound tourism market usually come in large groups of 15 to 20 people.
In addition, the dishes on the menu must also suit the tastes of Chinese people, who are not used to eating Vietnamese-style dishes, Nam added.
Tuan, the owner of a Halong Bay restaurant that was once a favorite among Chinese tourists, said he has borrowed hundreds of millions of dong (1 million VND equivalent to $42.56) to upgrade the restaurant and hire dozens of employees in preparation for the return. Number of Chinese tourists on March 15
“These days I am busy repairing my restaurant and looking for professional executives to serve Chinese tourists while letting them enjoy the food,” he said.
Tuan also plans to hire a teacher to teach his employees Chinese.
Pham Tu, project manager at Hoteljob, a leading recruitment company, said that since Chinese people often travel in groups, they tend to choose larger but affordable hotels.
Nguyen Son Tung, a former manager of a four-star hotel in Hanoi’s Old Quarter, added that communicating with Chinese tourists is quite difficult because they rarely speak English, and hotels and restaurants that cater specifically to Chinese tourists often have to hire more Chinese speakers. staff.
However, preparations for welcoming Chinese tourists back home face some problems.
Many travel companies said they have only learned that Chinese tourists can visit Vietnam starting from March 15, but have not yet received any official documents on immigration policies and visa requirements.
China announced on Tuesday that it would begin re-issuing various types of visas to foreigners from March 15 as it reopened its borders after three years of Covid-19 containment measures.
China is Vietnam’s largest source of foreign tourists, receiving 5.5 million tourists in 2019.
HSBC predicts that Vietnam may receive 3 to 4.5 million tourists from China this year, equivalent to 50%-80% of pre-epidemic levels.
