Ensuring safety at accommodation facilities

– The province currently has 256 accommodation establishments (an increase of 36 establishments compared to 2020). In order to develop tourism in adaptive and safe conditions, along with measures to prevent and control the epidemic in general, ensuring safety against the epidemic at accommodation establishments is greatly paid attention by the culture, sports and tourism sector.

Mr. Nguyen Phuc Ha, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that to ensure the fight against the epidemic, the sector has strengthened urging and propagandizing relevant agencies and units, accommodation establishments have well implemented epidemic prevention and control measures. Along with that is proactive inspection to remind and promptly handle accommodation establishments’ violating regulations… Accordingly, right from the beginning of 2022, the Department has issued documents and plans to implement measures to prevent and control the epidemic at accommodation establishments. For example, Plan No.130/SVHTTDL-QLDL “on the implementation of measures to ensure safety in tourism activities on the Lunar New Year of the Tiger in 2022”, urging relevant units, district and city culture and information divisions to well manage tourism activities, conditions to ensure epidemic prevention and control at accommodation establishments when welcoming tourists.

The manager of the Muong Thanh Lang Son Hotel instructed staff on the regulations on epidemic prevention.

Regarding inspection, from the beginning of 2022 until now, the Inspectorate of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has actively inspected eleven accommodation establishments in the province. The inspection content is about the observance of the provisions of law in the business of tourist accommodation services and the implementation of safety measures to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic. Through inspection, the Department issued a decision to sanction administrative violations of two establishments (total amount of four million dong) for failing to notify before going into operation, not complying with the reporting regime to competent state agencies as prescribed.

At the district level, cultural and information divisions of the districts and the city have actively propagated in association with the inspection and urging the implementation of regulations on epidemic prevention and control at accommodation establishments. Only from January 2022 until now, cultural and information divisions of the districts and the city have presided over and coordinated in propagating and inspecting nearly 50 accommodation establishments about the observance of the provisions of the law in business, ensuring security and order, prevention and control of COVID-19… Ms. Hoang Thuy Ninh, Deputy Head of the Lang Son City Culture and Information Division said: The city has more than 120 accommodation establishments with nearly 2,200 rooms. The city determines that tourism development is necessary, the number of tourists will come to the city more than last year, so from the beginning of 2022, we have actively propagated and checked the epidemic prevention and control at accommodation establishments. Through inspection and information capture, it has been found that most establishments have periodically sprayed disinfectants, arranged signs for epidemic prevention and control, hand sanitizer, created QR codes for guests to declare health, safety rating on the national COVID safety system.

On the part of accommodation establishments, up to now, they have basically complied with epidemic prevention and control measures. Specifically, 100% of accommodation establishments have actively monitored epidemic developments to develop a plan to welcome guests, pasted a QR code at the front desk for visitors to declare their health. In particular, the whole province has 80% of hotels daily self- assessing the safety against COVID-19 at http://safe.tourism.com.vn connected to the national COVID safety system.

The Inspector of Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism inspected Muong Thanh Hotel (Lang Son city)

Ms. Leo Thi Thuat, Owner of Dong Lam I Homestay (Huu Lien, Huu Lung) said: From the 3^rd day of the Lunar New Year until now, her Homestay have welcomed nearly 100 guests to eat and stay. To avoid spreading the disease, the establishment requires 100% of visitors to make medical declaration via QR code, well implement the 5K message. With these ways, visitors are assured when using the service at the homestay.

According to the statistics of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, from January 15 to the end of February 15, 2022, Lang Son welcomed nearly 117,000 tourists, an increase of 26.7% in the number of visitors over the same period of the  previousyear. The capacity of using rooms reach over 60%. Mr. Nguyen Van Luong, from Nho Quan district, Ninh Binh province said: On the 5^th day of the Lunar New Year, his family came to visit Lang Son. His family stayed at a hotel on Ngo Gia Tu street (Lang Son city). With the request that guests strictly implement 5K measures, the dedicated guidance of the staff in the implementation of epidemic prevention and control measures, his family was very satisfied and assured when eating and staying here.

It can be seen that, along with general measures, ensuring safety against the epidemic at accommodation establishments has been and is one of the important measures to prevent and control the COVID-19 epidemic. This initiative and positivity of all levels, sectors and accommodation establishments in the province will be a positive move for Lang Son to further promote tourist attraction in the context of the new normal.