Quang Ninh tourism urgently overcomes natural disaster consequences, ready to welcome guests back

Severe impact from typhoon Yagi

Typhoon No. 3 Yagi made landfall in the North, causing thousands of billions of VND in damage to localities. The tourism industry was also severely affected. Not only travel agencies, but also accommodation establishments, hotels, resorts, etc. suffered great losses in terms of facilities and guests canceled their bookings due to natural disasters.

Speaking to Lao Dong, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa - owner of Sand Hotel (Cat Ba, Hai Phong) said: "Storm Yagi caused severe damage to the hotel, including all the glass doors in the swimming pool area, glass doors on all floors, solar energy systems... estimated to cause losses of about 200 million VND. Not only that, the landscape around the hotel was also devastated. We had to temporarily suspend operations and could not receive guests while we dealt with the consequences."

Mr. Bui Tan Dieu - Executive Director of Bao Minh Radiant Ha Long Hotel (Quang Ninh) - informed that the hotel suffered an estimated damage of nearly 10 billion VND to its facilities due to the storm.

“The storm destroyed the entire steel building and facilities on the 12th floor of the hotel. All the glass doors in the lobby, the hotel restaurant, the billboards, and the LED lighting system were broken and damaged, trees were uprooted, and the scene around the hotel was messy and desolate…”, Mr. Dieu said.

Not to mention, the impact of the storm has caused many tourists to decide to postpone/cancel their bookings, causing accommodation establishments to lose revenue. At the same time, other hotels and resorts in the affected area also have to make safe arrangements for stranded tourists or those who need to stay to avoid the storm.

Mr. Bui Tan Dieu said: “Since the storm hit, the hotel has never stopped operating. We welcomed 120 rooms full from September 6-12, mainly Vietnamese, Chinese, and Taiwanese (China) guests. During the storm, the hotel arranged to support guests with meals, equipped generators to operate the air conditioning system, lighting, elevators, etc. to ensure the minimum needs of guests.”

According to Mr. Dieu, the cost of running the generator from September 7 to 14 at the hotel alone cost nearly 100 million VND.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa informed that the foreign guests stranded at the hotel when the storm hit were also guaranteed safety, supported with food and full services. Due to the loss of signal, the guests were given priority to pay for their rooms after returning to the mainland.

Storm recovery

After Typhoon Yagi, accommodation establishments encountered many difficulties when starting to deal with and overcome the consequences. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa, the hotel contacted the unit to survey the damage and make a plan to fix it. However, the construction cost a large amount of money and can only be done when the power is restored. Ms. Hoa said that the hotel will reopen after cleaning and the power supply is stable. However, some areas cannot be used yet and need to be gradually repaired.

Meanwhile, Bao Minh Radiant Ha Long Hotel had to focus its manpower on serving guests and overcoming the consequences of the storm. After only 3 days, the hotel replaced most of the glass doors, restored the main lobby, cleaned and renovated the landscape, ensuring that the quality of service was not affected.

“After the storm, some partners in China and Taiwan (China) came to the hotel to survey the actual situation and check the facilities. The partners all confirmed that the hotel met the standards and conditions to receive guests and committed to arranging to take groups of guests to the hotel,” said Mr. Dieu.

In addition, the hotel is also chosen by many travel agencies, domestic and international partners, and foreign experts in Quang Ninh industrial parks to continue to trust in booking and staying.

However, according to Mr. Bui Tan Dieu, the current time is when tourism businesses and units need attention and support from local authorities and the State. Mr. Dieu affirmed: “Not only us, after the storm, most restaurants, hotels, entertainment and shopping venues in Quang Ninh were severely damaged. We hope that local authorities, especially Ha Long City, will pay attention and have support policies to overcome the consequences and restore the tourism industry in Quang Ninh. From there, promote the province's economic activities to develop stably after the storm".