Lac village, Chieng Chau commune (Mai Chau) is bustling again after pandemics.
In 2021, due to the severe impact of Covid-19 epidemics, the revenue of the tourism, resort and accommodation service of Lac village significantly decreased, the number of domestic tourists reached only 5,261 turns of people, the number of international visitors reached only 100 turns of people. In the first quarter of 2022, Covid-19 epidemics broke out strongly in Mai Chau district, many households doing tourism had to close or block due to the epidemics, the income was affected, many employees lost their jobs, and tourism fell into difficulties. From the outbreak to the end of the epidemics, there were 1,191 F0 cases, thousands of F1, F2 cases in the community througout Chieng Chau commune. At the beginning of the second quarter, the epidemic situation was gradually under control, Lac village and other tourism sites reopened to welcome visitors.
Mr. Ha Van Tiep, the Chairman of the People's Committee of Chieng Chau Commune says: There are 70 community homestays, 9 guesthouses, 2 hotels, 1 resort and many services such as restaurants and cafes, karaoke…
In order to gradually recover tourism growth after Covid-19 epidemics, the locality has actively worked with the appropriate authorities and called on travel businesses and tourism services to quickly deploy many incentive programs, stimulating tourism demand such as: Discount up to 30-40% of the room price, food service, sleeping; strengthening promotion, connecting tours with other travel agencies inside and outside the province. After more than 2 months of reopening, many homestays and motels are not really active, however, the rooms of some motels are 70-80% full, they are even full at weekends.
Since the beginning of the year, Lac village and other motels in the area have welcomed nearly 30,000 turns of visitors, and the revenue from tourism and accommodation services is over 35 billion VND. Particularly during the holiday season of April 30 - May 1, Lac village and restaurants and hotels in the area welcomed nearly 60 groups with over 3,000 turns of tourists, over 70% of staying guests.
Ms. Ha Thi Tim, the owner of motel 7 in Lac village, says: "At the time of the pandemic outbreak, especially in the first quarter of 2022, the entire staff of the homestay was infected with Covid-19, the facility was blocked, the number of tourists was little, business was at a loss, it was not enough to pay wages for the employees, some people quit their jobs to find new ones, the business establishments fell into difficulties. Thanks to the efforts of the government, the pandemics was pushed back, and tourists gradually returned to the establishment, especially during the holiday period of April 30 - May 1, we welcomed over 500 turns of visitors, and the business has also gradually recovered”.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh, a tourist from Ha Noi shares: "In the past, every holiday, my family and I organized a trip to the periphery of Hanoi such as Tam Dao, Dai Lai (Vinh Phuc), Mai Chau (Hoa Binh), Ba Vi (Hanoi)… Since the outbreak of the pandemics, all plans have been halted, and we also restricted travelling. The epidemics has been gradually controlled so far, and the tourism areas have also reopened, I chose Lac village (Mai Chau) as a destination because of its peaceful, poetic, rustic scenery and unique cultural identity”.
According to the leaders of the People's Committee, of Chieng Chau Commune, the recovery and development of tourism services after the heavy impact of Covid-19 epidemics is of great significance to the overall economic development of the locality. In order to continue opening the door and bringing more tourists to Lac village and other tourism attractions in the area, all the levels, sectors, units and businesses need to stand side by side to deploy more solutions, promote and strengthen tourism associated with safety before Covid-19 epidemics. It is necessary to activate more programs to stimulate domestic tourism, apply many preferential discounts, develop new tourism products and gifts to attract tourists. At the same time, it is important to encourage the businesses doing tourism business and the community guesthouses to renovate their facilities, strengthen the workforce, improve the quality of tourism products and services, reduce prices but the quality of their services has to be still maintained, increase services, utilities as well as the safe travelling criteria for visitors. Thereby, Lac village continues to recover strongly, and it will still be an ideal, attractive and safe destination for visitors.