Tourists at Linh Quy Phap An Pagoda in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. (Photo: VNA)
Vietnam News Agency quoted Ms Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, deputy director of the department saying that travel companies specialising in inbound and bound markets, however, must wait to reopen when foreign tourists are allowed to enter the country again.
Travel agencies are now focusing on domestic air travel as part of an effort to recover from the fall-out caused by COVID-19, Hoa said.
Most travel companies are seeking help from the Government’s relief package so they can remain in business.
The department has submitted to the State Bank of Vietnam’s HCM city branch a list of 50 travel firms in need of aid packages from the Government and banks.
According to the national news agency, travel firms are coordinating with airlines, hotels and resorts, restaurants and tourist spots to develop tour stimulus packages discounted by 50-60 percent.
Tours from HCM city to the Central Highlands for two days, for example, have discounts of VND500,000-1,000,000 (USD21-42) and are sold for VND1-1.5 million (USD42-64) per person.
Tours to destinations in the north are priced at VND4.5 million (USD193) per person, down from VND7 million (USD300).
Many travel companies have reported a rise in the number of domestic travel bookings in the past few days.
A Vietravel representative said there has been a surge in bookings for car and hotel services, but the number of tour package bookings remains modest.
Central province finds two families of endangered langurs
Two families of 10 gray-shanked douc langurs (pygathrix cinerea) - a critically endangered (CR) species – have been newly found in the 30ha secondary forest in Tam My Tay commune of the central province of Quang Nam’s Nui Thanh district, Vietnam News Agency reported.
A gray-shanked douc langur (pygathrix cinerea) is found living in a forest in Nui Thanh district of Quang Nam province. Two new families with some 10 gray-shanked douc langurs have been found in the area. (Photo: VNA)
A report on the existence of the CR gray-shanked douc langurs population in the area was released recently after a six-month survey by the Centre of Biodiversity Conservation, GreenViet.
Director of GreenViet, Tran Huu Vy, said the new families of the gray-shanked douc langurs were found in the expanded mountains outside of the Do Mountain – home to the most crowded population of the langurs – increasing the number of the CR primates to eight families with a total of 60 individuals from 2018.
He said the survey had been done on six other mountains - Rom, Duong Choi, Na Lam, Bang Truc, Ba and Giang Thom - 500m away from the centre of six families with 50 of the gray-shanked douc langurs at the Do Mountain.
He said the result strongly confirmed that the population of the CR primate’s species has been well protected and grown, but it has not yet identified reproduction among the new families.
The new families of the langurs were found living in two mountains of Na Lam and Bang Truc, he added.
Biologists from GreenViet also reported that 323 flora and fauna species, of which 11 species were listed as endangered in Vietnam’s Red Book.
However, biologists also warned the provincial people’s committee and rangers on the dangers including fire, snares at log farms, honeybee and orchid exploitation in the 120ha forest and log farms. The human activities among local farmers would badly impact the langurs in the area in the coming years.
GreenViet has been co-operating with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Vietnam and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Green Annamites Project in promoting protection and conservation of the langurs.
Quang Nam province had been seeking a fund of USD4.4 million to restore a 120ha area as a safe habitat for the gray-shanked douc langurs.
According to Frankfurt Zoological Society, some 1,000 gray-shanked doucs have been found in forests of Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Kon Tum and Gia Lai.
The gray-shanked douc langur is listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list as one of the world’s 25 critically endangered primates.
The primates can only be seen in Vietnam.
More litchi exported to selective markets
The first shipment of litchi in Hai Duong province was officially exported to the Singapore market on May 26th while the following batches will be exported to the US, Australia, EU, Japan, Singapore and Canada, with a total output of about 2,000 tons, many times higher than the previous year's litchi crop.
Workers of the Ameii Vietnam Company pack the first batch of litchi for export to Singapore. (Photo: NDO)
According to Ms. Luong Thi Kiem, Director of Hai Duong Plant Protection Department, this year, litchi productivity is estimated at 45,000 tons, 20,000 tons higher than last year. In all the litchi growing areas of the province, farmers are trained to practice Vietnam Good Production (VietGAP) and GlobalGAP to meet the requirements of food hygiene and safety. In particular, the total VietGAP certified litchi area is more than 500 hectares with an estimated output of 4,000 tons.
The litchi production area in accordance with international standards and Global GAP standards ensuring export to selective markets such as the EU, the US, Australia and Japan, has a total area of 220 hectares and an estimated output of 1,500 tons. Nineteen litchi production areas which have been granted litchi planting codes for export to the US, Australia, and the EU, with an area of 170 hectares, produce about 1,300 tons, while four areas granted litchi planting codes for export to China with an area of 50 hectares produce 200 tons.
Besides, Hai Duong has 64 litchi growing areas, seven longan growing areas with a total area of nearly 10,000 ha registering planting areas eligible for export to China.
Tested to meet food safety, the first batches of litchi were bought by the Ameii Vietnam Company and Rong Do Company for exporting to Singapore, the US and Australia from May 26th-30th./.