The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak has hit Da Nang’s economic growth hard, especially the tourism industry.

European passengers from cruise ship Crystal Symphony waiting for handling entry procedures

Over recent weeks, there has been a dramatic drop in the number of visitor arrivals from China in the city.

However, Da Nang has still welcomed a large number of visitor arrivals from Taiwan, Hong Kong, India and European and American countries over recent weeks.

This has proved that Da Nang remains a safe place to travel for foreign tourists, including those from European countries amid coronavirus fears and risks of tourism slump.

The vivid evidence is that two luxury cruise ships Silver Spirit and Crystal Symphony docked at the Tien Sa Port on 18 and 20 February respectively, together carrying a total of 344 passengers from European countries to the city.

In particular, 199 European passengers were onboard the 6-star Silver Spirit cruise ship, whilst the remaining 145 others were onboard the Crystal Symphony.

All passengers onboard had their body temperature checked as the cruise ship arrived in the city. No cases of fever or signs of health problems were recorded.

In addition, we can easily see many foreigners taking the sunbath, or lying down on the sand on local beaches.

Some of popular tourist attractions across the city including the Sun World Ba Na Hills, the Marble Mountains Tourist Area and the Museum of Cham Sculpture have been crowded with tourists at both home and abroad.

Foreign visitors receiving free face masks at the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture

The above-mentioned positive results have been mainly attributed joining forces between the municipal government, relevant agencies and local citizens to prevent the spread of the virus in the city.

All departments and agencies in the city have taken actions to prevent the spread of the infectious disease amongst local residents.

Specifically, the Department of Construction has closely worked with relevant agencies to select places suitable for temporary hospitals to treat any future coronavirus patients in a bid to control possible outbreak of the life-threatening infection in the city.

The Department of Health has joined forces with medical device suppliers to ensure the sufficient supplies, especially face masks, for local residents.

The Department of Tourism has closely worked with relevant agencies to take actions to prevent the possible spread of the virus to the city, and ensure the safety of visitor arrivals.

Such attractions in the city as the Sun World Ba Na Hills, the Marble Mountain Tourist Area, the Museum of Da Nang, the Museum of Cham Sculpture, the Linh Ung Pagda, and the Son Tra Peninsula, have given free face masks and handwash liquid to visitor arrivals.

All residents, tour operators, and tourism service providers across the city have been asked not to discriminate against the Chinese or show rude behaviour towards visitors from Chinese-speaking countries amid the coronavirus outbreak.

By THU HA, KHANH HOA, KHANG NINH - Translated by MAI DUNG