Food safety is no longer a matter on the table but is regarded as the survival of the tourism industry. If one poisoning incident happens, the image of the tourism industry will be seriously affected. Therefore, the management of food service providers is considered to be a vital element of the tourism industry.

The Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa always makes its efforts to improve the quality of dishes in order to serve domestic and foreign tourists well. In the photo: Chefs are preparing dishes in a clean and safe environment. Photo: D.H.L

Increased inspections for eating and drinking services

That thirty-four tourists among a large group to Da Nang from Quang Ninh Province’s Dong Trieu Town were hospitalized for signs of food poisoning in early August, 2022 is still an expensive lesson for the M.P restaurant on Ho Nghinh Street, Son Tra District, and the T.S restaurant on Nguyen Tri Phuong Street, Thanh Khe District. The incident negatively affected the tourist images of the city.

According to the municipal Department of Tourism, in 2022, the city was home to 1,280 accommodation establishments offering a total of 45,889 rooms. Up to now, about 950 establishments have resumed their operation, accounting for 74% of the total. Of which, there are about 300 catering establishments, mainly focusing on 3 to 5-star hotels.

Over the past years, the Department of Tourism regularly coordinated with the city’s Food Safety Management Board and district-level authorities to organize training courses on food safety for tourism businesses.

As a locality area with many food service providers, Son Tra District has 372 eating and drinking establishments, 282 of which are restaurants and eateries.

To ensure continuity and efficiency, the district’s Interdisciplinary Steering Committee on Food Safety regularly conducts food hygiene and safety inspections, as well as rechecks feedback from locals and tourists through the switchboard and communication channels.

According to Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Nguyen Xuan Binh, in order to ensure the safety of tourists, the agency has strengthened coordination with the city's Food Safety Management Board to encourage accommodation establishments with eating and drinking services to use the wide-ranging food traceability system under the Food Traceability Project at the first stage, as well as participate in the evaluation and ranking of food safety criteria.

Ensuring quality of input food

One of the important factors in serving safe and quality meals to tourists is to ensure food hygiene. Therefore, in addition to requirements set for managers and service staff of restaurants and hotels of having knowledge and high sense of consensus in complying with food hygiene and safety regulations, top priority will be given to ensuring a supply of safe, fresh and delicious food.

Mrs. Truong Lan Huong, CEO of the Muong Thanh Grand Hotel, said that the average room capacity in the low tourist season is only 35%, and the majority of international guests are from South Korean, India and Taiwan (China).

In an effort to ensure food hygiene and safety, her hotel always keeps food samples and strictly checks the quality of input food, so no cases of food poisoning have been reported.

Mrs. Cao Xuan Tram, Director of the Communications - Marketing Department of the Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa informed that the resort has achieved GBAC Star certification.

GBAC Star’s certification programme is designed to support facilities in their efforts to prevent infectious disease outbreaks and protect their users. It features disinfection protocols and best practices for cleaning, which are appropriate to situations that present biohazards.

Furthermore, the resort has been awarded with ISO 22000: 2005 Certification for owning a comprehensive food safety and hygiene management system, from the process of preservation, processing to serving diners. The entire system of related equipment has been modernly replaced by the resort, whilst all sources of food have certificates of food safety and hygiene.

Mrs. Tram noticed that ensuring food safety and hygiene for tourists is not an easy thing to do, so management agencies and business establishments need to strengthen regular and continuous inspections and supervisions, as well as collect information from tourists to handle any unexpected cases professionally. Only in this way can Da Nang’s tourism industry maintain its beautiful and professional image, thereby preserving the brand to attract visitors in a sustainable way.

Reporting by DOAN HAO LUONG - Translating by M.DUNG