Civilized behavior in tourism activities - need cooperation

In the first 7 months of 2022, the country welcomed and served over 71.8 million domestic visitors, exceeding the planned target for the whole year. Although not as expected, the number of 950,000 international visitors in the first 7 months of 2022, about 10 times higher than the same period in 2021, also partly shows the remarkable recovery of Vietnam's tourism.

Besides the positive signs in the tourism recovery period, especially in the peak summer tourist season, although the story is not new and is only an isolated phenomenon, the phenomenon of "one bad apple spoiling the barrel" still occurs in some localities and destinations. That is the phenomenon of uncivilized and impolite behavior related to the service attitude, prices of some food service providers, individuals providing transportation services or the lack of awareness of some tourists.

For example, in a major tourist center of the country, there was a case of a taxi driver arbitrarily raising the fare "exorbitantly" for foreign guests, forcing the Department of Tourism Inspectorate and the Department of Transport Inspectorate to investigate and punish the violating driver. Or there was a seafood restaurant in a coastal city that deliberately did not clearly post the selling price of each dish, then charged customers a high price. This restaurant has not been granted a certificate of food safety eligibility. Or the incident of a "tour broker" soliciting tourists to some shopping and sightseeing spots to receive "commission" occurred in a highland city, making many tourists angry.

From the tourist side, there have been a number of isolated incidents recently that not only affect their own trips but also cause trouble, even pose a risk to public safety or spread incorrect information, affecting the image of tourist destinations.

Recently, at an airport, when the bus carrying passengers from the terminal to the plane had just opened, a female passenger got off the bus to run out and pose for a video clip, posting it on social media to attract viewers. With this behavior, the passenger was banned from flying for 6 months on all domestic and international flights departing from Vietnam. Or there was a case where, although she did not directly visit and enjoy specialties at a restaurant in a tourist area, she only heard from her family, without verifying, she hastily posted information on Facebook claiming that the restaurant "ripped off" tourists. After that, local authorities checked, verified and concluded that this information was false, the person who posted this information was fined for an administrative violation.

Warning about the “sand grains”, bad phenomena, even though they are just “a bad apple spoiling the barrel”, if not prevented and strictly handled, will affect tourism development, on August 8, at the forum “Connecting the power of Vietnam tourism” in Ho Chi Minh City, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung affirmed that services that show signs of chaos will only last a few times, and cannot be sustainable. No tourist will accept “overcharging” or makeshift services.

In fact, since 2017, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has issued a Code of Conduct for Civilized Tourism with specific regulations, suitable for each subject. In particular, for organizations and individuals doing tourism business, the message is professionalism, brand and quality. The codes of conduct for organizations and individuals doing tourism business are also clearly mentioned such as complying with local laws and regulations in tourism business, publicly posting and selling services at the right price, behaving properly, friendly, responsible, respecting customers, not soliciting, clinging, or pressuring tourists, not having discriminatory behaviors or attitudes towards tourists...

For tourists, the Code of Conduct conveys the message of civility, self-respect and responsibility, with requirements such as: Tourists must comply with regulations and signs when traveling, line up in order; respect cultural differences and local communities; behave in a civilized, friendly manner, and have healthy entertainment; do not intentionally film or take photos in unauthorized places...

The Code clearly and specifically states what needs to be done for each participant in tourism activities in order to guide the behavior, attitude, habits, and civilized conduct of organizations and individuals when participating in tourism activities. However, the Code will only be effective if, together with the synchronous participation and responsibility of relevant levels and sectors, there is a spirit of self-awareness and joint implementation from each business establishment, tourism service provider, food and beverage, shopping as well as each tourist and community at the destination.

The peak summer tourist season of 2022 is about to end, but the 4-day National Day holiday on September 2 is expected to continue to welcome a large number of tourists to tourist destinations across the country. In addition, in the last months of the year, Vietnam tourism is making efforts to increase its attraction of international visitors. Therefore, it is necessary for tourism businesses and individuals, providers of travel, accommodation, transportation, food, shopping services as well as tourists to join hands and voluntarily implement civilized and friendly behavior in tourism so that Vietnam tourism is always a safe, attractive and friendly destination. Each tourist, by behaving civilly, self-respecting and responsible, will also contribute to creating a perfect trip for themselves.

According to VNA