EDITOR'S NOTE:
Storm No. 3 Yagi, with the strongest intensity in the past 30 years in the East Sea and the past 70 years on land, has left very serious consequences for people, property, livelihoods and psychology.
Amidst the days of continuous storms and floods, the entire political system and the entire population turned to the affected people with the spirit of "focusing on providing the highest, fastest, and most timely support" in both material and spiritual terms.
And now, the spirit of "fastest reconstruction" is being urgently deployed in areas devastated by storms and floods.
Efforts to overcome and soon 'revive'
Recalling the time when storm No. 3 made landfall, Mr. Tran Van Hong (owner of the Hong Hai fleet) said that before the storm arrived, he and his staff had been working hard to move the cruise ship to the anchorage area at Tuan Chau International Passenger Port and Bai Chay. The ships were securely tied to ensure they would not drift or sink.
However, the terrible storm with its constant gusts of wind and crashing waves caused other floating watercraft to collide with Mr. Hong's fleet, causing damage.
After the storm, the boat anchorage area was devastated like a “battlefield”. Mr. Hong’s fleet suffered damage to the hull and engine compartment and had to be immediately sent for repairs. However, after only 1 week of “gaining momentum”, the Hong Hai fleet was back on track and able to welcome guests again.
“As soon as I was allowed to welcome tourists again, my fleet was full of guests,” said Mr. Hong.
A series of tourist boats were damaged after storm No. 3. Photo: Pham Cong
Co To is the first locality in Quang Ninh province to be affected by storm No. 3. Here, the wind gusted to level 17, causing a series of buildings and houses to have their roofs blown off. In the face of the urgent situation, many accommodation establishments on this island district have taken in residents.
As one of the first hotels to voluntarily welcome people to stay for free, Ms. Le Thi Loan (born in 1981, owner of CoTo View Hotel) shared that the hotel's 13 rooms were full of tourists and residents when the storm hit. People coming here were served food and drinks without having to pay any fees.
Storm No. 3 raged. Many windows at Mrs. Loan's hotel were blown out by the wind, and the surrounding area was devastated and in ruins.
Due to the nature of the island, repairing and replacing furniture is much more difficult than on the mainland. After a week of storm No. 3 passing, as a thank you, the residents and tourists who had previously been staying for free, proactively sought out sources of corrugated iron roofs, iron frames, and window glass to help Ms. Loan speed up the storm recovery process, shortening the time to resume operations.
“The hotel has now opened. Without the help of the people and tourists, my hotel would not have been able to reopen so soon,” said Ms. Loan.
Many hotels in Quang Ninh have promptly repaired broken glass caused by storm No. 3 to continue welcoming guests. Photo: Pham Cong
A week after the storm, Quang Ninh welcomed thousands of tourists.
On September 13, Ha Long Bay officially reopened for cruise ships to operate again. Just one week after being devastated by storm No. 3, the Quang Ninh tourism industry has made efforts to rebuild and quickly “revive”, welcoming more than 6,000 visitors to visit and stay, including many international tourist groups.
On September 13 alone, about 50 cruise ships brought 1,000 visitors to Ha Long Bay.
Ha Long Bay Management Board, agencies, businesses and volunteers have urgently cleaned up, purchased equipment, prepared facilities, and ensured safety for visitors.
Up to now, 315/359 sightseeing ships, restaurant ships and accommodation ships, equivalent to 88% of the ships in Ha Long Bay, are ready to serve tourists.
Speaking to VietNamNet reporter, Mr. Pham Ha, Chairman of Lux Group, said that after a period of exterior repairs due to waves hitting and colliding with another ship, the Heritage Binh Chuan cruise ship has welcomed guests again since September 13, while the Emper Cruises Legacy Ha Long cruise ship was more severely damaged but was also repaired and welcomed guests since September 16.
Immediately after reopening, many tourists came to Ha Long Bay for sightseeing and tourism. Photo: TC
Both ships were fully booked until the end of September, mainly international visitors from Europe, America, etc. So far, the two ships have welcomed a total of 6 groups, each group of nearly 100 guests. In October, there will be more guests.
“We are repairing the speedboat that takes passengers from the port to the cruise ship, and we are trying to finish it by October 15. The waiting room at the port has just been completed and is ready to serve tourists. However, the most important thing now is to clean up the bay environment because of the garbage left behind after the storm, not to mention the sunken boats that have not been salvaged, which can be dangerous when traveling at sea,” Mr. Pham Ha noted.
As a business with many entertainment areas severely damaged by storm No. 3, but with the fastest efforts, on September 23, Sun Group officially reopened the entertainment complex Sun World Ha Long. Dragon Park is also expected to welcome guests back from mid-October.
Noting the number of visitors in the first days of reopening, Mr. Tran Van Minh, Director of Sun World Ha Long, shared that the number of visitors to the park and the cable car experience in recent days has remained quite stable. Compared to the same period in 2023, the number of visitors still recorded positive growth; in particular, the majority of international visitors came from Korea and Taiwan (China), accounting for 78%.
Some hotels in Ha Long, despite many damaged windows due to lack of repair materials, are still welcoming guests after storm No. 3. Photo: Pham Cong
According to the Ha Long Bay Management Board, in just over 10 days (from September 10 to September 22), Ha Long Bay welcomed nearly 52,000 visitors, of which international visitors accounted for 88.5%, with the largest number still being European and Korean groups. Meanwhile, the peak season for international visitors in Ha Long is from October to March of the following year.
“After the recent stormy days, seeing so many visitors returning is a very encouraging sign,” said Mr. Tran Van Minh.
However, while waiting for Ha Long to "recover", some international tourist groups coming to Quang Ninh in September and October have changed their sightseeing direction to destinations in the Central, Southern regions and islands (Phu Quoc, Con Dao), some still visit the North in the Ninh Binh and Hanoi areas.
Some groups have postponed their departure time to wait for services in the North to recover so they can visit, said Ms. Tran Thi Bao Thu, Marketing and Communications Director of Vietluxtour (HCMC).
Tourism 'capital' Hai Phong will return to normal from November
Hai Phong’s tourism industry suffered heavy losses after storm No. 3. 20 days have passed, but the “tourist capital” of Cat Ba is still in disarray, with hotels and restaurants battered by the storm yet to be repaired. Tourists are still hesitant to return to this beautiful island.
Local authorities, businesses and people of Cat Hai are pooling their efforts and resources to quickly repair and rebuild accommodation facilities damaged by the storm.
Scene of Cat Ba town devastated after storm No. 3. Photo: Hoai Anh
Mr. Pham Tri Tuyen, Head of the Department of Culture, Information, Sports and Tourism of Cat Hai district (Hai Phong) shared with VietNamNet reporter that storm No. 3 caused damage to Cat Hai district of nearly 1,300 billion VND.
There are 313 accommodation establishments serving tourism activities on the island district. Storm No. 3 has seriously affected all of these accommodation establishments. Up to now, about 30-40% of the motels and hotels have been repaired and can welcome guests. The remaining large number are still in ruins, and businesses are making efforts to fix them.
It is expected that by the end of October, accommodation activities in Cat Ba town in particular and Cat Hai district in general will return to normal.
According to Mr. Tuyen, the biggest difficulty is still the accommodation; the ferry terminal, cable car leading to the island as well as the boats operating to take tourists around the bay have returned to normal service. However, after the storm, there are not many tourists coming to Cat Ba.
Vietnamnet.vn
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/hang-chuc-ngan-du-khach-tham-noi-tam-bao-can-quet-than-toc-hoi-sinh-o-ha-long-2326122.html
Comment (0)