In late April, Lao Dong Newspaper reporters noted that travel businesses and resorts in the Northwest are busy preparing to welcome tourists.

Mr. Ngo Anh Tuan - General Director of Hoa Binh Tourism Company said: "The 5-day holiday of April 30 - May 1 is a huge opportunity for travel agencies. Up to now, the agency has received a remarkable increase in the number of customers, it is expected that the number of customers booking tours this year will increase by about 300 to 500% compared to the same period last year".

According to Mr. Tuan, the fact that the holiday schedule is decided close to the date is also a big challenge for travel agencies, making it difficult to rearrange the schedule and extend other services.

Mr. Bui Manh Thang - Director of Dat Muong Tourism and Transport Company shared - currently, the vehicles to serve guests have been fully booked since April 29.

"There are many customers booking but the company still keeps the price the same and does not increase it compared to normal days. This year, customers mainly travel long distances because of the long holiday and the trend is to flock to the Northwestern provinces because there are many tourist destinations and very unique and impressive festival programs" - Mr. Thang said.

Like travel agencies, tourist destinations are also busy preparing to welcome guests. Ms. Tran Thi Mai Phuong - owner of Homestay Doi Nang (Moc Chau district, Son La) informed - the holiday is almost half a month away but the number of rooms has been booked. The family has had to hire many part-time employees, chefs, tables, chairs and speakers to be able to meet the large number of guests in the near future.

Ms. Vang Thi Mua - owner of Homestay LoLoEco in Dong Van town (Ha Giang) said - her family has built a new facility with a larger scale, but up to now, all the rooms are full and cannot accept more guests.

"Normally there are about 8 employees, but to prepare for the upcoming guests, we had to hire 10 more people to be able to serve them," said Ms. Mua.

Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy - manager of Muong Phang Hotel (Dien Bien Phu city, Dien Bien) informed - the unit has 21 rooms, from now until the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory, most of them are fully booked.

On April 20, speaking with Lao Dong, Mr. Cao Ba Quy - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Sa Pa Town, Lao Cai said that the locality has prepared to welcome visitors to Sa Pa. Up to now, hotels, resorts, restaurants... have filled 80% of the rooms booked by guests in advance. It is expected that the rooms will be full during the holidays.

Mr. Bui Xuan Truong - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hoa Binh province assessed that the 5-day holiday of April 30 and May 1, with a rich system of tourist attractions, Hoa Binh tourism industry is expected to attract a large number of tourists. It is estimated to welcome about 180,000 visitors, of which 20,000 are international visitors and the total revenue from tourists is about 135 billion VND.

According to Mr. Truong, the department has directed the Management Board of tourist areas, tourist attractions, tourism businesses and tourism services in the area to ensure safety for tourists, strengthen control to ensure security, safety, fire prevention, and disease prevention according to regulations and recommendations of the health sector.

Ensure environmental hygiene and landscape at tourist areas and attractions; require organizations and individuals doing tourism business to strictly comply with regulations on registration, price posting and selling at the listed price; do not allow situations of arbitrarily raising prices, soliciting, forcing customers...