VietNamNet Bridge - The recent floods in the north of Vietnam put a major dampener on the country’s tourism industry.

Earlier this month Vietnam experienced the worst rainstorm it had seen in 35 years. The floods which threw much of the capital city into chaos for a few days not surprisingly scared off a fair few tourists.

Even though life in the city centre has returned to normal, numerous travel agencies claim clients have continued to axe northern Vietnam from their proposed tour itinerary.

People are afraid that a) diseases might be spreading b) the country’s infrastructure has now become unmanageable or c) the floods would return. Last week the capital was soaked in nothing but wonderful Autumnal sunshine.

While the floods have caused serious problems in a number of residential areas in greater Hanoi, where concerns over the spread of infectious disease are palpable, there is hardly a better time of year to visit than right now. Travel agencies have voiced their anger over a lack of reliable information for both tour companies and tourists as well as the spread of misinformation.

In the day and age of travel blogs and online forums, one panicked tourist can scare off who knows how many others. Nowhere to run “The rainstorm sank the capital under a sea of water in the middle of high season for foreign tourists,” says Nguyen Van Cu, deputy director of Ho Guom – Diethelm Travel.

“To cope with the problems that arose tour companies tried to cancel all city tours and tours to pagodas in the former Ha Tay province. Tourists were told to avoid staying overnight in Hanoi and moved to Hạ Long Bay or other nearby areas.”

According to director Luu Duc Ke of Ben Thanh Tourist in Hanoi, his company changed all tours to central provinces for safety reasons.

“We tried our best to break even and didn’t dare to think of profits,” he adds.

But central provinces were also suffering from heavy rain, which made diverting tours from the north even more of a headache. Tour managers and operators find it difficult to satisfy guests who have selected certain destinations before flying into Vietnam, but it would make matters much easier if the agencies could find clear and reliable information.

“It’s not just during this recent flood when we lacked accurate information,” says Phung Quang Thang, the director of Hanoitourist. “During the storms last August, it was also impossible to find a reliable source or up to date information on the railway and roads from Hanoi to Lao Cai and Yen Bai provinces.

“None of the official tourism websites in either of these two provinces released warnings or continued to update information. Nobody in the provinces’ respective departments of sport, culture and tourism could be contacted. Some of our clients were stuck in Sapa and we had to hire a helicopter to get them back to Hanoi!”

Thang suggests that the provincial authorities of Phu Tho, Yen Bai and Lao Cai set up a joint information centre to inform businesses and tourist companies about the situation of travel routes through each province during storms or other such circumstances.

Misinformation highway Misinformation is another big problem, as tour companies run the risk of losing prestige in the event clients end up ‘marooned’ while on holiday. “Recent weather forecasts have been incorrect,” says Hoang Nhan Chinh, director of T&T Travel in Hanoi. “We have to inform our clients if there will be bad weather so that they can prepare beforehand. But if we alarmed them too early, they might be nervous.

If we change the destination of the tour, but then there’s no rain or flooding, we also run the risk of losing prestige.”

“Updated information will help us negotiate with partners when we have to cancel or change tours without any pecuniary penalty, so we have no disputes with our partners or clients,” says Huyen Thanh, the director of Wild Lotus Tourist Company.

Recently his company was to lead six English tourists to travel in and around Sapa but after the UK Embassy issued a warning on travelling in the area, the tourists decided to travel to Ninh Binh province instead. Yet, Sapa was actually perfectly fine while a number tourism sites such as Van Long Nature Reserve, Kenh Ga Hot Spring resort and Tam Coc - Bich Dong, were submerged!

“We were informed that Hoang Long dyke in Ninh Binh had been breached so we didn’t dare drive to Cuc Phuong National Park,” says Huyen Thanh.

“But when I called several partners of ours in the province, they said the roads were fine to travel.” “This misinformation causes fluctuations, fear and confusion for both tourist companies, service providers and our clients. The mass media must provide accurate, not only serious, information on the floods as well as sanitation work and disease prevention.”

The recent floods made for some eye catching photo essays and shots of the capital’s water-filled streets were seen around the world.

The problem is only certain streets, mostly in residential areas were affected, and after a couple of days, life returned to normal. But the damage had been done and now over two weeks later tourists continue to cancel trips to Hanoi.

(Source: Timeout)