“Staycation” Covid 19 07:00, 21/04/2021

Herbert Laubichler-Pichler 

Alma Resort's General Manager 

I think there are many meanings behind the challenges the tourism and hospitality industries are currently faced with due to the global pandemic. First and foremost, you have to focus on your doorstep and ensure you have a very strong local base.  That is imperative and this is where the staycation trend is salient. Many Vietnamese people want to travel but they obviously cannot travel internationally at the moment with the borders closed and the pandemic still raging globally. We can’t travel too far away from home at the moment because the situation with Covid-19 is so volatile and there can be an outbreak at any moment. You have to truly appeal to the domestic market and I believe we do so at Alma due to our incredible host of facilities. Once people are here, they have everything they need and then some so there's no reason to leave during their stay. I believe Alma is an open house for everyone, particularly our local community.  From the beginning, we are the only resort in our location that doesn’t have a wall around us; everything is open. We are here with open arms.  

Peter Ye 

The Anam’s Acting General Manager 

The global pandemic didn’t create the staycation trend but it has undoubtedly accelerated it.  Here in Vietnam, we have a confluence of influences that make staycations very popular now; and admittedly perhaps the only option for many Vietnamese wanting to travel. After Vietnam tightly closed its borders to protect the nation from COVID-19, with international tourists unable to visit and Vietnamese travelers unable to leave the country, the Vietnamese authorities launched the “Vietnamese People Travel in Vietnam” campaign.  This campaign further encouraged Vietnamese to explore their own backyard, whole-heartedly supporting the Staycation trend. Vietnam is an incredible country with so much to offer and Long Beach has been praised as one of Vietnam’s most beautiful stretches of sand. A staycation at our resort overlooking Long Beach on Cam Ranh peninsula is the perfect antidote to lockdowns and restrictions on movement previously implemented to stop the spread of the virus. The Anam has tapped into this trend, launching day passes to lure locals to experience what our resort has to offer including our unusually compelling swimming pools, our beach, our cinema, our cuisine and our spa.   

Anthony Slewka 

Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi’s Director of Sales 

Marketing and Commercial Director of Accor Vietnam 

Staycations during the COVID-19 pandemic have been an immediate focus for certain city hotels, especially those with leisure facilities that include dynamic food and beverage offerings, wellness venues and swimming pools. So, the staycation option has not been a logical solution for all city hotels, but it has very much been a necessity for others. Metropole Hanoi created staycation packages in late April 2020 after the Hanoi lockdown period ended. There is also currently a similar Metropole offer available with a lower F&B credit per day and another with high tea inclusions. These packages have been most popular with clients who normally may not stay at the Metropole but who wish to take advantage of the convenience and price value available at the moment. Many guests simply wanted to try the hotel for the first time. In other cases, we had repeat expatriate guests taking higher room types and enjoying additional inclusions and essentially staying put on property for the full one or two days.  

Vuko Kralj 

Azerai Can Tho’s General Manager 

With international flights grounded, we have naturally had to adjust our strategy as far as our guest mix is concerned. But there are two sides to that. The other side is that Vietnamese are traveling in greater numbers domestically, and so there is a rich pool of local travelers that we have been seeking to attract. Our resort is only a few hours’ drive from Ho Chi Minh City, and many of our guests live in the “big city” and like to escape for a weekend (or longer) to our peaceful oasis, where everything feels almost completely untouched by the current situation. In a sense, Azerai Can Tho’s very nature seems almost “custom-built” for this type of moment. Our resort is situated on a private islet in the Mekong Delta. The only way to reach our property is by private shuttle boat—there is no other way to get here. And so our guests all have a high degree of confidence that they’re as safe and well looked after as they can possibly be. We do stringent temperature screenings for all guests and staff prior to their arrival on the islet. And, lastly, while our location is strictly controlled and relatively isolated, we’re also quite close to the city of Can Tho and all the resources there.