HANOI, 10 April 2020: Hanoi authorities have ordered the temporary suspension of tourism promotions on the global news channel CNN as the Covid-19 fight intensifies.
VNExpress an online news service quoted the city’s chairman, Nguyen Duc Chung, saying he had asked the Department of Tourism to negotiate with CNN to secure a temporary halt to all tourism promotion on the global news channel from now until September to cut costs.
Chung told a meeting the most important task is to mobilize all resources towards combating the Covid-19 pandemic as the capital experiences the country’s highest number of infections.
Hanoi has recorded 111 coronavirus cases, with 38 discharged from hospital so far.
Last year, the capital city signed a USD4million tourism promotion deal with CNN covering advertisements through to 2024. CNN aired 15 short films on Hanoi attractions across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and South Asia.
All popular tourist destinations in the country have been closed since mid-March while bars and most other entertainment facilities shut 15 April on the Prime Minister’s orders, with the country having entered a nationwide social distancing campaign.
According to Hanoi’s tourism department, visitors to the capital during the first quarter of this year slumped 47% year-on-year to 3.85 million. That included 956,000 foreigners, down 44% from a year ago.
Source: Vnexpress
