Implementing social distancing, local Airbnb services and guest houses in Viet Nam will stop receiving new guests until April 15. — Photo baodautuo

Owners of short term lodging facilities such as Airbnb services and guest houses have been asked to stop receiving new guests until April 15 as the country tackles COVID-19.

The People's Committee of HCM City recently sent a notice to accommodation service providers saying they could continue to cater for their current guests but were not allowed to take any new bookings before April 15.

Similar measures are being taken in Da Nang and Ha Noi to combat the pandemic.

Vu Manh Cuong, who has a house on Trang Thi Street in Ha Noi, has been forced to turn down a five-day booking for his house. “I am sick of having no customers for a month. Now I have a booking I can't accept it,” he said.

However, Cuong understands the pandemic is complicated so he has fully cooperated with the city's request not to receive new guests in order to control the outbreak.

Nguyen Phuoc Huyen Anh, the admin of the Facebook page Airbnb Hosts Viet Nam, told her 17k users to lock their booking order functions until April 15 and also cancel all previous booking until then.

She also asked users to apply for the support package from Airbnb.

On Monday, Airbnb announced it would pay $250 million to hosts impacted by the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus. The new policy arrives as hosts worldwide face mounting financial pressure following the mass cancellation of bookings due to the pandemic.

In the package, Airbnb will pay out 25 per cent of what hosts would normally receive for a cancelled booking, based on their individual cancellation policies, for check-ins that were scheduled between March 14 and May 31.

Since social distancing started on April 1, most tourists spot in the country have stopped receiving visitors. — VNS