A tourist attraction in HCM City has closed its doors amid the COVID-19 pandemic. — Photo nld.com.vn

The HCM City Department of Tourism said it has submitted to the State Bank of Viet Nam a list of 31 travel and tourism firms that are seeking help to make it through the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

They want new loans, cuts in their bank loan interest rates and more time for repayment so that they could remain in business and keep their employees.

The tourism industry is in urgent need of Government assistance to retain its workforce and recover as soon as the pandemic ends, Tran The Dung, deputy director of Young Generation Travel, said.

Nguyen Quoc Ky, general director of Vietravel, said the industry, which has been accounting for more than 10-11 per cent of the city’s economy for the last few years, needs a relief package from the Government.

It is now difficult for travel firms to get loans from banks since most of them have no assets to mortgage, he said.

Nguyen Thi Khanh, deputy head of the city Tourism Association, said the pandemic has crippled businesses and caused the loss of thousands of jobs.

Businesses find it difficult to access aid packages from the Government and banks, she said.

In the first quarter 90 per cent of more than 1,000 small and medium-sized travel businesses in the city suspended operations as the coronavirus brought tourism to a standstill.

Businesses in the city project losses of trillions of dong in the second quarter. — VNS