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A cruise ship comes to Halong Bay. Quang Ninh Province’s Halong City has proposed effective solutions to improve the management of travel activities and tour operations

 

The authority of Halong City, in its Document 8244, proposed the Quang Ninh government approve and adopt a plan to review the earnings of firms with a high tax risk, such as hotels, restaurants, food stalls and tourism service suppliers, as soon as possible, VietnamPlus news site reported.

The competent agencies were asked to establish working teams and appoint staff members to regularly supervise catering and lodging service facilities to collect information for determining tax levels, besides asking these service facilities to submit their monthly and quarterly operation reports to the taxation office.

The city has finished installing IP cameras that operate 24/7 and storing cruise ships’ and shops’ data for at least 30 days. In addition, the city is planning to install cameras on tourist transport vehicles and at restaurants and hotels to avoid fake revenue declarations and tax evasion.

Tight control over tax management has helped the city increase its budget revenue from tax collection at zero-dong tour shops compared with other localities.

According to the Taxation Department in the northern province of Quang Ninh, in 2018, tax offices collected over VND10.5 billion from Halong City’s 14 zero-dong tour shops, while collecting a mere VND630 million from 18 shops in the border city of Mong Cai.

To further develop the tourism sector, Halong City proposed the competent tourism agencies in the province promptly review and shortlist eligible travel firms to allow them to sign agreements with foreign tour operators. The shortlisted firms are required to comply with the prevailing regulations on tourism activities to ensure the fairness and friendliness of the tourism business environment.

The competent agencies should closely govern tour contracts and travel service contracts from tour operators to curb low-cost tours, apart from slapping harsh sanctions on operators of tourist scams.

The Department of Finance was asked to collaborate with the provincial tourism association to survey and update the floor prices of tours for Chinese tourists, as well as transport service fees and service costs at lodging facilities in Halong City to strengthen control over abnormal tour prices. SGT