Anna, a French tourist who came to Hoi An in mid-March with her husband and daughter, couldn’t leave because her flight was cancelled. For weeks, her family has been staying at the Sea La Vie Hoi An resort in An Bang beach, just outside Hoi An. Her family and 4 other tourists from the UK and Switzerland who are also staying at the resort have become friends. Anna’s husband is a chef. He has taken charge of the cooking, and the others go out to nearby shops to buy food. The resort owner, who is friendly and fluent in English, provides her guests with baked goods and lets them use the resort’s kitchen.

Anna says she was very worried at first because all the restaurants were closed and people were wary of any foreigner. But now she feels safe and happy because she has a well-stocked refrigerator and fresh food is still available at the market and local people are becoming more open with the remaining foreigners. She says she is now more worried about the epidemic situation in France. This will be a memorable holiday for her family, she says, and she appreciates the friendliness and kindness the locals have shown.

Nguyen serves her guests with cakes

Pham Thi Hai Nguyen, Director of the Sea La Vie Hoi An resort says all the foreigners in town need special support from local service providers during this difficult time.

Nguyen said: "We are happy to accommodate these foreign tourists. Otherwise, they would have no place to stay while they’re unable to leave Vietnam. Hoi An lives on tourism. We need to give visitors the best service possible, so they will want to return and we will continue to have lots of visitors when the epidemic is over.”

At the end of March, there were more than 1,600 foreigners staying in Hoi An, 700 of them tourists stranded in Vietnam by the epidemic. Nguyen Thanh Hong, Director of the Quang Nam Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, said the province wants the tourists to remain at their hotels.

Hong said: "Hotels that received visitors before April 1st should keep their guests at the hotel and not move them to other hotels. We still have available hotels. There were approximately 900 foreign tourists staying at hotels in Quang Nam province as of April 1. There are also approximately 700 foreigners living and working in the province. None of these people are allowed to leave the province. They can negotiate with the hotels for discounts during the epidemic.”

The local administration has designated Beach Resort Hoi An, a 4-star hotel, and several other luxury hotels and resorts as quarantine areas. Quang Nam province’s warm treatment of foreign visitors has received high praise.