Hanoi

(VNA), July 30 -- The Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has ordered local travel agencies to cancel tours to cities and provinces which have recently reported new COVID-19 outbreaks .

For ongoing tours, they must rigorously take preventive measures to protect tourists and their staff, the department said. Tourist site management boards must work with travel agencies to coordinate group tours to avoid overcrowding or mass gatherings of visitors, and to regularly check travellers's health conditions.

The department also urged tour operators to get regular updates on the COVID-19 situation and strictly abide by authorities' measures to prevent the spread of the virus.

Many tourism-related programmes and plans in the c...