Debate about opening times Shop on Sundays until Christmas?

Status: 19.06.2021 2:58 p.m.

Brick-and-mortar retail suffered a lot in the pandemic, while online retailing gained tremendously. DIW, Städtebund and the trade association HDE are now calling for more flexible opening times to help stimulate the economy. The union ver.di warns. The President of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), Marcel Fratzscher, calls for opening hours to be relaxed in view of the difficult situation of many retailers. “A liberalization of the shop opening times is urgently required so that the stationary retail trade can assert itself in the competition against the online trade and secure jobs,” said Fratzscher to the “Handelsblatt”.

Flexibility required until the end of the year

The economist stood by the side of the trade association HDE. He had suggested leaving the shops open on Sundays at least until the end of the year. This gives retailers the chance to make up at least part of the sales lost during the lockdowns and would also be a signal to people that the city centers are open again. In addition, there should be more reliable rules for a legally secure occasional Sunday opening.

The Association of Towns and Municipalities also spoke out in favor of it. “We now have to do everything we can to ensure that our inner cities and town centers do not become deserted,” said managing director Gerd Landsberg to the “Handelsblatt”. “It would be a positive signal to allow additional Sunday opening hours.” Landsberg referred to the threatening situation of the trade and the danger for hundreds of thousands of jobs.

“Small but important signal”

Over 100,000 retail stores could close or not open at all, Landsberg said. This would put almost 500,000 jobs at stake. The online trade, on the other hand, was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and was able to increase its sales to over 72 billion euros last year due to the pandemic. Additional Sunday opening hours would therefore be “a small but important signal that the city centers and town centers have a future”.

“Development cannot be reversed”

Fratzscher explained: “Due to the pandemic, there was a massive shift towards online trading, which will not be completely reversed even after the pandemic.” However, fair competitive conditions did not mean that people could shop online 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but stationary retail trade had a “tight corset” and had to be closed on Sundays.

“Instead of sanctions or charges for online trading, politics should make stationary retailing more attractive,” said Fratzscher. In addition to more flexible shopping times, this also includes modern urban concepts that make inner cities more attractive again. “This not only has an immediate economic value, it is also very important from a social and societal perspective that people meet and come into contact with one another.”

Ver.di sees “general attack”

The FDP already supported the HDE’s advance as a suitable economic aid for the retail sector. The trade union ver.di, on the other hand, rejected him as an overly short-sighted “general attack on the trade workers, their families, but also on the Basic Law”.

Military aircraft in a rescue and rescue operation docked at Ca Mau airport. It is part of the plan to open more routes of Tre Viet Aviation Joint Stock Company (Bamboo Airways). According to the plan, the route Hanoi – Ca Mau and the opposite direction is expected to be put into operation and operate continuously on weekdays from June 15, 2021. On May 22, Chief of Office of Ca Mau Provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Thanh, said that Bamboo Airways has just sent an official dispatch to the Airports Corporation of Vietnam and related units about opening routes to the airport. No Ca Mau from June 15, 2021. Accordingly, Bamboo Airways will operate flights to Ca Mau with Embraer E175 aircraft, from June 15 to October 30, 2021. The scheduled flight schedule for the Hanoi – Ca Mau route and the opposite direction is carried out continuously from Monday to Sunday every week. In which, the afternoon from Ca Mau to Hanoi from 6 a.m. to 8:20 a.m., and in the afternoon to Ca Mau from 12:20 to 2:40 p.m. In addition to the above flight, Bamboo Airways also opens a route from Ca Mau to Ho Chi Minh City and vice versa. In particular, the way from Ca Mau departs from 9am to 9:55am, and the opposite direction from 10:45am. To meet the plan to operate the routes Ca Mau – Hanoi and Ca Mau – Ho Chi Minh City, Bamboo Airways proposed the Airports Corporation of Vietnam, Ca Mau Airport: Consider implementing the operation plan. suitable aircraft operation; finalize and submit to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam for approval and promulgation; paint taxiway and apron markings suitable for Embraer 175 aircraft; equipped with ground equipment such as passenger ladders, conveyors, trams… Along with that, Bamboo Airways also asked Ca Mau Airport to support and coordinate in training passenger service staff, balancing weight and guiding loading and unloading, and preparing the check-in system and workplace for passengers. Bamboo Airways representative at Ca Mau airport… It is known that Ca Mau airport has a runway of 1.5 km long, meeting the standards of civil airport level 3C and military airport level II, capable of receiving small aircraft such as ATR-72, AN- 2, MIA-17… For many years, Ca Mau airport has only operated flights to/from Ho Chi Minh City by ATR-72 aircraft (68 seats), owned by a subsidiary of Vietnam Airlines. Flying Air Service (VASCO). Due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, in 2020, the total flight route from Ca Mau – Ho Chi Minh City and the opposite direction is only 288 flights, with 12,378 passengers, only about 40% of the number of flights and turns. customers compared to 2017.

Bamboo Airways’ Embraer E195 aircraft Accordingly, the flight schedule is expected by BVA: route Hanoi – Ca Mau (HAN – CAH), time from June 15 to October 30, 2021, frequency from Monday to Sunday, departure time at 6: 00, time to arrive at 8:20. Ca Mau – Hanoi leg (CAH – HAN), time from June 15 to October 30, 2021, frequency from Monday to Sunday, departure time at 12:20, arrival time at 14:40. Ca Mau – Saigon (CAH – SGN) leg, time from June 15 to October 30, 2021, frequency from Monday to Sunday, departure time at 9:00, arrival time at 9:55; route Saigon – Ca Mau (SGN -CAH), time from June 15 to October 30, 2021, frequency from Monday to Sunday, departure time at 10:45, arrival time at 11:40. In order to meet the above flight plan, the representative of BAV, Mr. Truong Phuong Thanh, Deputy General Director of Tre Viet Aviation Joint Stock Company proposed Vietnam Airlines Corporation and Ca Mau Airport. considering the implementation of an aircraft operation plan with CAT C flight mode; at the same time soon complete and submit to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam for approval and promulgation. Along with that is implementing the paint job of marking taxiway signals and aprons suitable for Embraer 175 aircraft; equip ground equipment such as passenger ladder car, conveyor vehicle, electric vehicle and train staff to operate ground equipment; providing business-class lounge services while BAV invests in equipment for lounges at Ca Mau Airport. BAV also proposed Ca Mau Airport to support and coordinate in training staff serving passengers, balancing weight and guiding loading and unloading; prepare the check-in system and workplace of BAV representatives at Ca Mau airport. Currently, Aviation Service Company (VASCO) – a subsidiary of Vietnam Airlines is the only airline operating routes to/from Ca Mau Airport. VASCO is currently operating the Ho Chi Minh City – Ca Mau route with an average of 710 flights with more than 35,000 passengers per year.

Ms. Tran Thi Thu Hien, Deputy Director of the Department of Tourism of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province, said that the video clip will be broadcast daily from Monday to Sunday, from now until the end of June 2 on the time frames are from 9:30 – 17:00 and from 17:00 – 19:00. Nghinh Ong festival, one of cultural events in Ba Ria – Vung Tau, is favored by many foreign tourists. The content of the video clip mainly introduces the natural beauty of forest, sea, new discoveries in Ba Ria – Vung Tau … is ready to welcome international visitors as soon as Vietnam reopens, later long term effects of the Covid-19 epidemic. Ms. Tran Thi Thu Hien said: “In addition to organizing links with other provinces and cities in the country to promote domestic tourists, the Ba Ria – Vung Tau tourism industry continues to work with international media channels. We have developed an outline, focusing on promoting the image of Ba Ria – Vung Tau tourism abroad, bringing the image of local tourism further “./.

(Photo: TCDL) With a length of 30 seconds and broadcast every day from Monday to Sunday, the promotional video for Ba Ria – Vung Tau tourism has officially appeared on BBC Global News in the Asia-Pacific region. from April 8. This movie promoting Ba Ria – Vung Tau tourism will be broadcast in two months with 150 broadcasts in peak hours 9:30 – 17:00, 17:00 – 19:00. This is an activity within the framework of the cooperation program between the Department of Tourism of Ba Ria – Vung Tau and Global Book Corporation – the authorized representative of BBC Global News, to promote interesting things in Ba Ria – Vung Tau to international tourists. Ba Ria – Vung Tau tourism appeared on BBC Global News with outstanding features such as discovering new experiences with blue sea, white sand, golden sunshine (Discover New Experiences), discovering majestic nature with marine ecosystems (Discover Majestic Nature), discover endless adventures with impressive architecture hotels and resorts (Discover Unlimited Adventure), explore the fresh climate (Discover Cool Climates) and explore (Discover Joy). The video promises to help viewers get an overview of the great vacations in Ba Ria – Vung Tau, help international visitors to have up-to-date information on Vietnam tourism to avoid being forgotten after the time. long periods separated by Covid-19 translation. Since then, contributing to attracting international visitors back to Vietnam after the market is reopened. BBC Global News is a major and prestigious media channel in the world with more than 450 million households watching channels in 200 countries and territories. BBC Global News content is available in 3 million hotel rooms, on 178 cruise ships and 53 airlines. Over the past years, Vietnamese tourism has taken advantage of digital platforms to promote the image of Vietnamese nature, culture and people to the world. In October 2020, the General Department of Tourism has officially broadcast the clip “Why not Vietnam?” on CNN TV channel lasting for six weeks to introduce Vietnam’s top travel products and destinations, introduce a safe Vietnam, with many classy travel products, and unspoiled destinations. wonderful. Before that, in June 2020, Da Nang signed an agreement to promote Da Nang tourism with BBC international television. Accordingly, every day BBC Asia-Pacific region (coverage in more than 200 countries) plays an introduction clip about Da Nang with a length of 30 seconds. Broadcast duration is 98 times during peak hours. In the year 2017-2018, Hanoi City spent $ 2 million to promote the image on CNN TV channel. Hanoi has produced three promotional films, each with a length of 30 seconds, with 60s films, a 3-5-minute reportage, a 30-minute special program on television; specific introduction pages about Hanoi such as “Hanoi – Heart of Vietnam”, “Hanoi – Cradle of Heritage”, “My Hanoi”, “Hanoi Perspective” on CNN.com and articles write on social networks Facebook, Twitter and banner ads.