Government of Vietnam to allow foreign tourists to visit this country from 11-2021
From this month, Vietnam is now open to international travelers with vaccination passports or those who have recovered completely from COVID-19 to visit five places in Vietnam without being quarantined.
Halong Bay, Vietnam
In the first phase of Vietnam’s program to restore international tourism, beginning in November, Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Da Nang, and Quang Ninh will welcome foreign tourists who arrive by charter flights or international commercial flights as part of package tourism programs..
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam emphasized during a meeting with the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and officials from the five localities that foreign tourism must resume soon and securely.
Foreign visitors visiting the five locations must verify their destinations and places of residence in advance during the first phase, which begins in November. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, those who have finished their itinerary within the first seven days must be tested for Covid-19 before proceeding.
The specifics of which areas of the towns will be available to tourists were not disclosed. However, the deputy PM stated in Kien Giang that foreign visitors will be brought to sections of Phu Quoc.
All five locations will be trialled first, with other areas allowed later if pandemic conditions permit and local administrations submit applications to encourage the tourism industry.
Other cities can sign up to host foreign tourists in the second phase, which begins in January 2022, based on their vaccination and Covid-19 control status. Before January 2022, the tourism ministry will determine if the municipalities are eligible to accommodate international tourists.
Dam stated that the full reopening of the tourist industry, which is slated to commence in the second quarter of the next year, will also be based on the pandemic scenario at the time.
Vietnam implemented stringent border controls at the beginning of the epidemic as a preventive measure against the COVID-19, with some early success, but this hampered the country’s booming tourist sector, which amounts for around 10% of GDP.
In order to limit the transmission of this contagious disease, our country canceled all international flights in March of last year, letting only Vietnamese repatriates and foreign specialists and highly qualified professionals enter.
During the earliest phases, the tourism ministry would distribute documentation instructing towns on how to receive foreign guests.
Even fully vaccinated travellers to Vietnam are subject to centralized quarantine for seven days under existing vaccine passport policy.
Vietnam already approves Covid-19 vaccination passports from 72 nations and territories and is in negotiations with another 80, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
From December, Vietnam intends to reopen crucial tourist spots to vaccinated travelers from countries with low COVID-19 risk. Similar moves have been made by the neighbor Thailand, which will broaden regions in its trial plan to enable vaccinated travelers next month.
Foreign visitors in Vietnam declined to 3.8 million in 2018, down from 18 million in 2019, when tourist income was $31 billion, representing 12% of GDP.
It is anticipated that such Vietnamese government’s efforts would result in the tourist sector flourishing again.
