Vietnam’s tourism market will be completely opened by end of April.
As of January 23, over 8,500 foreign tourists have travelled to Viet Nam under the pilot program to normally resume tourism, the Government News Portal (VGP) citing a report from the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (MCST).
Related: It’s official: Foreign visitors will be allowed to enter Vietnam even without visa
The foreign tourists from Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the RoK, Singapore, the UK, the U.S., and Canada visited Phu Quoc (Kien Giang), Khanh Hoa, and Quang Nam under the trial tourism program on fully vaccinated travellers.
Specifically, Khanh Hoa received the largest number of visitors with 7,000, followed by Phu Quoc with 1,282, and Quang Nam with 239.
During the first phase, 27 foreign visitors were tested positive for COVID-19 but only one of them had to be admitted to a medical facility in Kien Giang province. The other visitors were asymptomatic, thus having their health monitored at hotels, and received negative tests after three to five days.
The second phase of trial tourism resumption program will last till April 30. From May 1, tourism market will be completely opened as planned by the ministry.
So far, the Government has permitted seven localities to receive international visitors on special tour packages namely Quang Nam, Quang Ninh, Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, and Binh Duong.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of foreign visitors to Viet Nam declined by 95.9 percent annually to 157,300, most of them were experts and technical workers working for projects in Viet Nam. Almost all tour guides became unemployed while the capacity of lodging facilities only reached about 5-10 percent this year.
The tourism sector worked closely with ministries, agencies and localities to fulfill the dual goals of fighting the pandemic and restoring tourism in the new situation. As a result, tourism activities in several localities, including Ha Noi, Da Nang, Lam Dong, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh and Thanh Hoa, have begun to revive.
Also read: Vietnam plans to fully reopen the country to international tourists from April
Last year, Viet Nam was honored as the “Leading destination in Asia”, the “Leading sustainable tourism destination in Asia”, the “Best golf destination in Asia and the world”, and the “Best yachting destination in Asia”. Its hotels, resorts, destinations, restaurants, tour agencies and airlines also won a number of awards, according to VGP.