Vietnam: Foreign tourists allowed to visit under certain conditions

Viet Nam News via Asia News Network

November 12, 2021

International tourists with vaccine passports or those who have made a full recovery from COVID-19 can visit five destinations in Vietnam starting from this month, without a quarantine mandate.

The Government Office announced on Nov. 2 that Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh has approved a pilot plan to welcome international visitors as proposed earlier by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Five pilot destinations to receive foreign tourists include Phu Quoc City in Kien Giang Province, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Quang Ninh Provinces and the central city of Da Nang.

The plan will be divided into three phases, starting from November.

In the first phase that starts this month, designated places and tourism facilities in Phu Quoc, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Da Nang and Quang Ninh can receive foreign tourists within package tourism programs arriving via either charter flights or international commercial flights.

In the second phase that takes effect from January 2022, the scale of the pilot plan will be expanded by connecting destinations through regular charter and international commercial flights.

The tourists can participate in travel programs that combine multiple destinations after completing their tours at the first destination within seven days. Five destinations — Kien Giang, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Quang Nam and Quang Ninh — will be piloted first and some other localities will be added to the programs later as long as the pandemic conditions permit and the local authorities submit proposals to welcome international tourists.

Vietnam’s tourism market will fully open to international tourists in the last phase, the starting time of which will be based on the contemporary pandemic situation and an evaluation of the two previous phases.

The plan will apply to foreign tourists and overseas Vietnamese arriving from Vietnam’s key and potential tourism markets.

Vietnam stopped receiving international visitors from the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020 and only allowed foreign experts’ entry.