Localities urged to have tourism reopening plans

In mid-February, the Government had agreed to reopen inbound and outbound tourism from March 15 at the proposal of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The ministry was assigned to work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health to make a new proposal on visa policy     .

Viet Nam closed borders to foreign tourists from March 22, 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Southeast Asian country.

Thanks to high COVID-19 vaccination coverage, the Government started to welcome back foreign arrivals from November 2021 under a pilot program with only seven localities namely Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang, Quang Nam, Quang Ninh, Binh Dinh, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang having been allowed to join the program.

The number of foreign arrivals to Viet Nam increased by 71.7 percent to 49,244 in the first two months this year, the General Statistics Office reported Monday.

With the new tourism resumption plan, incoming tourists may only be required to have proof of vaccination or recovery from COVID-19 and negative test result certificate issued within 24 hours (rapid test) and 72 hours (RT-PCR) before departure.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Viet Nam unilaterally waived visa requirements for citizens of 13 countries, namely Japan, the Republic of Korea, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Belarus, the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

In addition, Viet Nam and 88 other countries and territories reached agreements on visa exemption.