PM orders quick announcement of roadmap for full tourism reopening

This was the second time in a month the PM had urged the ministry to quickly and safely reopen tourism in the context that other Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Laos and the Philippines have reopened their borders to foreign tourists with quarantine exemption.

Earlier this month, the PM asked authorities to prepare for reopening the borders to foreign tourists no later than the end of April and ideally at the end of March.

Last month, the ministry proposed for Vietnam to completely reopen inbound and outbound tourism starting March 31.

Visitors to Vietnam must be either fully vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19, have a negative PCR test within the last 72 hours, and have medical insurance that covers Covid-19 treatment of at least $50,000, the ministry said.

With borders closed, the number of foreign arrivals plunged by 96 percent last year.

In November the government started allowing foreign tourists in under a vaccine passport program. So far, nearly 9,000 foreign arrivals have been welcomed under the program with several pre-set conditions and constraints, half of them Vietnamese overseas coming to see their relatives.

Under the program, Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang, Quang Nam, Quang Ninh, and Binh Dinh provinces, along with Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang City are the only localities foreign tourists can visit.