The Ministries of Defence, Public Security, Tourism, Health, Foreign Affairs and Transport agreed in a government meeting and expressed their support for the proposal of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to fully reopen international tourism and remove all travel restrictions to be canceled from 15 March.
Vietnam is considering fully reopening international tourism from mid-next month ahead of its previously proposed April target of lifting the strict restrictions on movement imposed at the start of the pandemic.
This was part of talks between seven ministries – the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Health, Foreign Affairs, Transport, Public Security and National Defense – about resuming travel and tourism activities in the new normal that Tuesday. were held in Hà Nội. , chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam.
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Tourism Minister Nguyễn Văn Hùng stressed that the reopening of tourism should take into account the situation in Vietnam and the lessons learned from other countries and regions.
Vietnam’s own pilot vaccine passport tourism program, launched in late November last year, had welcomed 9,000 foreign tourists safely on Feb. 10, 2022, while still making sure to leave a good impression of Vietnam, he noted, and the ministry had agreed to allow all eligible places to welcome the international tourists rather than just certain provinces.
With the proposal to lift the ban on foreign tourists, general disease prevention and control such as wearing masks and keeping a safe distance will remain in effect.
Representatives of ministries who attended the meeting agreed that they would report to the government on the lifting of restrictions on the issuance of visas for foreign tourists, and resume prepandemic visa policies, including issuing e-visa, unilateral visa waiver for eight countries and bilateral visa waiver for 88 countries/territories.
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The current requirement for tourists to register closed loop tours, as in the pilot program, will also be lifted, requiring tourists only to meet the requirements of the Ministry of Health.
Phan Trọng Lân, head of the Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health, said children under 11 should not be vaccinated against COVID-19 as Vietnam itself had not started immunization for this age group.
However, tourists aged 12 and over must have received at least two doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with the second dose administered no more than six months at the time of entry, or they have proof of recovery from COVID-19 within six months issued by the relevant authorities of the countries where they were handled, and recognized by Vietnam.
Tourists also need proof of negative COVID-19 tests for the flight to Vietnam, valid within 24 hours with rapid antigen testing and 72 hours with RT-PCR testing.
They should install Vietnam’s COVID-19 app, and the app should be on throughout their stay in the country.
For arrivals via air routes, all people with suspected COVID-19 symptoms at the airport must be tested for the virus (rapid tests), while others can leave for their registered accommodation/hotels, self-quarantine for 24 hours and have a COVID-19 infection undergone -19 trial.
For road arrivals, their COVID-19 testing can be done at the border gates before entering.
The Department of Tourism’s proposal to set mandatory COVID-19 insurance at $10,000 to cover the cost of COVID-19 treatment when needed.
When a foreign tourist is tested positive for coronavirus, accommodation/hotels must work with local health authorities to manage and ensure quarantine, just like with Vietnamese citizens.
Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam said that after two years of the pandemic, the Vietnamese economy and especially the tourism sector has been experiencing many problems.
In the spirit of flexible adaptation and safe, effective containment of the pandemic, each relevant ministry and sector must urgently be in their assigned role to reopen tourism in a safe manner, and soon release their respective guidelines regarding the reopening of the pandemic. tourism and report to the government on the matter.
As of today, Vietnam has also lifted all pandemic-era restrictions on the frequency and destinations of outbound and inbound flights.
This article was first published by Vietnam News
