Vietnam welcomes nearly 9,000 international tourists under pilot programme

As of February 7, Vietnam welcomed 8,967 international tourists since a pilot programme was launched last November, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The ministry said on February 9 that foreign arrivals visited the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, and the central provinces of Khanh Hoa and Quang Nam, which have been selected for the programme together with central Da Nang city and northern Quang Ninh province.

Most of them came from Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the UK, the US and Canada.

As many as 16 travel firms, 82 lodging facilities, 28 tourist sites, eight shopping centres and 48 transportation companies in the five targeted localities have registered and been eligible to join the first phase of the programme.

The first phase has been rolled out in line with COVID-19 prevention and control regulations, and received the warm response from holiday-makers, the ministry said.

The ministry, therefore, has proposed implementing the second phase of the programme from now to March 30, conducting COVID-19 tests for tourists at their accommodations, and expanding tourist destinations.

International tourism activities, including both inbound and outbound tours, should be fully resumed from March 31, the ministry said.

It also proposed the Government direct the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work on unilateral visa exemption for countries and territories, which had been in place before the pandemic outbreak.

The ministry suggested further negotiations with countries and territories for the recognition of Vietnam’s vaccine passport, and the use of a single application for COVID-19 prevention and control./.