The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said the country would reopen popular resort island Phu Quoc off the southern province of Kien Giang next month to vaccinated travelers from Europe, the U.S., Northeast Asia, Australia, and the Middle East, which have successfully controlled Covid-19 and boast high vaccination rates, the government portal reported Wednesday.
In general, the country may reopen select tourist destinations to vaccinated foreign visitors from countries with low Covid risks from November ahead of a full resumption in June next year, VNExpress reported.
According to the proposal, the country would allow tourists from approved countries and territories to famous hotspots like UNESCO heritage sites Ha Long and Hoi An, beach town Nha Trang and the highlands town of Da Lat from December to June next year.
From June 2022, Vietnam would fully reopen its doors to foreign tourists, VNAT said, as cited in the report.
Initially, the government had planned to welcome back foreign tourists to Phu Quoc Island from this month but low vaccination rates forced the island to push back reopening.
The government closed its doors to foreign tourists and canceled all international flights in March last year as a Covid containment measure. Only Vietnamese repatriates, foreign experts and highly-skilled workers are allowed in with stringent conditions.
Vietnam recorded a 79 percent decline year-on-year in the number of foreign visitors in 2020 due to travel restrictions amid the pandemic.
The nation welcomed just 3.83 million foreign visitors against a record 18 million in 2019, according to official data, the VNExpress cited the report from VNAT.