Vietnam will carry out a campaign themed “Live Fully in Viet Nam" to promote the tourism recovery in the 2021-2022 period, said Ha Van Sieu, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

An overview of the conference is held on October 6. Photo: bvhttdl

Sieu proposed the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic missions abroad to promote mutual recognition among countries on "vaccine passports" as well as continue supporting tourism promotion, connecting Vietnam's tourism industry with partners in the host country, and updating the needs of foreign guests, businesses and partners.

At a conference with Vietnamese diplomatic missions abroad on the plan for welcoming international visitors, especially on the pilot program of reopening the southern island of Phu Quoc for international travelers in November, representatives of many diplomatic missions in the key and potential markets such as the US, Russia, Western Europe, ASEAN, and Northeast Asia said Vietnam and Phu Quoc Island have drawn great interest from foreign travelers over the past years.

With such a high demand for traveling to Vietnam, Tran Viet Thai, Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia said promotion activities should be launched as soon as possible. Before reopening borders, it is necessary to keep diplomatic missions and tourism businesses in Vietnam’s source markets updated on the new travel policies. 

However, the barrier on-air connection between Vietnam and Malaysia route needs to be removed since flights between the two countries have been suspended, Thai said. 

Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Nguyen Minh Vu said many Germans have traveled abroad again but usually plan their trip three to six months ahead of their departure. Therefore, the promotion work and the resumption of tourism need to be implemented the sooner the better, with clear information and avoiding constant changes of regulations.

A representative from the Vietnamese diplomatic mission to Thailand said Vietnam should learn from Thailand's "Phuket sandbox" program, which offers diverse and attractive products and a long-stay model with reduced testing costs. 

Given the scarcity of information about Vietnam’s tourist destinations in the source markets, many delegates at the conference suggested the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism should strengthen the promotion of products and tourism policies and on visiting Phu Quoc through major tourism fairs in the coming time such as FITUR (Spain), ITB in Berlin (Germany) or connect with foreign tourism business associations.  

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung said the ministry will propose allowing the entry of more categories of people to Vietnam, including visitors under “travel bubbles” and overseas Vietnamese, for visits and investment.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will propose the temporary recognition "vaccine passports" issued by some countries and ask Vietnamese diplomatic missions abroad to validate certificate of a negative result of coronavirus as well as reduce quarantine time for incoming people having received two doses of vaccine. 

Previously, the VNAT stated the reopening regime of inbound tourism will conduct based on the "Safety is first" rule and the Covid-19 developments. The authority has cooperated with relevant agencies and localities to boost promotion activities for welcoming international visitors in the new normalcy.