A number of localities, including Da Nang, Khanh Hoa, and Phu Quoc, are ready to welcome hundreds of tourists from Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK) over the next few days.
Tourists from Japan and the Republic of Korea move from the airport accommodation facilities in Khanh Hoa
This information was unveiled during an online seminar held on November 12 with the aim of discussing the local tourism industry’s pilot scheme to welcome back international visitors.
At the event, Vo Huy Cuong, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), said two international flights from Japan and the RoK, carrying a total of 429 passengers to Khanh Hoa, arrived on November 11 under the guidance of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Furthermore, other relevant units such as Nhat Minh Travel and Catering Joint Stock Company, along with local budget airline Vietjet Air and a number of accommodation facilities in Khanh Hoa, have moved to co-operate in implementing the pilot scheme.
Le Van Nghia, director of Nhat Minh Travel and Catering Joint Stock Company, revealed that the passengers with vaccine passports moved safely from the airport to hotels in Khanh Hoa, thereby ensuring they follow rules relating to COVID-19 prevention and control.
Nghia added that the Khanh Hoa Department of Health has devised plans aimed at ensuring that tourism businesses fully abide by the pandemic prevention measures, particularly as health workers are in the process of conducting COVID-19 testing for all the passengers on the morning of November 12.
Cuong noted that there will be additional flights from Japan and the RoK arriving over the next few days, with Da Nang Airport set to welcome a flight on November 17 and Phu Quoc Airport seeing the arrival of another flight on November 20.
Moreover, there will be over 20 flights to Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa and Da Nang, mainly from the RoK, Japan, Taiwan (China), and Thailand in the near future.
Apart from several major tourism markets, the country should strive to reopen to tourists from other countries, with a focus on welcoming foreign visitors who have been fully vaccinated and who test negative for COVID-19, he added.
This move is expected to help airlines and travel firms find a consistent source of customers from various markets, as opposed to relying on limited ones.