Major airlines, travel businesses and hoteliers have signed a petition to the Prime Minister proposing that Vietnam reopen its door to international tourism in February as opposed to April or May as scheduled.
Hoi An city in central Vietnam has received first groups of foreign tourists in November 2021 under a pilot scheme approved by the Prime Minister.
Among the signatories were Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways, Vietravel, Saigontourist, Sun Group, Thien Minh Group, together the Private Sector Research and Development Board (Board IV).
They recommended that the PM assign the Ministry of Health in collaboration with relevant ministries and agencies to issue new guidelines that remove regulations on isolation and health monitoring at places of residence. Travelers are only required to receive two doses of COVID-19 vaccine and have a negative test 72 hours before departure.
Reopening to international tourism will be an opportunity to create a breakthrough for the tourism sector, and at the same time facilitate investment and trade flows from other countries, reads the petition.
At the January 24 workshop in Hanoi, experts also shared the view that early reopening would present a unique opportunity to assist COVID-hit ailing businesses along with millions of workers in various sectors.
Vietnam is implementing a pilot scheme to welcome back foreign visitors to seven localities nationwide. The country has received more than 8,500 foreign visitors with vaccine passports from various markets such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, and the United States since mid-November, 2021.