The government announced on Wednesday, October 6, that it plans to reopen important tourist sites to vaccinated tourists from countries with a low COVID-19 risk starting in December, with a full resumption scheduled for June next year.

At the outset of the epidemic, Vietnam established strict border controls in an attempt to keep COVID-19 out, with some success, but this damaged the country’s expanding tourist sector, which accounts for approximately 10% of GDP.

The nation stated last month that vaccinated visitors will be able to visit the vacation island of Phu Quoc starting in November.

From December, tourists from recognized nations will be able to visit the UNESCO world heritage sites of Halong Bay and Hoi An, the highlands town of Dalat, and the seaside resort of Nha Trang. Which nations will satisfy the requirements is still unknown.

The administration issued a statement saying, “We are only open when it is genuinely safe.”
“We’re doing it one step at a time, cautiously yet flexibly, to react to real-world pandemic conditions.”

Similar efforts have been made in neighboring Thailand, which will extend areas in its trial plan to enable vaccinated tourists next month.

Last year, foreign visitors in Vietnam decreased to 3.8 million from 18 million in 2019, when tourist income reached $31 billion, accounting for 12% of GDP.

The country is attempting to accelerate COVID-19 immunizations, with just 13% of its 98 million people having received the vaccine thus far, one of the lowest rates in Asia.