Travel

Vietnam plans to run a 6-month pilot program on receiving foreign travelers to Phu Quoc Island, slated for October this year. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) is consulting with ministries and branches on the pilot program which will be implemented in two stages. In the first three months, Phu Quoc would receive 2,000-3,000 travelers a month on chartered flights. The travelers would be served within certain areas to be determined by the locality. In the next period, the island would receive 5,000-10,000 travelers a month, including travelers taking commercial flights. The areas would be expanded. It is expected that Phu Quoc would receive 25,000-40,000 foreign travelers in the six months of the pilot program. The travelers prioritized under the program are those from markets with high safety in Covid-19 control in Northeast Asia, Europe, the US, Middle East and Oceania, such as China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the US, Germany, UK, Russia and France. …

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Many travel businesses are looking forward to the introduction of Vietnam’s safe tourism map to “live in peace” with the COVID-19 pandemic. Trang An Landscape Complex in Ninh Binh province is one of the most popular tourism destinations in the country (Photo courtesy of baodautu.vn) Both businesses and potential travelers have been confused during each COVID-19 outbreak, according to a report in Dau Tu (Investment) newspaper. When a case of infection appears, customers are often confused since information, even about one COVID-19 case in quarantine, often floods media and social media. “When Hanoi was said to have several COVID-19 infected cases, many tourists immediately cancelled their tours as they thought this was not a safe destination. This huge city, in fact, has many other safe places to go,” the chairman of Vietravel Holdings, Nguyen Quoc Ky, said. A safe tourism map is very much needed to inform locals of safe places to visit. This enhances …

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The Saudi Press Agency cited an unnamed interior ministry official as saying some citizens, who in May were allowed to travel abroad without prior permission from authorities for the first time since March 2020, had violated travel regulations. A ban has been in place for travel to and from 13 countries including Vietnam due to concerns about the spread of more infectious variants of the coronavirus. Saudi Arabia has had 490,464 Covid cases and 7,848 deaths so far. The highly transmissible Delta variant has become the most prevalent in many countries, including Vietnam where most new cases are linked to it. It is currently facing its most challenging outbreak so far, prompting several countries to ban or impose stricter quarantine measures for travelers from Vietnam. Three months into its fourth wave, the country has recorded 113,294 cases. …

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Bamboo Cinema at Topas Ecolodge Resort in the northern province of Lao Cai, home to resort town Sa Pa. Here tourists can watch movies amid the green landscape of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range and enjoy the starry sky. Seats are mostly made of bamboo, lending the theater its name. Every evening, it screens classic Vietnamese works like "The Scent of Green Papaya", "Top Gear - the Great Adventure Vietnam Special" and drama movies like "Girl from Hanoi" or "The Deserted Valley". The cinema also serves snacks like cheese popcorn and rice pancakes. Topas Ecolodge, just 15 kilometers from downtown Sa Pa, was named a top eco-friendly resort by National Geographic. Prices at the resort start at VND7 million ($303.75) a night. If you want to experience the outdoor cinema, you will have to pay about VND600,000. Covering 15 hectares of mountainous hills in Panh Hamlet, Mai Chau …

[Read more...] about Inside luxury resorts, outdoor theaters offer new travel experience

People in Ho Chi Minh City will be banned from going outdoors from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am the next day from Monday until further notice as part of the city’s restrictions to reduce surging COVID-19 infections, according to chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong. Chairman Phong declared the travel restrictions at a meeting on Sunday evening. All activities in the city will be suspended, save for emergencies and pandemic missions, the official underlined. The municipal administration will issue an official document to detail the implementation of the new restrictions on Monday, Phan Van Mai, standing deputy secretary of the municipal Party Committee, said in another meeting earlier on Sunday. On July 23, along with its extension of social distancing measures, introduced in late May, from Saturday until August 1, the administration also decided to tighten restrictions. Such restrictions will be applied together with other epidemic control rules under the prime minister’s Directive 16, …

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Located in the north central province of Thanh Hoa, Pu Luong is renowned as an ideal destination for trekkers and budget travellers because of its seclusion and fantastic scenery of terraced rice fields and primary forests. A terraced rice field in Pu Luong, Thanh Hoa. (Photo: VietnamPlus) About 130km northwest of the provincial capital city of Thanh Hoa and 190km south of Hanoi, Pu Luong is close to several favoured tourist attractions in Hoa Binh Province’s Mai Chau, Tan Lac and Lac Son districts, providing explorers with a full circle of exciting adventure. Pu Luong during the ripening rice season. Residents in the hamlets surrounding Pu Luong, such as Son, Ba and Muoi in Lung Cao commune; Kho Muong in Thanh Son; Don in Thanh Lam; and Hieu in Co Lung, are Thai and Muong ethnic minority people who lead lives steeped in tradition and customs. They remain largely uninfluenced by modern means. The infinite swimming pool of Puluong Eco-Green …

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The Ho Chi Minh City administration will set out time frames for residents to go out during the one-week extension of the city’s social distancing measures amid rising COVID-19 cases. On Monday, authorities will issue a regulation on those who are allowed to work outside their homes, what they are permitted to do, and when they can travel outdoors, during the extension, Phan Van Mai, standing deputy secretary of the municipal Party Committee, said at a meeting held on Sunday on the COVID-19 fight. “For example, there may be a stipulation on what are prohibited in public places after 6:00 pm every day,” Mai said. On July 23, along with its decision to extend social distancing measures from Saturday until August 1, the municipal administration also decided to tighten restrictions. Such restrictions will be applied along with other epidemic control rules under the prime minister’s Directive 16, including a stay-home order, a ban on gatherings larger than two people, and the …

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Stringent travel restrictions as part of Ho Chi Minh City’s pandemic response efforts have troubled delivery services for online grocery shopping, which has reported surging demand from people in the southern metropolis. Staff of many supermarket and food store chains in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday had significant issues finding delivery workers to transport packed orders to customers. City chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong has requested companies to reduce the number of their active delivery workers to a minimum level and by at least ten percent compared to July 22, when more extensive social distancing rules started to be enforced in the city. With the number of delivery workers already thin, active employees could not make it through checkpoints between different wards due to inconsistent judgment on whether the delivered goods were essential, according to retailers. As a result, many points of sale had no choice but to announce the suspension of their online sale services. “Now …

[Read more...] about Strict travel restrictions obstruct delivery services in Ho Chi Minh City

Tech-based transport service firms like Grab, Be, and Gojek have shortened their daily operation time in Ho Chi Minh City in accordance with a ban on outdoor travels from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am the next day. These firms on Monday said they would halt daily delivery services from 5:00 pm to 6:00 am the next day until further notice, meaning they will close their services one hour before the starting time of the travel restriction imposed by local authorities, starting Monday, as a measure to curb surging COVID-19 cases. They will only deliver orders and provide on-demand shopping services from 6:00 am to 5:00 pm every day in Ho Chi Minh City. A Gojek representative said that the firm’s staff will ship only essential foods or goods worth less than VND2 million (US$87) and will be entitled to check any package before delivery and to refuse any item that does not meet its rules. Grab said it will re-launch its GrabAssistant, now called GrabExpress, to serve clients who desire online …

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Streets in Ho Chi Minh City became empty on Monday evening due to the implementation of an outdoor travel restriction, while multiple police units were tasked with patrolling to make sure the rule was strictly followed. The municipal People’s Committee decided to ban all residents from staying outdoors from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am the next day from Monday until further notice amid the worst COVID-19 outbreak. All activities in the city are suspended, save for emergencies and pandemic prevention missions. According to the observation of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters, local roads became quite busy at around 5:00 pm on Monday as people rushed home after work. Most of these commuters worked in essential sectors. Few commuters travel on Binh Loi Bridge in Ho Chi Minh City after 6:00 pm on July 26, 2021. Photo : Duyen Phan / Tuoi Tre All streets became quiet and empty after 6:00 pm, while some residents who did not make it home in time or trucks carrying …

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