International tourists

Welcoming international tourists to Vietnam (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Government’s Office has issued a document conveying Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh’s direction on adjustments to a pilot programme on receiving foreign tourists. Accordingly, taking into account a proposal by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, the Deputy PM tasked the Ministry, along with the Ministries of Health, Public Security, Defence, Foreign Ministry, Transport, and Information and Communications; authorities of Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Quang Ninh, Binh Dinh; and other relevant agencies with implementing the pilot programme in a safe and effective manner. The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, meanwhile, is assigned to work with competent ministries and sectors in studying, implementing, and amending a temporary guide for receiving foreign arrivals in line with regulations on COVID-19 prevention and control. As many as 1,753 … [Read more...] about Adjustment made to pilot programme on receiving foreign tourists

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, at least 35% of international tour operators have applied to have their licenses revoked, while 90-95% of businesses are closed due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Preliminary statistics show that, in 2021, Vietnam's tourism served about 40 million domestic tourists, down 29% year on year. Total revenue is only 180,000 billion VND, down 42%. After the Government issued Resolution 128 on "Safely adapting, flexibly and effectively controlling the Covid-19 epidemic", at the end of November, the tourism industry began to welcome foreign tourists with a vaccine passport to five localities: Phu Quoc, Quang Nam, Da Nang, Nha Trang and Quang Ninh. In 2022, Vietnam's tourism industry expects to welcome about 65 million tourists (60 million domestic tourists, 5 million international tourists with vaccine passports), earning total revenue of about 400,000 billion VND. More than 1,100 local key products … [Read more...] about 35% of outbound tourist firms ask for withdrawal permit

Welcoming international guests and overseas Vietnamese to Vietnam According to a report by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), about 140,000 Vietnamese people living abroad need to return home during the holidays. Meanwhile, the frequency of commercial flights to markets with high demand such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan can hardly be met. In addition to proposing to maintain repatriation flights, the CAAV has proposed to increase the frequency of commercial flights to markets with high demand, of which Japan will be the first one. A representative of Vietnam Airlines said that charter flights to welcome international passengers to pilot destinations in the country, such as Khanh Hoa and Phu Quoc, are still taking place normally. The airline has just been granted a slot for a two-way flight with Japan and is still waiting for further instructions from ministries before opening ticket sales for regular international flights to authorised markets in early 2022. … [Read more...] about Welcoming international guests and overseas Vietnamese to Vietnam

Thailand is planning to collect a 300 baht ($9) fee from foreign tourist from April to develop attractions and cover accident insurance for foreigners unable to pay costs themselves, senior officials said on Wednesday. Thailand, one of Asia's most popular travel destinations, has been badly hit by a pandemic-induced tourism slump, with about 200,000 arrivals last year, compared to nearly 40 million in 2019. Recent efforts to revive the sector have been complicated by the rapid global spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. "Part of the fee will be used to take care of tourists," Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Yuthasak Supasorn told Reuters . "We've encountered times when insurance didn't have coverage for tourists ... which became our burden to take care of them," he said, adding that funds would also be used to upgrade tourism infrastructure. The fee adds to a list of requirements for foreign tourists seeking entry to Thailand, which include pre-payment for … [Read more...] about Thailand plans to impose tourist fee from April

A senior Government official in charge of tourism suggested Vietnam should fully reopen the door to international tourism in April 2022 in order to speed up its ongoing tourism recovery. Vietnam is likely to fully reopen its door to international tourism on April 30. Illustrative photo Addressing a conference on improving competitiveness on January 18, Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung noted Vietnam is kick-starting its tourism recovery scheme by reopening the door to domestic tourism that has received support from localities and travel businesses as well. However, he said the reopening of international tourism market will help ramp up the sector’s recovery process. “We cannot wait so long, and April 30 will be the right time,” he said suggesting the roadmap. Minister Hung informed the conference about a pilot scheme to welcome back international tourists with a vaccine passport Vietnam has carried out since mid-November 2021. Over the … [Read more...] about Vietnam plans to fully reopen door to international tourism in April

Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated international tourists can come to Vietnam on seven-day package tours, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s draft guidelines to reopen inbound tourism services. Russian tourists visit the south-central province of Khanh Hoa under a pilot international tourism program. – Photo: Courtesy of VINGROUP The ministry has sent the draft guidelines to the relevant ministries and agencies, which should send their feedback by January 11. The draft guidelines allow foreigners, overseas Vietnamese and Vietnamese citizens to books tours to Vietnam. Specifically, international tourists who are fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated, unvaccinated, or have recovered from Covid can travel to this Southeast Asian nation. Those who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from Covid can join package tours offered by travel agencies within at least three days after they enter Vietnam. With a negative result from a PCR test … [Read more...] about Unvaccinated int’l tourists could still travel to Vietnam

A ceremony held to welcome the first visitors to HCMC in 2022 at Tân Sơn Nhất airport. Photo: sggp.org.vn HCM CITY  - The HCM City Department of Tourism held a ceremony to welcome the first tourists of 2022 at the city’s Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport. They arrived aboard Vietnam Airlines flight VN245, Vietjet Air flight VJ157 and Bamboo Airways flight QH203 from Hà Nội. Airlines, travel agencies offered gifts to the visitors. They included 700 vouchers offering discounts of 20 per cent on bills of over VNĐ2 million at IPPG's DAFC fashion stores, 30 gifts worth VNĐ3 million, and 16 travel vouchers from Vietravel, TST Tourist, BenThanhtourist, Penguin Travel Service Company, and Việt An Tourism Company. Speaking at the welcome ceremony, director of the department, Nguyễn Thị Ánh Hoa, acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on the tourism industry last year. In the fourth quarter nearly three million visitors came to the city, and tourism revenues … [Read more...] about HCMC rolls out red carpet to new year’s first tourists

Da Lat resort town in the central Highlands province of Lam Dong received 55,650 travelers from December 30, 2021 – January 2. Tourists mostly going in a small group of close friends or family ended their trips early to avoid traffic congestion on the road and the overloading of services during holidays. There were no traffic jams in the city’s streets, the Passes of Prenn, Bao Loc and Chuoi, and the National Highway No.20 connecting Da Lat and HCMC, helping vehicles run smoothly. In the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, islands of Phu Quoc , Nam Du and Hon Son in Kien Hai, Hai Tac (pirate) in Ha Tien, Ba Lua in Kien Luong saw a large number of visitors. Tourism resort entertainment complexes of Vinpearl Resort and Spa, Vinpearl Safari, Vin Wonder, Sun World Hon Thom Nature Park, Hon Thom Cable Car, beaches of Bai Truong, Duong Dong attracted a lot of people. The province received about 446,000 tourists, including 3,296 international visitors in December, 2021 and the … [Read more...] about Visitors to tourist destinations increase during New Year holidays

The latest additions raised the total localities allowed to receive international visitors on special tour packages to seven. Earlier, Quang Nam, Quang Ninh, Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa and Da Nang got the greenlight to allow in foreign visitors from mid-November. HCMC, a major tourist hub, previously proposed the government to allow in fully immunized foreign tourists carrying 'vaccine passports' without mandatory quarantine. The southern metropolis received over 8.6 million foreign visitors in 2019, or nearly half the total foreign arrivals in Vietnam. Authorities in Binh Dinh Province, home to famous resort town Quy Nhon, last October had sought government approval to welcome tourists from Northeast Asia, Russia, the U.S., and some European countries. Vietnam reopened its doors to foreign tourists in November after nearly two years. In the month since then, over 3,500 foreign visitors arrived on package tours, according to Nguyen Trung Khanh, head of the Vietnam National … [Read more...] about HCMC, Binh Dinh allowed to welcome back foreign tourists

Of the 10,717 people polled by VnExpress , the Tourism Advisory Board and the Private Economic Development Research Board in December, 30.4 percent said they planned to visit Phu Quoc this year. The island reopened to domestic tourists on November 1 but complies with all Covid-19 safety requirements like vaccination and tests. Photo by VnExpress/Khanh Tran Da Lat, a resort town famous for its year-round cool weather in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, was second. The province currently requires no quarantine for domestic tourists except for those arriving from red zones (very high Covid risk areas) but again strictly enforces safety protocols. Photo by VnExpress/Tran Ngoc Anh Sa Pa town in Lao Cai Province, around 300 kilometers from Hanoi, was in third place. Lao Cai requires visitors from red-zones to quarantine at home or other places of … [Read more...] about Phu Quoc, Da Lat among 10 favorite tourist destinations in 2022: survey