The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has made a proposal to the Government that Vietnam resume opening its borders to international tourism from March 31.
Under the proposal, Vietnam will continue its pilot programme to welcome back foreign visitors with passport vaccines till March 30, the state-media VOV reported.
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More localities will join the programme and more flexible health regulations will be put in place. Accordingly, foreign visitors will undergo a COVID-19 test in their arriving localities instead of airports upon their arrival.
From March 31 Vietnam will fully reopen its borders to receive tourists from all countries worldwide.
According to the ministry, the reopening at a later date will cause Vietnam to lose out to regional countries have already announced or are preparing to announce their similar plans.
It’s noteworthy that Vietnam will play host to the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31) in May, that is expected to welcome huge numbers of tourists from regional countries.
In addition, the nationwide vaccination campaign with all people receiving their third dose against the COVID-19 pandemic is scheduled to be completed in late March, with the aim to achieve herd immunity within the community.
Also read: Here’s why we should reopen the borders for foreign tourists as soon as possible
Official date from the ministry show by January 23 Vietnam had received 8,500 international tourists who are mainly from Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the UK, the United States, and Canada.
Under the pilot programme, Phu Quoc island city, Khanh Hoa, and Quang Nam provinces welcomed the most guests with 1,282, 7,000, and 239 arrivals, respectively, according to VOV.
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Source: Vietnam Insider