Safe reopening creates opportunities for Vietnam's tourism recovery

Tourists at the Golden Bridge in Da Nang's Ba Na Hills tourist area. (Photo: VNA)(Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Government has agreed with a proposal of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and other public agencies on safely reopening tourism activities by air, road and sea in a new normal condition starting March 15.   

The ministry is now completing its related plan for submission to the Government and the Prime Minister as soon as possible, creating favourable conditions for both tourists and local services providers.

General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Trung Khanh said the opening of tourism needs to ensure COVID-19 prevention and control. In Vietnam, the vaccine coverage is high, but it is still necessary to pay attention to the risk of emergence of new strains.

Khanh said he had asked the Prime Minister to allow the application of the visa policy for visitors to Vietnam as done before 2020, considering it a very favourable condition to attract international visitors and creating competitiveness for the tourism sector.

Regarding "vaccine passport", not many countries have so far recognised Vietnam’s vaccination certificate, making it difficult to bring Vietnamese tourists abroad and causing imbalance in international air transport. Therefore, more negotiations are needed for the industry to access more abundant and better sources of tourists.

Tourists visit Hanoi by double-decker bus. (Photo: VNA)

To ensure the recovery of Vietnam's tourism, it is necessary to improve the quality of products, facilities, and human resources. The VNAT will propose training and re-training programmes for tourism workers as well as the extension of support policies, particularly in terms of finance and credit, for businesses and employees in the industry.

Khanh said that the EU Delegation to Vietnam has recently assisted 15 Vietnamese cities and provinces in assessing competitiveness of tourist destinations based on different criteria. This is an opportunity for those involved to review and have solutions to improve the competitiveness of their local tourism in the coming time.

The VNAT unveiled that it will continue to vigorously implement the "Live fully in Vietnam" communication campaign, especially on digital platforms; participate in major international tourism fairs in key markets; and work with Vietnamese representative agencies abroad to spread information on Vietnam's tourism./.

VNA