3 Pilot Phases to welcoming International Visitors

The guidance of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has set out a pilot route to welcome international tourists to Vietnam, including 3 phases:
 

Phase 1 (from November 2021): Pilot program for international arrivals under package travel programs, charter flights and commercial international flights to appointed tourism service establishments including Phu Quoc (Kien Giang), Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Da Nang, Quang Ninh (List of areas and service providers that are permited to welcome international travelers that have been publicly announced by localities).
 

Phase 2 (from January 2022): Expanding the scope to welcome international tourists, connecting destinations through regular charter flights and regular commercial flights. Travelers can participate in tour programs that combine destinations in 05 localities in phase 1 after the visitors have completed the 7-day tour destination program (other localities can be added if conditions are met and a proposal to welcome international tourists is required).
 

Phase 3: Fully reopening to the international tourist market. The starting time of phase 3 will be based on the actual epidemic situation and on the evaluation of the results of welcoming international tourists in the first two phases.

Immigration and medical conditions for international visitors to come to Vietnam

The guidelines also provide detailed requirements on immigration and medical conditions for international visitors to travel to Vietnam, such as: Having a certificate of full vaccination against COVID-19 approved by a competent authority in Vietnam (not applicable to children under 12 years of age accompanied by parents or guardians).
 

The duration of injection of the 2nd or 1st dose (for the 1-dose vaccine) is valid for 14 days and not more than 12 months until the time of departure. Traveler need a certificate of recovery from COVID-19 or equivalent documents certifying that they have recovered from the disease, issued by a competent authority in the country of treatment and is recognized by Vietnamese government. The time from the time of discharge from the hospital to the time of departure must not exceed 6 months.
 

Traveler is required to provide negative results for SARS-CoV-2 test by RT-PCR/RT-LAMP method within 72 hours before departure and the results have been certified by the competent authority of the country performing the test (from the date of departure).

They must have medical or travel insurance that covers COVID-19 treatment with a minimum liability of $50,000. Participate in a tour package of a travel agency.
 

The guidelines also develop a specific international tourist arrival process from the registration of the tour program; personnel review, visa issuance; pre-flight preparation; carry out immigration procedures; the process of participating in tourism in Vietnam.
 

Note: The process is specified from the first day to the next 7 days. In case a visitor has the need to visit relatives at locations other than those already permitted to welcome international tourists, they must have a written registration with the organizer to notify the local government of the destination to coordinate health monitoring and management as prescribed. They can leave the country on commercial flights or licensed charter flights.
 

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will be in charge, coordinate with localities to select international tour operators to participate in the program and notify the list to the Immigration Department, Ministry of Public Security. The ministry is to assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with localities in organizing communication, promotion and advertising activities during the pilot phase to welcome international visitors. They are to support localities to select service providers and develop pilot plans to welcome international visitors.
 

Develop a plan to welcome visitors safely

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also asked localities such as Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa, Da Nang, Quang Nam and Quang Ninh to coordinate with the Ministry to choose areas and service providers to welcome visitors. International travelers are to be picked-up and transfer to separate areas of accommodation; they will not be sharing the same area with domestic tourists.

The Ministry will publicly publish ​the list of travel service providers for international travelers to choose to sign contracts to build tourism programs for future visitors. They also organize vaccination for people and workers in the tourism industry to meet epidemic prevention requirements. They issue detailed instructions to welcome international visitors locally, in which specific regulations should be met on safety measures for disease prevention, security and safety for tourists and handling of medical emergencies arise.
 

Other localities organize vaccination for people and workers in the tourism industry to meet epidemic prevention requirements. When there is a need, it is necessary to ensure the conditions for welcoming international tourists with a plan, propose a time and plan to welcome international tourists and send it to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for reporting to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister considers supplementing and expanding the list of localities to welcome visitors.
 

For international travel businesses, they must develop a plan to welcome guests, organize a plan that ensure safety against the epidemic. They must have contingency to handle incidents, and commit to fully comply with the regulations when participating in the program. The pilot program will be sent to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the local tourism management department to welcome tourists to aggregate and notify the relevant authorities.

There are direct contracts with service providers (on the list proposed by localities), clearly delineating responsibilities for providing safe services for tourists, plans for coordination in dealing with tourist incident management. The plan must comply with the regulations on epidemiological safety, all people directly involved in the process of welcoming and providing services for visitors who are vaccinated with a full dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Workers in tourism industry must be trained on COVID-19 safety.
 

Service providers taking part in welcoming international travelers in the locality must register and commit to the local authorities on ensuring safe tourist service plans and incident handling plans. They are to comply with the regulations on epidemiological safety. Personnel directly involved in the process of welcoming and providing services to visitors are vaccinated with a full dose of COVID-19 vaccine and trained on COVID-19 safety, especially in supporting tourists in quick testing and keep the records of the results. Businesses register location QR codes on the application or website www.qr.tokhaiyte.vn.

Visitors are required to scan to register their location when they enter and leave locations. Accommodation facilities arrange "Buffer" rooms to temporarily isolate cases with suspected signs of COVID-19. They also need to arrange trained medical staff to monitor the health of tourists, guide the collection of COVID-19 test samples, summarize results and coordinate in organizing epidemic prevention activities when necessary. Medical staff always implement the “5K message” during their work; they only use protective clothing (PPE) when performing procedures for suspected COVID-19 cases…

For more information and travel suggestion, please visit our website at tour.ztrip.vn or contact us via email or reach us via hotline 0913645958 or 0905882598.