Fully-vaccinated overseas visitors from select countries will be exempted from quarantine-on-arrival in Vietnam from next month, under a “vaccine passport programme” proposed by the country’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The Viet Nam News media outlet reported on Thursday that tourists from approved countries could spend up to 90 days in Vietnam. The permitted destinations in the country encompassed Phu Quoc, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Da Nang and Quang Ninh. Under the scheme, visitors must make hotel reservations and join a tour group where all destinations are registered with the authorities.
Phu Quoc, a holiday island in southern Vietnam, is host to Corona Resort and Casino, the country’s only casino resort currently permitted to cater to local players.
Hoiana, a resort with a foreigner-only casino,near Hoi An in Quang Nam province, and in which Hong Kong-listed Suncity Group Holdings Ltd has an investment, told GGRAsia last week that it would be one of the tourism destinations able to welcome guests from overseas as part of the “vaccine passport programme”.
If tourists wish to visit locations not included in the pilot programme, they must register with tourism agencies and inform local health monitoring authorities.
Visitors must present a ‘negative’ Covid-19 test result issued within 72 hours of setting off for Vietnam, and undergo another test on arrival. Those staying for more than a week will be tested again seven days after beginning their trip.
Vietnam has recognised the Covid-19 vaccination certificates from 72 countries and territories, including South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia, according to Viet Nam News.
Vietnam’s National Administration of Tourism said in early October that it was preparing for “safe resumption of tourism”, as the government had decided to switch from its “zero-Covid 19” approach to adopting a “flexible” response to Covid-19.
The tally of foreign visitors to Vietnam fell to 3.8 million last year, down 79 percent from the 18 million in 2019, when tourism revenue was US$31 billion, equivalent to 12 percent of gross domestic product, Reuters news agency reported.
Before the pandemic, Vietnam had been an emerging casino jurisdiction, with a number of large-scale, mostly foreigner-only resorts created along its lengthy coastline.
