Corona casino welcomes batch of S. Korean visitors

Nov 22, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Corona Resort and Casino, on a holiday island in southern Vietnam, has been among the places visited by the first batch of international tourists to that country under a new “vaccine passport programme” by Vietnam’s government. The confirmation was given by the gaming venue in a social media post featuring photographs of the group.

Fully-vaccinated overseas visitors from select countries are now exempted from quarantine-on-arrival in Vietnam under the new scheme, it was announced by the country’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, last month.

Phu Quoc island welcomed the “first international tourists to Vietnam in the ‘new normal’ after nearly two years [of] frozen [business] due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said a press release by Vietnam-based conglomerate Vingroup Group.

It added: “A Vietjet Air flight brought more than 200 Korean tourists to Phu Quoc to experience a five-day and four-night vacation at one-stop-destination Phu Quoc United Center.”

Corona Resort and Casino (pictured in a file photo) is one of the attractions of Phu Quoc United Center. The large-scale entertainment and leisure complex – promoted by Vinigroup – covers more than 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) and includes a number of non-gaming facilities.

The Corona property, Vietnam’s first casino to allow economically-qualified locals to gamble, opened in January 2019. The country features other casino properties, but only holders of a foreign passport can place bets in those venues.

Vingroup said in its press release that the tourists out of South Korea would have to undergo quick Covid-19 tests on the first and last day of their vacation in the country. “With negative test results, they can visit, entertain, dine and shop in designated zones at Phu Quoc United Center,” it said.

The document added the group would be “exploring sport and entertainment activities at Vinpearl Golf, VinWonders theme park, Vinpearl Safari [and] Corona Casino.”

Vinigroup said the welcoming of the first group of tourists from South Korea was the “opening event for the vaccine passport pilot programme in Phu Quoc in particular and in Vietnam in general.”

The company added: “This is an important start marking an acceleration in efforts to recover the national tourism industry as well as national economic development.”

The release stated that, following arrival of the first group of international tourists on November 20, “Phu Quoc expects to receive 20 international flights per month in the upcoming time.”

Under Vietnam’s vaccine passport programme, inbound international visitors must make hotel reservations and join a tour group where all destinations are registered with the authorities.

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.

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