Reopening Vietnam gears up for tourists

Vietnam is preparing to welcome back international tourists from March 15 in a bid to revive its travel industry and shore up the wider economy, even as the nation suffers from rising COVID-19 infections.

In the run-up to full tourism reopening, Vietnam's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said on Feb 17 that foreign visitors and overseas Vietnamese can take regular commercial flights to Vietnam between now and March 15, instead of only charter flights.

This is part of new regulations for the second phase of Vietnam's pilot reopening program launched in November, reported Vietnam News Agency.

If tourists test negative for COVID-19 after the first three days upon arrival in Vietnam, they are allowed to visit other provinces and cities such as Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, which are open to international travelers.

On Feb 16, the government announced that the country will fully reopen its borders to international tourism from mid-March. Vietnam has removed all restrictions on international flights since Feb 15.

Yet, the domestic COVID-19 cases have been escalating over the past few weeks. Daily new COVID-19 infections reached an all-time high of 55,879 on Tuesday, according to data from Vietnam's Ministry of Health. The national caseload stood at more than 2.89 million with more than 39,600 deaths as of Tuesday.

Its capital Hanoi logged more than 6,800 daily cases on Tuesday, marking the highest single-day tally. It remained the locality with the highest number of COVID-19 cases.

"As long as this does not cause excess stress on the healthcare system … the government will continue on their path to opening up the country," said Guy Thwaites, director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Ho Chi Minh City.

Noting the current wave is mainly fueled by Omicron, Thwaites said he expects the infection numbers in Vietnam to reach the peak in two to three weeks, adding that the country has done "a remarkable vaccination campaign" and is in a position to "reopen safely".

Adam McCarty, chief economist at research and consulting firm Mekong Economics, said the numbers on hospitalizations and deaths are more relevant than actual infections.

"With high vaccination rates, it is time to open up the country again," McCarty said.

Vietnam has administered about 192 million COVID-19 vaccine doses as of Tuesday, with about 78 percent of its 96.5 million population fully vaccinated.

Important segment

Tourism was an important segment of Vietnam's economy before the pandemic, accounting for about 10 percent of GDP. Last year, Vietnam welcomed only 157,300 international arrivals, compared with 18 million tourists in 2019, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam.

As of Feb 7, a total of 8,967 international tourists had visited Vietnam since a pilot program for select destinations was launched in November, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Missing the Chinese market is going to hurt though, McCarty said, adding that he expects Chinese tourists to remain absent after the reopening due to stringent anti-pandemic measures.

China has been Vietnam's biggest source of foreign tourists in recent years and accounted for one-third of its total international arrivals in 2019.

Travel and hospitality companies across Vietnam are rushing to recruit staff and increase personnel training to prepare for the reopening. On the recruitment website Hotel Job, recruitment demand has doubled since early February versus the same period before the pandemic and page traffic continues to grow, reported local media VnExpress.