Hanoi – Vietnam plans to reopen major tourist destinations to vaccinated visitors from countries deemed to be at low risk of COVID-19 from December, the government said on Wednesday (October 6), before a full recovery scheduled for June of next year.
Vietnam imposed strict border controls at the start of the pandemic in an attempt to avoid COVID-19, with some initial success, but this has hurt its burgeoning tourism sector, which typically accounts for around 10%. of gross domestic product.
“We are only open when it is really safe,” the government said in a statement.
“We are moving step by step, cautiously but flexibly to adapt to real situations of the pandemic.”
Foreign arrivals to Vietnam fell to 3.8 million last year, from 18 million in 2019, when tourism revenues stood at $ 31 billion, equivalent to 12% of GDP.
The country is trying to speed up COVID-19 vaccinations, with just 13% of its 98 million people vaccinated so far, one of the lowest rates in Asia.
