Being in tune with welcoming international tourists

Last November, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued temporary guidance on piloting international tourists coming to Vietnam. The pilot project is divided into 3 phases, with 5 localities allowed to welcome guests: Phu Quoc City (Kien Giang), Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Da Nang, and Quang Ninh. Vietnam's tourism industry also determines that this opening to international tourism must be safe and clearly defines the following criteria: safety for visitors, safe journeys, safe destinations, and building a green tourism service team. Accordingly, flights bringing international passengers to Vietnam have been re-connected.

November 20, 2021 became an important milestone for Vietnam's tourism industry when it welcomed the first international delegations back after nearly 2 years of pause. Phu Quoc was the first place in the pilot project, welcoming a delegation of more than 200 people from Korea, with a closed tour itinerary of 4 days and 3 nights. This journey was in favorable conditions, safe and it also left many impressions in visitors’ hearts. Therefore, Kien Giang confidently sets a goal that Phu Quoc can welcome 400,000 domestic and international tourists by the end of 2021.

On the same day, Hoi An (Quang Nam) also welcomed the first international tourists to visit and relax after nearly 2 years of silence due to COVID-19. Hoi An's tours are also closed with the prerequisite of vaccine injections and carefully prepared plans to handle situations and ensure safety. Accordingly, international tourists were allowed to visit five attractions and one art performance. Closing the safe and good journey, Hoi An will continue to open its doors to international visitors from now until the end of the year. Visitors to Hoi An will visit according to a 3-phase itinerary. In the first phase, visitors will participate in programs and tourism products at three resorts namely Hoiana Hotel & Suites, Vinpearl Nam Hoi An, and Tuiblue Nam Hoi An as well as visiting Hoi An and My Son ancient towns. The second and the third phases will expand the space and introduce visitors to many new products following the green tourism development orientation, with priority given to visitors in the following markets: the US, Canada, Europe, Korea, Japan, and Australia.

On November 25, Khanh Hoa also welcomed the first international delegation with a 7-day journey. This was also a closed tour with safety criteria and vaccine passports. The delegation was taken to the resort at Vinpearl Resort & Spa Long Beach Nha Trang at Long Beach in a separate area. Currently, Khanh Hoa province has 36 establishments that meet the conditions to welcome international guests, including 25 isolated accommodation establishments at Bai Dai. In addition, there are six tourist zones and attractions, a shopping facility, and 4 professional travel agencies that are eligible to welcome international guests. With this orientation, Khanh Hoa tourism industry sets a goal of welcoming more than 163,000 visitors, of which 2,600 are international visitors from now until the end of 2021.

Currently, Da Nang and Quang Ninh have also built a route to welcome international visitors. The delegations of foreign tourists to Vietnam have brought positive signals to the tourism industry. According to the General Statistics Office, international visitors in November reached over 15,000, increasing 42.4% compared to October.

The number of tourists is still a matter of concern

Although international visitors are also gradually returning, there are still many challenges for Vietnam's tourism industry. In fact, the pilot project of localities to open their doors to welcome tourists is currently only towards charter flights and package tours, so the number of flights is rather limited. Partners in source markets have to spend a lot of time building products, promoting products, gathering visitors to conduct package charter trips. In addition, localities are very careful to choose travel, transportation, accommodation, destinations and service units according to the appropriate criteria, which makes it difficult for supply chains to coordinate. Now the concern of tourism businesses is that the number of visitors is not stable, the business environment is also not favorable, so the operation of units in the industry will not be easy.

It is a fact that the large travel agencies that have a large international connection market are usually located in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The two localities also have the largest and most frequent number of international connecting routes in the country, but they are not in the pilot international arrival route. Therefore, the market connection of travel agencies faces many difficulties, mainly depending on the source of visitors according to the charter. That is not to mention, the process of welcoming international guests in Vietnam is still different from place to place, lacking consistency and improved standards. Especially, tourism establishments must pay special attention to the situation that the guests might be F0, F1 patients, therefore, the treatment and isolation for them should be more specific. If not clearly advised, tourists can be affected psychologically. On the other hand, the regulation that visitors coming to Vietnam must have medical insurance or travel insurance that covers COVID-19 treatment with a minimum liability of $50,000, becomes a financial burden for tourists and even companies that provide travel services abroad, causing anxiety when they choose Vietnam as a destination.

Facing these challenges and difficulties, Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, General Director of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said that the pilot international arrivals must ensure safety and professionalism as the basis for proposing to the Government to shorten this pilot period, which facilitates the expansion to other localities, towards the reopening of international tourism activities when conditions permit. Only when opening up on a large scale will tourism revive effectively. On this basis, the tourism industry continues to review localities with direct arrival airports, good facilities, medical infrastructure, high vaccination rates, etc. to allow pilot reopening, forming a Vietnam tourism "green corridor". From there, it is possible to diversify tourism destinations and services, which attracts more tourists to Vietnam. In addition, the National Administration of Tourism has also launched the program "Live fully in Vietnam", which actively promotes, accelerates, and stimulates sustainable tourism recovery.