After a year of mostly staying home due to COVID-19, many are anxious to get back out and explore the world. But with the global pandemic still limiting travel, where can we travel in 2021?
Vietnam has planned to reopen its doors to international tourists in the coming months
Vietnam is preparing to welcome international visitors back to the country, the VNA, state-run media reported.
The National Administration of Tourism proposed a plan to welcome international visitors from mid-2020, but this was delayed due to further outbreaks.
With efforts to both control and prevent the spread of COVID-19 and ensure economic development, along with the serious implementation of pilot projects regarding “vaccine passports”, the tourism sector expects that international visitors will be able to freely enter Vietnam starting from the third quarter.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism proposed a plan to welcome international visitors from mid-2020, but this was delayed due to further outbreaks.
Thanks to mass vaccination programmes, domestic and international tourism have both seen positive developments. This has presented the possibility of introducing an initiative to welcome international visitors holding vaccine passports, in accordance with a strict process to continue to ensure safety in tourism activities.
International markets targeted by the tourism sector are the Republic of Korea, Japan, and possibly Taiwan (China).
The pilot decision is based on sound anti-pandemic criteria having been adopted in countries and territories, bilateral agreements, and the acceptance of anti-pandemic and vaccination results by both sides.
The business community is looking forward to a return of the international market, joining the recovering domestic market.With limited openings, safety requirements for citizens and workers in the tourism sector remain the priority. The implementation of the initiative is therefore being carefully studied by the tourism sector.
Source: vietnaminsider.vn
In resume, this plan is being hindered due to the complicated Covid-19 outbreaks in other countries in the region like Thailand, Laos, Philipines, Cambodia, India…
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Is the destination ready for—and welcoming—visitors?
Locals in some tourism-dependent destinations have already protested against surges in local cases that they believe are connected to arrivals: look at the U.S. Virgin Islands, where more than half the GDP is tourism dependent, but locals urge visitors to stay away in a Facebook group called “What’s Going on St. Thomas?” Greg Takehara, CEO of Tourism Cares, encourages travelers to think about being good guests: “The big question to ask as travelers is: Do they want us there? Is the local community going to receive you with open arms or are they telling you, ‘We’re not fully vaccinated, so we don’t want tourism yet’?”
St. Bart’s is one such island nation: The French government announced that St. Bart’s would need to enact a fast-acting vaccination campaign—which began April 19 for all eligible adults—for borders to reopen. If all goes to plan, that could be by mid-May.
Across the globe, look at Thailand, which has announced an aggressive program of localized vaccination in Phuket, aiming to reach herd immunity among locals so it’s safer to welcome back vaccinated visitors as planned in July. The Maldives, too, has debuted a “3V” strategy, or “visit, vaccinate, and vacation.” The archipelago plans to offer vaccines on arrival to visitors while also pursuing widespread vaccination locally—as of mid-April, more than half the population had received at least one jab. French Polynesia unlocks its borders on May 1, after making the vaccine available to every adult who wants one; when it reopened for several months last year, rates remained low with a few spikes in infections caused by local transmission.
Compare that with Vietnam. During the pandemic, it’s been an outstanding example, keeping cases of COVID-19 under 2,000 in a country of almost 97 million. Its borders are largely closed to tourism now, but whenever they reopen, that past success means little to no widespread natural immunity among the population—and makes taking a trip there harder to justify in the short term.
Source: afar.com
In resume, it’s still hard for all of us during this periode. International travel shoud be better when we can control the spread.
The increase of domestic tourism
In 2020, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam’s tourism sector recorded positive results thanks to a spectacular turnaround. Since international tourists were not allowed to visit Vietnam and Vietnamese people could not travel abroad, domestic tourism was boosted with the launch of various stimulus programmes to attract more domestic tourists. Two major programmes included “Vietnamese people travel Vietnam” and “The safe and attractive tourism of Vietnam”, both significantly contributing to bringing the number of domestic visitors as high as 56 million.
One positive feature of domestic tourism is that it contributed to helping visitors have more opportunities to know more about the beautiful landscapes of the country.
Following that success, the tourism sector has set a target of making domestic tourism the main force maintaining its operation in 2021, focusing on promoting alliances. In addition, the sector will enhance the domestic tourism market while maintaining the promotion of Vietnamese tourism abroad to prepare appropriate conditions to meet the demands of post-pandemic tourism development.
According to the world famous travel publisher Rough Guide, domestic tourism is the tourism trend for 2021 in almost all countries. In the context of international tourism being “frozen”, countries have decided it is crucial to promote the domestic market to maintain the operation of the tourism sector.
Source: Vietnamnet
In resume, thanks to all Vietnam tourist in new normal situation.
