Hanoi, Feb. 16 (BNA): Vietnam’s Ministry of Tourism proposed on Tuesday that the country fully reopen to foreign visitors and lift almost all travel restrictions from March 15, three months earlier than planned.
The proposal, which will be submitted to the prime minister for approval, follows similar reopening steps taken by other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and the Philippines, where the Omicron COVID-19 variant has caused a sharp rise in new infections, but fewer hospitalizations and deaths than variants. previous.
The proposal includes maintaining a one-day quarantine requirement for visitors as well as requiring negative COVID-19 tests before departure and upon arrival.
Vietnam announced 31,814 new cases of coronavirus infection on Tuesday, adding to more than 2.54 million infections so far. Overall, around 39,000 deaths have been recorded.
It was imposed among the world’s strictest border controls two years ago as the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe.
It had some early success in keeping the virus at bay, but the strategy hurt the country’s growing tourism industry, which accounted for nearly 10% of GDP in 2019.
The number of foreign arrivals fell to 157,000 last year, compared to 18 million in 2019.
Vietnam has allowed foreign tourists to visit certain sites under a vaccine passport scheme since November, and plans to fully restore the industry by June.
Nearly 77% of its population of 98 million has been vaccinated, according to official data, one of the highest rates in the region.
FA