Vietnam is expected to resume international tourism tomorrow.
Tuoi Tre reports that late last week, the Ministry of Health submitted a proposal that tourists should be able to enter Vietnam without presenting their COVID-19 vaccination status, or a certificate of recovery if they previously had the virus.
Visitors would have to submit a health declaration prior to entering the country and use the PC-COVID app throughout their trip. In terms of testing, under the proposal, travelers would have to provide either a PCR test taken within 72 hours of departure or a rapid antigen test within 24 hours of departure. No testing would be required after arrival.
The proposal is being considered by other ministries and government agencies, and it is not clear whether it will be approved, or when it would go into effect if approved.
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese government plans to re-open the country to international tourists tomorrow, March 15, though as of this writing a new visa policy has not been announced. Tourist visas have been suspended since March 2020, when normal inbound flights were banned due to the global spread of the novel coronavirus.
With that re-opening in mind, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will require tourists to provide a negative test result, and guests from age 12 will have to prove that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with the last dose given no later than six months before arrival.
Since November, limited numbers of tourists have been able to visit select destinations like Phú Quốc on pre-planned, heavily restricted package tours. The tourism ministry aims to reach pre-pandemic international tourism numbers — meaning 18 million visitors per year — by 2026.
