Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has issued new guidance for the second phase of a pilot plan to welcome international tourists, which now allows the participation of all localities given more relaxed requirements.

The new guidance will replace the previous document issued on November 5 last year and will take effect during the second phase of the pilot plan to welcome international tourists in the country, which is expected to last until March 14.

Accordingly, all localities are now allowed to inform the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of their plan to welcome foreign travelers based on the local demand and COVID-19 prevention and control conditions.

The previous guidance only included seven provinces and cities, namely Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Quang Ninh, and Binh Dinh, in the pilot scheme.

International travel businesses that meet all the requirements and have submitted their applications to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism can participate in the plan, the new guidance showed.

Tourists include both foreigners and Vietnamese people who live abroad.

Visitors only need to have a negative COVID-19 test result via either RT-PCR or RT-LAMP method within 72 hours before their departure.

They need to have travel insurance that covers COVID-19 treatment with a minimum liability of US$20,000 compared to the $50,000 as earlier promulgated.

Visitors must buy package tours lasting for at least three days provided by legitimate travel agencies.

However, people who are not fully vaccinated, as well as their guardians, must be on tours that last for at least seven days.

After the tours end, visitors will be allowed to travel freely or visit their relatives in Vietnam if they test negative for the novel coronavirus.

They must first register with their travel agents, which will then inform local authorities for management according to regulations.

Vietnam has documented 2,643,024 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic first hit the country in early 2020, with 2,254,965 recoveries and 39,278 deaths.

Nearly 80 million out of 98 million people in the country have been vaccinated with at least one dose.

Vietnam has not officially welcomed back international tourists but has received multiple groups of foreign visitors as part of the trial tourism reopening scheme, whose first phase began in late 2021.

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