The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented event for the global tourism industry as well as for Vietnam's tourism. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) also recorded this as the worst event in the historical series of international tourism since 1950.

After 2 years of fighting the pandemic, many countries have gradually adjusted their stance on fighting the virus, from “zero COVID” to “adapt to living with COVID” in order to resume tourism activities and soon bring life back to normal in the new context.

In 2021, the tourism industry in many countries has also taken the first steps to gradually recover. Singapore and Thailand, are receiving international tourists while the European Union is open for intra-regional travel and allows citizens from a third country to enter with conditions for receiving a full dose of vaccine or recovering from Covid-19 disease: The last dose is administered within at least 14 days and not more than 12 months by the time of entry, or have a certificate of positive test by RT-PCR not older more than 6 months up to the time of entry and have a certificate of recovery from Covid-19 disease or an equivalent document issued by a relevant authority in the country/territory treating Covid-19; passengers must have a negative test result for SARS-CoV-2 (except for children under 2 years old) before departure within 72 hours if using RT-PCR/RT-LAMP method or within 24 hours if using the rapid antigen test method for SARS-CoV-2 and certified by the competent authority of the country performing the test. Some countries have announced their lists of countries and territories for mutual recognition for each other's COVID-19 vaccine certification.

The ASEAN Tourism Forum - ATF 2022 in Sihanoukville, Cambodia from January 16th to January 22nd, 2022 also agreed on a strong message of determination to resume ASEAN tourism with the goal of tourism recovery and sustainable development after a long time affected by the pandemic.

“Spiritual medicine” to encourage tourism businesses to recover

Regarding Vietnam's tourism sector, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism will cooperate with relevant ministries and branches to consult the Prime Minister on welcoming international visitors while ensuring safety against the virus.

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), Vietnam has welcomed more than 8,900 international tourists mainly from Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Singapore, UK, USA, Canada... after implementing the pilot program to welcome international tourists (from November 2021 to February 8th, 2022),

Up to now, there have been 16 international travel agencies; 82 tourist accommodation establishments; 28 tourist attractions and entertainment areas; 8 shopping centers, and 48 transport companies in 5 localities that are qualified to participate in phase 1.

In particular, tourism activities during the Lunar New Year are vibrant again in some major tourist centers across the country, creating a recovery momentum for the tourism sector in 2022. Many localities have created new tourism products, renovated accommodation facilities and tourist attractions to serve tourists while ensuring pandemic prevention and control. The increase in domestic tourist numbers shows that safe tourism is an appropriate direction and also reflected the readiness for the reopening of tourism

Some localities such as Khanh Hoa, Da Nang, Kien Giang… have cooperated with airlines (Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo Airways) and tourist agencies (Saigontourist, TTC Travel, etc.) to organize a “first-footing” ceremony for welcoming tourists at the beginning of the year, and hope for the development of Vietnam’s tourism sector in the new year.

During the 9 days of Tet (From January 29th, 2022 to February 6th, 2022), Vietnam welcomed 6.1 million domestic visitors, of which 3.2 million guests stayed overnight at tourist accommodations. Total revenue from tourism reached more than 25,000 billion VND. International tourists arriving under COVID-19 Vaccine Passport Pilot Program reached 467.

After participating in the pilot program, foreign tourists all have positive feedback when experiencing exciting and attractive types of recreational activities at renowned destinations of Vietnam. Visitors are satisfied with the service quality and express their trust in Vietnam's pandemic prevention and control to ensure safety for foreign tourists. The increase in international searches about traveling to Vietnam from the beginning of 2022 was a positive signal for the rapid and strong recovery of the tourism industry, creating favorable momentum for the plan of opening up international tourism

With the implementation of the pilot program, Vietnam is one of the first countries in the region as well as in the world to resume tourism activities and welcome back international tourists proactively, thereby demonstrating its prestige and capacity. The country's COVID-19 prevention and control efforts over the past time, affirming the correct policy on the “vaccine strategy” of the Vietnamese Party and Government.

The implementation of the program is a positive motivation, a “spiritual medicine” to encourage tourism businesses to restore operations after 2 years of temporary shutdown, to actively reconnect the market, build new tourism products, and adjust business strategies, thereby contributing to promoting the recovery of international tourism activities.

Communication and promotion of the pilot program have been enhanced, thereby effectively supporting the reconnection with Vietnam's key tourist markets, reflected in the significant increase in international searches for Vietnam's tourism in recent years.

Through the implementation of the pilot program, localities and tourism businesses complete the plan to safely welcome tourists, thereby developing a plan to organize other economic and social activities in the locality in accordance with the new normal state.

Although the time to implement the pilot program is not long, the number of international tourists is not much, but the initial results have proven that Vietnam is a safe and attractive tourist destination, thus affirming the capacity of “safe and flexible adaptation” of the tourism industry of Vietnam. This is also an important basis for Vietnam’s tourism to be allowed to fully open to international tourists in order to quickly recover the economy and regain growth momentum, contributing to the sustainable development of the country's spearhead economic sector.

International tourists still highly appreciate the attractiveness and safety of Vietnamese destinations. Photo: VGP/Diep Anh

Reopen for tourism in a synchronous manner to grasp the opportunity of safe and sustainable tourism

In order to get initial positive results for Vietnam's tourism industry, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, localities across the country, along with travel companies and enterprises, have organized many online and face-to-face seminars and workshops to solve difficulties and obstacles for the tourism industry.

While international tourism is frozen by the impact of the pandemic, Vietnam tourism still maintains online promotional activities on the Vietravel website (Vietnam.travel) and other social networking sites, ensuring to maintain brand awareness, remind international tourists of a “safe, attractive” Vietnam and arouse travel inspiration of international tourists.

From November 2021, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism officially launched the communication campaign “Live fully in Vietnam” on the website vietnam.travel and social networks. The campaign aimed at the international visitor market was well received and supported by businesses and localities. At the same time, the tourism industry has implemented many fundamental solutions, creating the basis for promoting the digital transformation of tourism and gradually forming a smart tourism ecosystem. In the context of the pandemic, Vietnam's tourism continues to win prestigious international awards, which means that the tourism activities of Vietnam are on the right track. It is a signal that international tourists still appreciate the attractiveness and safety of Vietnamese destinations.

Currently, many localities and tourism businesses have actively made plans to be ready to welcome international guests when there are new policies. However, the reception of international tourists still faces many difficulties, because the regulations on picking up passengers according to the old guidelines are no longer relevant, such as visa policy, regulations on the selection of travel agencies, Instructions for isolation, and so on.

Business and travel agencies need the consensus of localities on policies to reduce difficulties for businesses and tourists. In addition, localities need to support tourism businesses to connect with each other to build a quality and safe service chain.

Therefore, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in order to reopen for international tourism safely and effectively, it is necessary to issue instructions on entry and exit procedures, ensuring medical safety at international border gates and uniformly deploy nationwide, in line with the opening to welcome international tourists to Vietnam. Moreover, it is vital to strengthen negotiations to increase the number of countries and territories that recognize Vietnam's vaccination certificates – “vaccine passports” so that tourists from Vietnam can travel overseas under the new normal state. Moreover, Vietnam needs to increase the frequency and connect regular international commercial flights to serve tourists, especially direct connecting flights from international markets to top tourist destinations of Vietnam.

To successfully implement the program, tourism management agencies at all levels, localities, as well as tourist destinations need to strengthen communication, product promotion, and development, ensure security and safety, Develop a plan to proactively handle arising medical incidents. Tourism associations and businesses should actively improve service quality, develop new products, strengthen links, and improve the quality of tourism human resources.