The central province is home to several tourist attractions including the famous beach towns of Nha Trang and Cam Ranh.

In the first phase, the central province will only allow tourist destinations to welcome back intra-provincial tourists who have got at least one dose of a Covid vaccine and can furnish a negative PCR test certificate, said Nguyen Thi Le Thanh, deputy director of Khanh Hoa's Department of Tourism.

Tourism business establishments in 'green zones' with low Covid risk will be allowed to resume operations, ensuring that 100 percent of their staff are fully inoculated, with the second dose taken at least 14 days prior to resuming work, Thanh said, as cited by the Phap Luat newspaper.

If the pandemic situation in the country improves further, the province would consider allowing visitors from outside the province. To be eligible for traveling to Khanh Hoa, tourists from outside should also have had least one dose of Covid vaccine and show a negative PCR test certificate.

Provincial authorities also plan to welcome back vaccinated foreign tourists from early December onwards to sequestered beach resorts on Long Beach in the Cam Ranh Peninsula, around 45 kilometers from Nha Trang.

Foreign tourists would need to furnish a certificate showing they are fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved by Vietnam. For double shot vaccines, the second one must have been taken between 12 months and 14 days before the date of entry.

Those who’ve been infected and have recovered must furnish a certificate from the country of treatment and the discharge date must fall within the previous 12 months.

Visitors must also present a negative result in a PCR test done within 72 hours before departure.

In 2019, the year before the onset of the ongoing pandemic, Khanh Hoa welcomed over 7 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 13 percent, including 3.56 million foreigners.

The Vietnamese government closed national borders and canceled all international flights in March last year.

In the ongoing Covid-19 wave that began late April, Khanh Hoa has been among the hardest hit localities with nearly 7,500 infections.