The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has been working on a roadmap to eventually welcome back foreign visitors to the country as a means of reviving the tourism industry that has been negatively impacted by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has been working
on a roadmap to eventually welcome back foreign visitors 

The granting of e-visas is considered to be a turning point on the path to luring international visitors back to the country whilst promoting the nation as a friendly, attractive, and safe destination, said Ha Van Sieu, Deputy Director General of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT). At present, it is not possible to welcome foreign arrivals at this time due to the complicated developments of the COVID-19 globally.

The VNAT representative emphasised that in recent times, the VNAT has been strictly monitoring developments regarding the epidemic, along with assessing the resilience of the international market in the post-pandemic period.

Sieu revealed that the VNAT has also developed a range of scenarios with the COVID-19 epidemic gradually being brought under control globally, allowing for international visitors to travel and opening up the tourism industry.

The VNAT has been working alongside representatives of the Thai and Taipei tourism agencies to discuss when the appropriate time would be to resume co-operation.

In line with plans, the country is hoping to open its door to countries that have already contained the epidemic, such as Thailand, the Republic of Korea, China, and Taiwan (China), before gradually opening to countries. 

Despite this, the roadmap to reopen international tourism market will greatly depend on the safety and epidemic situation of each country individually, Sieu emphasised.

During the reopening of the international tourism market, the VNAT is striving to build a safe tourism corridor between Thailand and the country, whilst the Thai side have proposed a pilot project in order to launch "specialised" tours or charter flights to designated destinations in cities of both countries. 

The tourism industry is preparing to launch a project aimed at developing online channels between the country and other tourism markets as a means of introducing online tourism schemes in languages such as French, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese that are exclusively for the staff of foreign travel firms.

This move comes after the Ministry of Transport assigned the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to put forward plans on May 27 to devise ways in which to reopen a number of international routes, with plans set to be submitted to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc for approval ahead of June 10.