An aerial view of Con Dao Island in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, southern Vietnam.
Photo by VnExpress/Tam Linh. 

“Gorgeous” beaches and “insanely good food” make Vietnam a great post Covid-19 destination, says New York-based travel magazine Travel + Leisure. 

Vietnam and the Philippines are the only two Southeast Asian representatives in the magazine’s list of 17 must-to-go destinations in the world after the Covid-19 crisis ends.

With Vietnam continuing to suspend international flights and halting entry for all foreigners as a measure to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, the leading U.S. travel site urges its readers to make travel plans to visit the country soon after the pandemic passes.

"Lying side by side with your friends on a gorgeous tropical beach and going to packed street food stalls and hole-in-the-wall restaurants, eating insanely good food elbow to elbow with strangers are not bad ideas," it says Wednesday.  

The Travel+Leisure list also included many famous tourist destinations around the world such as Rome, Australia, London in the U.K., Paris in France, Mexico and Italy.    

Vietnam has eased its social distancing restrictions since April 23 and its popular tourist destinations have reopened. The government has also allowed "non-essential" services except karaoke parlors and discos to resume operation.

Coracle boats along Quy Nhon Beach in the central province of Binh Dinh.
Photo by Shutterstock/Huy Thoai.

A survey released this week by Thailand-headquartered hospitality consulting group C9 Hotelworks and communication firm Delivering Asia Communications says many Chinese citizens keen on traveling to Vietnam after the Covid-19 pandemic is contained.

The country’s infection tally rose to 288 after 17 Vietnamese repatriated from the UAE were confirmed positive on Thursday night. The country has ended 22 days without community transmission of the disease.