The Vietnamese government agreed on Wednesday to restart inbound and outbound tourism under new normal conditions beginning 15 March.
VN Express reports that Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam directed the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism to announce a comprehensive reopening plan that would be implemented nationally.
The ministry was also instructed to collaborate with the Ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs to develop a visa issuance policy proposal.
Vietnam closed the country to inbound tourism and stopped issuing visas for foreigners in March 2020.
On Tuesday, the ministries of defense, public security, tourism, health, foreign affairs, and transport agreed at a government meeting that Vietnam could remove all travel restrictions imposed since the start of the pandemic when it reopens borders on 15 March.
The ministries requested that the government reinstate the unilateral visa exemption policy for 13 countries and the bilateral visa exemption policy for 88 countries and territories that were in place prior to the pandemic.
According to the proposal, foreign travelers arriving in Vietnam will no longer need to purchase tour packages through certified travel agencies as part of the continuing vaccine passport trial program, which began in November last year.
Instead, fully vaccinated travelers would simply be required to show a certificate of vaccination or recovery from Covid-19 and produce a negative rapid antigen test result obtained within 24 hours after their arrival.
International visitors arriving by air would self-isolate in a hotel for one day until receiving the negative test result and would then continue monitoring their health for 14 days.
Travelers will also be required to have medical insurance covering Covid-19 worth at least USD 10,000.
Vietnam started allowing foreign tourists under a vaccine passport program with strict restrictions last November, with nearly 9,000 international visitors arriving under the program.
