(TITC) - On September 15, Deputy Minister Doan Van Viet lead Viet Nam delegation jointed the Ministers Talk session “Re-opening ASEAN tourism destination for international tourists" belongs to Global Tourism Indonesia 2021. The session was chaired by Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy and Indonesian.
Deputy Minister Doan Van Viet lead Vietnam delegation jointed the Ministers Talk session. Photo TITC
At the talk session, Ministers in charge of tourism shared the countries' readiness to open up to international tourism, safe tourism measures being applied, and effective strategies to attract international tourists.
Speaking at the session, Deputy Minister Doan Van Viet said that like other countries in Southeast Asia, despite being recognized as one of the countries with effective pandemic control, Vietnam's tourism industry in the past year has been negatively affected by new strains of COVID- 19, affecting the pilot reopening to international tourists as well as disrupting domestic tourism activities. Vietnam has temporarily suspended entry for international tourists from the end of March 2020, but domestic tourism activities continue to be carried out with many safety measures for visitors. In the first eight months of 2021, Vietnam's tourism served more than 30 million domestic tourists, with total tourism revenue reaching US$6 billion.
Vietnam delegation. Photo TITC
Realizing the dual national goal, to gradually prepare for the economic recovery and pandemic prevention, Vietnam has started speeding up COVID-19 vaccination since March 2021, in which the labour in the tourism industry are classified as essential service providers and are given priority for vaccination.
He also informed that along with increasingly favorable vaccination conditions, the close attention and direction of the Government of Vietnam is also the driving force for the tourism industry, as well as the transportation and health sectors to cooperate in researching, reopening international flights and considering the application of “vaccine passport”.
In September 2021, the Prime Minister of Vietnam directed the pilot plan to welcome international visitors to Phu Quoc Island in 2021, aiming to welcome between 2 and 3 million tourist arrivals. Therefore, at present, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is actively coordinating with relevant ministries and sectors to finalize the reopening plan to welcome international tourists, in which we will consider international tourist markets suitable for the pilot plan, and at the same time coordinate with local agencies to promote the completion of vaccination for people and labour in Phu Quoc before the pilot period, expected from October 2021.
Regarding to reopen international tourism in ASEAN, Deputy Minister Doan Van Viet emphasized that after a long time confronting with COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism industry of ASEAN countries has been preparing for reopening activities and stimulating international tourism. Over the past time, ASEAN countries have recognized many joint efforts of ASEAN in promoting the recovery of the region's tourism industry such as the development of a Research Report on the Post - COVID 19 ASEAN Tourism Recovery Plan and currently the draft ASEAN Common Guidelines on Hygiene and Safety for Workers and Communities in the Tourism Industry.
Vietnam delegation. Photo TITC
He proposed the ASEAN ministers to cooperate in the following actions: work closely in developing and implementing recovery plans, standards and procedures for ASEAN tourism safety after COVID-19, implement specific, highly practical and widespread actions throughout the region; openly share experiences, strategies and plans to revitalize the tourism industry and reopen tourism in order to create conditions for the tourism industry of ASEAN countries to recover and develop together; develop and implement online and face-to-face advertising and promotion programs for the ASEAN common destinations; enhance and share experiences in digital and technology application and innovation in the tourism industry, in order to improve the competitiveness of destinations and promote "contactless" tourism activities.
Global Tourism Forum Indonesia 2021 was held on September 15-16, 2021, with the participation of more than 2,000 online and 100 in-person delegates, including the Vice President of Turkey, Deputy President of Indonesia, Ministers in charge of tourism in some ASEAN countries, Secretary-General of ASEAN, tourism experts, international tourism organizations, businesses and investors.
The forum is a good opportunity for the public and private sectors of ASEAN to come together to share ideas and experiences to get an overview of the tourism in the region after nearly two years of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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