The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been working with domestic ministries, agencies and foreign partners to facilitate travel of Vietnamese and foreign citizens, said Spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang.
Tourists in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: TITC)
At the ministry’s regular press conference in Hanoi on August 11, Hang said amid the complicated and uncertain developments of the COVID-19 pandemic with new, more virulent and transmissible variants as well as the emergence of new epidemics like monkeypox, several countries are yet to open their doors and continue limiting travel, some of which are major tourism markets of Vietnam. As the global economy continues to struggle from the pandemic, international tourism has not yet fully recovered, and Vietnam is not an exception.
Following the Prime Minister’s directions to accelerate the tourism recovery in the new situation, Hang said Vietnam has promoted the mutual recognition of 'vaccine passports' and the signing of international treaties on entry-exit, adding that Vietnam was one of the first countries to resume entry-exit policy via visa granting and waivers on March 15, 2022.
According to the spokeswoman, Vietnam is one of the Southeast Asia countries with the most favourable entry-exit policies following the pandemic.
In order to promote the sustainable recovery of the tourism sector, relevant authorities and localities must build green tourism in tandem with preserving and upholding national cultural values and identity. It should also improve the quality of tourism products and services, as well as human resources and infrastructure to meet demand, while increasing global promotion campaigns by making full use of modern technologies. These are also orientations and viewpoints of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in the near future, she said.
Hang also stressed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue working with the Ministry of Public Security and competent agencies to consider changes to the entry-exit policy in the new situation and in line with current regulations.