Phu Quoc island, a famous tourist destination in Vietnam, is likely to receive between 2,000 and 3,000 tourists per month through charter flights touching down on the island for the first three months of a trial scheme aimed at welcoming back international tourists.
The Ministry of Transport has sent a document to its relevant agencies, including the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, and the Department of Health and Transport, detailing the draft plan which will see the return of international tourists to Phu Quoc at the request of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The pilot project is anticipated to run for a period of six months, starting from October, and will be divided into two phases. It will be carried out in limited locations across a number of large-scale tourist attractions.
The island is expected to receive between 2,000 and 3,000 tourists each month in the opening three months through charter flights, and between 5,000 and 10,000 guests per month in the next three months via commercial flights.
The island will be expanding the scale and locations in order to accommodate an increase in the number of international tourists to the locality.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism intends to welcome between 25,000 and 40,000 international tourists to Phu Quoc throughout the six-month pilot period.
Foreign visitors who have a COVID-19 vaccination certificate which is recognised by Vietnam will be eligible to visit the island, with certificates valid for no more than 12 months.
Alternatively, visitors could enter by using a certificate stating that they have recovered from COVID-19 and the certificate is valid for 12 months from their hospital discharge to their date of entry. They must also have a negative RT-PCR/RT-LAMP test result within 72 hours before departure.
Guests can register to participate in a package tour programme through a local travel firm, during which time they must strictly abide by preventive measures in line with the Ministry of Health’s regulations.
Tourists from countries and territories which are potentially safe against COVID-19 in regions such as Northeast Asia, the United States, the Middle East, and Europe, will be welcomed as part of the scheme.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism says it targets markets with a high vaccinate rate including China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Taiwan (China), the US, Germany, the UK, Russia, and France.
