The city will prioritize vaccination for the tourism workforce and run many programs to attract travelers
Da Nang has launched a tourism recovery plan to welcome fully vaccinated foreign visitors from November after nearly two years of suffering from COVID-19 pandemic impacts.
The three-phase plan, which has been approved by the prime minister and is based on the guidance of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Culture, was presented by the city’s tourism department at a meeting held on Thursday with many tourism businesses.
It was launched as Vietnam is easing strict COVID-19 restrictions, which had been applied for several months, to reactivate socio-economic activities under ‘new normal conditions,’ a euphemism for living safely with the coronavirus.
“The city will prioritize vaccination for the tourism workforce and run many programs to attract domestic and international visitors at the end of this year,” said Tran Phuoc Son, vice-chairman of the municipal administration.
Under the ministry’s guidance, travelers would be required to have proof of a negative RT-PCR or RT-LAMP test for the coronavirus within 72 hours prior to departure.
They would have to present full COVID-19 vaccination certificates recognized by Vietnamese authorities, with the second dose administered at least 14 days and no more than 12 months before their time of entry, or a certificate of recovery from COVID-19 within 12 months before their entry date.
Visitors would also be required to have travel insurance that covers COVID-19 with a minimum liability limit of US$50,000 and to install the IGOVN app, which was developed by Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, on their smartphones for use during their trips.
Phase 1 will begin from November to receive visitors coming from travel firms’ tour packages and through charter or international commercial flights.
Phase 2 of the plan is scheduled to take place from January 2022, with more locations permitted to welcome foreign visitors arriving in the same way as in phase 1.
Phase 3 will kick off to fully open tourism to foreigners when phase 2 wraps up, which depends on actual epidemic situations.
Currently, the city’s tourism sector is actively preparing new tourism products and planning events to lure international visitors, said Nguyen Xuan Binh, deputy director of the local Department of Tourism.
The department is also proceeding with a tourist media campaign to popularize the city’s tourism recovery plan in ‘new normal conditions,’ especially to international travelers, through the slogans ‘Da Nang Now Open’ and ‘Enjoy Da Nang.’
On this occasion, the agency announced the launch of VR360 application ‘One-Touch to Da Nang’ at http://vr360.danangfantasticity.com, with many features that introduce local attractions, help users contact local visitor support centers, and provide various useful instructions.
Da Nang, with a population of nearly 1.5 million, is accelerating COVID-19 vaccination, with over 768,700 first shots and more than 91,900 second jabs having been administered to residents as of Thursday, according to official figures.
Since the pandemic struck Vietnam in early 2020, the central coastal city has documented 5,465 COVID-19 cases, including 105 deaths, the Ministry of Health reported on Thursday.
Nationwide, a total of 905,477 infection cases, including 813,963 recoveries and 21,910 fatalities, have been reported.
Recently, the country’s daily new infections and deaths have sharply fallen, to 4,876 and 54 on Thursday from 12,103 and 352 two months earlier, according to the ministry’s data.
