Vietnamese Island Phu Quoc Reopening for Tourists
Vietnam has announced to reopen one of its islands soon. The Phu Quoc island is planned to welcome foreign tourists in November. By reopening the Phu Quoc, the Vietnamese authorities make an attempt to revive the country?s economy and tourism industry that have been severely impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and extended lockdown.
The Phu Quoc, which is spread 6 miles of the Cambodian coast, is to be re-opened initially for a 6-month trial period; the Vietnamese officials revealed such information on Sept. 9th.
Phu Quoc trial program details
The Vietnamese borders have been remaining closed to all international travelers since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the time being, the only group allowed to enter the country are returning Vietnamese citizens and investors. Due to the prolonged lockdown, the tourism industry in Vietnam has suffered significantly. The country?s authorities believe that the trial program to open Phu Quoc may attract up to 3 million visitors by the end of 2021. Phu Quoc was chosen as a primary island for the reopening pilot program since it is a destination that could be easily isolated in case the COVID-19 situation gets worse after the tourism reinforcement.
A 6-month trial pilot program is to be divided into two phases. The first one assumes to allow 2,000-3,000 tourists monthly for 3 months. The visitors will travel to the island on charter flights operating from certain locations. The second phase will extend the number of visitors to 5,000-10,000 per month. The travelers will fly to the island via commercial flights.
New travel regulations to enter Phu Quoc
Flying to Phu Quoc will be possible on commercial or chartered flights. Nevertheless, before the island reopens, the Vietnamese government plans to vaccinate all Phu Quoc residents. Obviously, international travelers willing to enter Phu Quoc island will need to meet certain requirements, which include:
- to be fully vaccinated (at least 14 weeks prior to the entry to Vietnam and no earlier than 12 months before the planned trip)
- to have a PCR test (confirming negative result) taken within 72 hours before departure flight
- to undergo some additional health screenings upon arrival in Phu Quoc (detailed information will be revealed soon)
e-Visa to Vietnam
Since 2017, the Vietnamese government has been facilitating the process of getting a necessary entry permit by offering an electronic visa to Vietnam. Now, all the formalities can be arranged via the Internet without leaving home. An application can be submitted entirely online, and the process itself lasts only a moment. Within maximally 5 business days, e-Visa to Vietnam is delivered to email address.
An electronic visa is a perfect solution to save both time and money. The online process helps to avoid bearing the costs of the stempel fees upon arrival in the country. Moreover, a traveler does not need to worry about formalities to be faced upon entry to Vietnam. The trip with e-Visa can be trouble-free and effortless!
