HCMC – After more than 30 days of reopening its doors to international visitors with Covid vaccine passports on a trial basis, Phu Quoc Island off Kien Giang Province has welcomed some 1,000 foreign tourists.
These travelers came from Thailand, South Korea, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, according to the provincial Department of Tourism.
Among the nearly 1,000 international tourists, the first visitors traveled to Phu Quoc on November 20 last year, while four groups of other visitors flew to the island on board their private aircraft.
The Kien Giang government had earlier planned to carry out the first phase of the pilot program to welcome foreign tourists to Phu Quoc until March 20 this year, but the province has changed its plan and started the second phase of the pilot program from this month.
In the second phase of the pilot plan, the province will allow eight more hotels, lodging facilities and resorts to participate, raising the total number to 18.
In related news, HCMC, one of seven cities and provinces allowed to welcome international tourists with vaccine passports by the Government, will receive the first foreign travelers this month.
Since early November 2021, international searches for aviation and lodging in Vietnam have been on the rise, according to the Tourist Information Center under the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.
In October last year, the search for air tickets to Vietnam rose by 15% year-on-year, while the search in early December 2021 skyrocketed by 167% year-on-year and by 282% at the end of December 2021.
Meanwhile, the search for lodging facilities in Vietnam in early December last year soared by 31% year-on-year, but at the end of December 2021, the search surged by 67% year-on-year.
