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Vietnam Tourism 2021: Needs determination and effort to overcome difficulties

In 2020, Viet Nam’s tourism suffered extremely heavy losses due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic. After many years of continuous impressive growth, in 2020, for the first time, Viet Nam recorded a sharp decline in the number of domestic and international tourists due to the Covid-19 epidemic. The total number of tourists served by accommodation, food and beverage service establishments in 2020 reached 97.3 million VND, a decrease of 44% over the previous year; a number of tourists served by travel agencies was 3.7 million, down 80.1%. International arrival to Viet Nam decreased 78.7% year on year, gained only 3.8 million arrivals. The sharp decline in the number of domestic and international tourists has led to a significant decline in revenue for accommodation, food and beverage service, estimated at 61.8 trillion VND, down by 43.2 percent.

Facing the accumulated difficulties, the tourism industry has made efforts to implement many solutions to remove difficulties for businesses and workers; proposed to the Government and the Prime Minister solutions to support the recovery of business activities such as land tax, electricity prices, reduced or free sightseeing at many destinations. In addition, many businesses also promptly changed from exploiting international markets to focus on domestic tourism, thereby becoming a salvage solution in the epidemic period. The tourism industry has twice launched the stimulating tourism demand program: The first time in May 2020 with the theme “Vietnamese people travel in Vietnam” and the second time in September 2020 with the theme “Viet Nam tourism – a safe and attractive destination”. These programs have received a positive response from localities, businesses and people, created a new movement trend, spread the inspiration to discover a safe and attractive destination in Viet Nam. These programs have brought practical contributions to the economic recovery process: Many domestic tourists have been experienced and explored Vietnam’s top tourist destinations and many unknown places for the first time at a fairly average cost. Entertainment facilities, shopping activities are activated; travel businesses are re-opened, thereby creating jobs for a certain number of workers… Although the revival of tourism may not be enough to boost the operation of the whole country but it can keep small businesses active and stimulate the local economy, reducing negative impacts of the epidemic on the economy until international tourism is active again.

Influenced by the Covid-19 epidemic, the accommodation, food, beverage and travel services have also been heavily affected. In January 2021, the revenue of accommodation, food, beverage services was estimated at 48.7 trillion VND, down 4.1% compared to the same period last year, of which accommodation revenue was estimated at 4.5. trillion, down 15%; travel revenue was estimated at 1.6 trillion VND, down 62.2%, of which Hanoi’s revenue decreased by 45.6%; Can Tho decreased by 50.1%; Da Nang decreased 68.2%; Ho Chi Minh city by 69.9%; Quang Nam decreased 91.3%; Khanh Hoa decreased 95%.

The Covid-19 in the world continues to be complicated, forecasts for the global tourism picture in the first months of 2021 still have not shown bright signs. The domestic market still plays a crucial role, the international tourism market needs longer time to recover even when the epidemic ends. Therefore, Viet Nam tourism has also prepared to enter the new year 2021 with determination and efforts to find a suitable direction. In 2021, the tourism industry has defined the motto ” Link, Act and Develop”, which continues to focus on restoring and developing domestic tourism. To overcome difficulties in this context as well as development orientations for the coming years, Viet Nam tourism needs to focus on a number of issues such as: Restructuring the tourist market in a sustainable and effective direction; targeting high-quality, long-stay, high-spending customers; developing new products and services, linking to diversify and improve product quality suitable to each market segment; promoting public-private cooperation, regional links between localities and destinations in tourism development cooperation; digital transformation in tourism development, especially in management, business, market research, marketing and selling tourism products.

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Reimagining tourism: How Vietnam can accelerate travel recovery

This article is part of the ongoing Future of Vietnam series, which explores key topics that will shape the country’s future growth. Separate articles discuss Vietnam's post-COVID-19 economic recovery , its longer-term growth aspirations  and ways for ecosystem players to win in Vietnam .

Download the Vietnamese translation  (PDF – 2.4MB).

For most players in the travel industry , the idea of vacationers lounging on a beach thousands of miles from home or sailing the high seas seems like a distant memory. Globally, countries experienced a decline of 35 to 48 percent in tourism expenditures last year compared with 2019 . Vietnam, with its ten-month international border closure, has not been exempted.

Tourism contributes a significant share to Vietnam’s GDP, and the economy has relied on domestic travel to buoy the sector. Local tourism resumed shortly after the country ended its relatively brief lockdown—just in time for 2020’s summer holiday season. Our analysis shows that demand for domestic travel in Vietnam will continue to grow and will recover relatively fast because of growing domestic spending: vacationers who cannot yet travel abroad are redirecting their money locally, at a higher level than in 2019.

As Vietnam’s travel sector continues to evolve and as prospects of international travel become increasingly feasible with vaccination rollouts, travel and tourism players have to adapt to survive. This article gives an overview of the state of Vietnam’s tourism sector, looks ahead at how the industry is likely to recover, and maps out a way forward for the country’s travel and tourism companies.

The state of travel in Vietnam today: Staying afloat

Vietnam’s tourism sector relies heavily on international travel, which plunged last year. International flights dropped 80 percent in October 2020 from the same time period a year earlier (Exhibit 1). Hotels, in turn, filled only 30 percent of their rooms.

The sharp drop in foreign travelers has had an outsize impact on tourism expenditures—and Vietnam’s overall economy—because they spend significantly more than their local counterparts. In 2019, a year in which the tourism industry accounted for 12 percent of the country’s GDP, 1 “Total revenue from tourists in the period of 2008–2019,” Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, May 29, 2020, vietnamtourism.gov.vn. international travelers made up only 17 percent of overall tourists in Vietnam, yet accounted for more than half of all tourism spending—averaging $673 per traveler compared with $61 spent on average by domestic travelers (Exhibit 2). The tourism sector created 660,000 jobs between 2014 and 2019, 2 Global Economic Impact & Trends 2020 , World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), June 2020, wttc.org. and this sharp expenditure dive has also stunted the country’s food and beverage and retail industries.

As a return to pre-COVID-19 levels of international tourism may be far off, the travel sector’s short-term revival could depend on local tourism. In 2019, Vietnamese tourists spent $15.5 billion, of which $5.9 billion flowed overseas. The majority of tourists are unable to leave the country, so they are looking domestically to scratch their travel itch. Travel companies should therefore rise to the occasion and capture value from this opportunity.

Looking ahead: Vietnam’s tourism industry can recover by 2024 if it implements a zero-case-first approach

Even with favorable tailwinds driven by domestic tourism, Vietnam will be dependent on international markets, which represent around $12 billion in spending. The majority of Vietnam’s international tourists come from Asian countries, with those from China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan accounting for around 80 percent of Vietnam’s foreign tourism spending. Vietnam’s strong economic ties with these countries could lead to a relatively fast tourism-industry recovery compared with other key tourist destinations in Europe and North America (Exhibit 3).

To make the most of these ties, Vietnam has been pursuing a zero-case-first strategy  since the start of the pandemic. This strategy is associated with markets in which COVID-19 transmission rates are low and—as a result—traveler confidence, at least on a domestic level, is relatively high.

By implementing the zero-case-first approach and taking into account Vietnam’s currently resilient local economy and proactive government campaigns, Vietnam’s tourism sector could recover to precrisis levels in 2024 (Exhibit 4).

Under this scenario, three paradigms are changing the way travel companies plan for Vietnam’s recovery:

  • Shifts in tourism behavior could result in high-end domestic trips. With borders remaining closed for outbound travel, an increase in domestic luxury trips could occur as travelers reallocate their budgets. Of course, as noted above, the spending power of domestic tourists is weaker than that of foreign tourists, so this type of travel cannot completely fill the gap created by the lack of international travelers.
  • Price cuts could be used to stimulate demand but aren’t sustainable for the long term. Many travel companies offered discounts in the immediate aftermath of the crisis in order to compete for business and stimulate demand. This may result in price dilution, especially for hotels across the country, and thus may not be a sustainable strategy for the long term.
  • International travel bubbles have to be explored with caution. Currently, Vietnam has strict travel restrictions in place and allows only a select number of weekly international flights for travel by experts and diplomats, who are subject to mandatory quarantine on arrival. Vietnam needs to protect the status quo of having near-zero rates of COVID-19 cases and cannot risk opening its borders freely until herd immunity is reached, most likely through mass vaccinations. Thus, it could take some time before inbound foreign tourism returns at scale. In the meantime, there might be some opportunity to pursue more gradual and less risky measures. For instance, there have been discussions about establishing travel bubbles to allow travel between other countries with zero or near-zero transmissions, such as Australia, China, and Singapore. Travel companies should be prepared for two scenarios: one in which travel bubbles open up for inflows of international tourists, and the other in which domestic tourism remains the main driver of value.

Six actions to jump-start Vietnam’s tourism recovery

As travel companies reimagine their pathways to recovery, it is important to address the risks and anxieties related to COVID-19, while also solving for the pain points and trends that existed before the crisis. Below are six steps that Vietnam, and other countries operating in a zero-case-first market approach, can take as they embark on this road to recovery.

Focus on domestic travelers

Local demand can be revitalized by focusing on emerging destinations with the joint cooperation of local governments, online travel agencies, attractions, hotels, and airlines. Outdoor tourism that involves sunshine, beaches, mountains, and nature were among the top choices for Vietnamese travelers after the lockdown was lifted in mid-May last year, and airports at the two big travel hubs of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi were busy. To further tap into the domestic opportunity, operators will have to focus on affordability while striving to maintain high-quality products and experience.

Consider new pricing models to rebuild demand

Rebuilding demand and propelling volume, through discounts and presales, are key tactics during the early stages of recovery, especially for high-end operators that will not be able to tap into international demand for some time. However, the crisis has also forced operators to set aside their existing commercial playbooks. Historical booking patterns and trends normally used as key reference points for price optimization and yield management may no longer be as relevant. In this context of depleted demand, the paradox is that while price cuts are necessary, they could also be dangerous. In this light, companies can also explore opportunities to bundle products—which can offer upselling and cross-selling opportunities—as well as diversify their revenue stream and enhance premium product and pricing.

Five-star hotels in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, for example, can provide full “staycation” packages for families, complete with home pickup by luxury car, a suite, and discounts on food and drinks. Tourism companies and hotels could work together to provide end-to-end travel packages that include flights, train tickets, limousine and bus services, and accommodations. Other companies could capitalize on booming demand for luxury and outdoor activities, such as yacht tours or farm stays.

As demand grows and confidence increases, operators will naturally be inclined to revert to a more dynamic pricing model, based on indicators such as hotel occupancy and domestic-air-travel passenger numbers—and how they grow toward achieving prepandemic levels. That will then give companies an opportunity to refine optimal pricing mechanisms, especially around key domestic holidays such as Tet (the Vietnamese New Year). This is not something that all countries are getting right. Many hotels in Germany , for example, missed pricing or revenue-management opportunities when demand for summer travel reemerged last year.

In the future, dynamic pricing models and the revenue-management function will need to be revisited, based on three new axioms: traveler segments will not be the same for a long period of time and will be a stronger and more diverse domestic mix; demand elasticities will be different, with health concerns playing a more influential role in decision making; and demand will remain very volatile, as observed in Vietnam during the Tet holiday this year, when a small spike in COVID-19 cases led to a big drop in bookings and travel demand throughout the country.

The time for digital (really) is now

Even before the pandemic, consumer reliance on digital for travel-related bookings had been growing. In 2018, online travel activity made up 19 percent of the total tours and activity market size. The pandemic has made the adoption of mobile and digital tools even more essential. Strategic collaborations—such as online travel agencies providing ticket-booking services via instant messaging and social-media platforms—could offer an opportunity for increased market penetration.

At the same time, travel companies should revamp their online touchpoints and experiences to improve customer experience. This is already starting to happen: the website of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has virtual tours for its most popular destinations, and some tour guides have organized real-time online tours for international customers. In addition, a commercial titled, “Why not Vietnam” aired on CNN in October 2020 to drive international traffic to the website, and on the domestic level, a reality show with the same name offered up weekly online travel photo contests to engage viewers.

Furthermore, companies could also think about placing digital tools in new places within the customer journey. They must recognize that factors promoting customer loyalty may have changed; near-term uncertainty may mean, for example, that the ability to cancel a reservation matters more than brand choice or price. Taking this into account, companies could empower customers to build their own itineraries using connected digital tools that make it easier for them to modify or cancel their plans. Solutions and policies that provide choice and control will help build the long-term trust and confidence necessary to get travelers back on the road and in the air.

Lay the groundwork for inbound demand

To capture early outbound demand, travel players could benefit from tracking the development of travel bubbles. This is especially relevant for Vietnam, as the majority of tourists to Vietnam are from nearby regions with strong economic ties and relatively low transmission rates. As stated earlier in this article, our analysis finds that nearby countries such as China, Malaysia, and Thailand could provide inbound expenditure growth of at least the CAGR between 2020 and 2025 (Exhibit 3).

In this context, travel companies will need to be flexible and nimble to capture early international-travel demand—and should be prepared to implement strict health and safety protocols that fulfill the stipulations of both domestic and destination security policies. That said, betting on travel bubbles cannot in itself be a strategy in the short term, as international arrivals are expected to remain low in 2021, and foreign demand will not return to 2019 levels before 2025.

Reinvent the traveler’s experience beyond accommodation—and ‘redistribute’ tourism investments toward unconventional and more diverse destinations

Globally, travelers are personalizing their trips through destination adventures. Tourism spending is shifting away from accommodation to activities—a trend that holds true for Vietnam. According to a report released by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, Vietnamese travelers have allocated smaller budgets for accommodation in the past few years, accounting for approximately 15 percent of travel expenditures in 2019, down from 23 percent in 2011.

Instead of spending on luxury accommodations, travelers are saving money for destination experiences. Many tourists are booking activities before they travel, which suggests the in-destination experience has a bigger impact in the overall tourist decision-making process. Many adventure activities, such as cave discovery, highland hiking, isolated island stays, water sports, and food festivals have become the main reason for travelers to visit a destination in the first place.

In Vietnam, examples of efforts aimed at developing a distinct experience—rather than specific infrastructures—have emerged recently, such as the development of Ho Chi Minh City’s “night economy,” and diversified marketing from the Binh Duong province to spotlight its festivals as main attractions. VNAT is also participating in this effort, specifically making farm stays in mountainous areas an axis for the development of more indigenous experiences. Meanwhile, other regions are also marketing unique experiences: Dalat is promoting its hiking and camping attractions, Mui Ne its golf and water sports, and Ninh Binh and Phong Nha-Ke Bang their nature activities.

Local operators, who often lag behind big travel companies in terms of resources but are more agile in organizing personalized activities, can leverage increasingly popular online players to connect directly with customers and provide these options. International online travel agencies such as TripAdvisor, as well as closer-to-home players such as Traveloka  and Triip.me, have been building dedicated “experience” platforms to inspire users and allow them to choose the most suitable tours by providing a range of attractive options for destination adventures. Tourism companies could shift their efforts away from building resorts and selling sightseeing tickets to designing exceptional activities and leverage these platforms to take advantage of travel-experience trends.

Reimagine government’s role in tourism

In most countries, reinventing the tourism industry will involve industry professionals working in concert with industry groups and governments . Vietnamese tourism administrators have an exciting opportunity to reimagine their roles and lead the sector through recovery and beyond—first, by boosting domestic demand to make up for lost income from international travelers, and second, by promoting Vietnam’s image as a country that has managed the pandemic fairly well. To do this, three things should occur:

  • In the short term, government and industry associations need to ensure the survival of operators. The government can experiment with new and sustainable financing options such as hotel revenue pooling, in which a subset of hotels operating at higher occupancy rates share revenue with others. This would allow hotels to optimize variable costs and reduce the need for government stimulus plans.
  • In the midterm, government-backed digital and analytic transformation is necessary, especially to level the playing field for small and medium-sized enterprises, which made up more than 50 percent of travel suppliers in 2018. Encouraging and helping local operators adjust to the demand for online travel services is critical to help them stay competitive. Government can play a vital role as a matchmaker, connecting suppliers to distributors and intermediaries to create packages attractive to a specific segment of tourists, and then use tourist engagement to provide further analytical insights to travel intermediaries. This ability allows online travel agents to diversify their offerings by providing more experiences off the beaten track. The Singapore Tourism Analytics Network (STAN) and the Tourism Exchange Australia (TXA) platforms are examples of how this mechanism can work at scale.
  • Finally, Vietnam has a solid opportunity to boost its stature as an adventure destination. Governments and industry associations can leverage the overall momentum of the country, as well as the expected return of international travel, to boost demand. Our analysis finds that in the Asia–Pacific region, adventure remains the leading travel trend searched by travelers, so Vietnam is well positioned to leverage this trend. Similarly, investments are also expected to shift away from mega development projects, such as Phu Quoc and Nha Trang, toward small- and medium-scale projects and cities that offer specialized offerings like sports tourism, medical tourism, and even agricultural tourism.

Travel players in Vietnam can seek to accelerate the industry’s recovery by capturing emerging growth opportunities domestically as they gradually rebuild international travelers’ confidence. Our six steps should set the stakeholders in Vietnam’s travel industry in the right direction and help them thrive in the tourism economy of the future .

Margaux Constantin is a partner in McKinsey’s Dubai office; Matthieu Francois is an associate partner in the Ho Chi Minh City office, where Thao Le is a consultant.

The authors wish to thank Celine Birkl, Bruce Delteil, and Alex Le for their contributions to the article.

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Vietnam tourism recovers after Covid-19 pandemic - Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism

(TITC) – In 2022, with the fluctuations of the economic and political situation in the world, world tourism activities have not been restored as forecast but took place slowly, especially in Asia. Vietnam tourism has actively implemented many solutions and achieved positive results, making an important contribution to economic recovery after the pandemic.

tourism in vietnam after covid 19

The positive recovery of Vietnam tourism post Covid-19

2022 is the first year to restore tourism activities under new normal conditions since 15th March, up to now the tourism industry recorded good result.

In 2022, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) proposed the leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as well as developed state management documents on tourism, suggest the leaders of the Ministry to organize many joint activities, cooperation, especially regional linkage in tourism development.

VNAT has promoted Vietnam tourism on digital platforms to target markets, and joint important international travel fairs in order to affirm that Vietnam is a safe, attractive destination and fully ready to welcome tourists back after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vietnam welcomed about 3.5 million international visitor arrivals in 2022. The number of domestic visitors reached 101.3 million arrivals, far exceeding the number of 85 million domestic arrivals in 2019. Tourist receipt is estimated at 495 trillion VND, reaching 66% compared to 2019.

According to the World Economic Forum's 2022 report, Travel and Tourism Development Index of Vietnam in 2021 ranks 52nd, up 8 places compared to 2019, standing in among the 3 greatest improvement countries in the world.

tourism in vietnam after covid 19

VNAT’s Chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh at the 29th World Travel Awards Asia & Oceania Gala Ceremony organised in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: TITC)

At the World Travel Awards 2022, Vietnam's tourism excellently won 16 of the world's leading award categories and 48 of Asia's leading award categories. In the last 5 years, Vietnam has been 3 times honored as the World's Leading Heritage Destination; 4 times received the title of Asia's Leading Destination. Vietnam National Administration of Tourism was 3 times voted the leading tourism board in Asia. For the sixth time, Vietnam won the title of "Best Golf Tourism Destination in Asia". And many other prestigious international awards for Vietnamese localities and businesses.

Exciting tourism recovery activities with the leading companion of VNAT

Immediately after the tourism was reopened, VNAT focused the communication program with the theme "Live fully in Vietnam" to attract international visitors and the program "Safe travel, full experience" to promote the domestic market. VNAT joined with localities and businesses to organize a series of events to restart tourism activities nationwide.

On the occasion of the 31st SEA Games held in Vietnam, the tourism industry took advantage to strongly promote the image of safe, friendly and attractive Vietnam tourism to sports delegations and international tourists. VNAT released the video clip "Discover Vietnam – Let’s shine and live fully” to welcome international friends.

Vietnam tourism took part in promotional events including VITM Hanoi, HCM ITE, Kon Tum Tourism Forum, Mekong Tourism Forum 2022 and especially WTM London 2022; attending World Tourism Organization Conferences in Maldives, World Tourism Industry Conference in Korea, ASEAN Tourism Forum in Cambodia, KOPIST High-Level Policy Online Forum, conducting bilateral meetings between Vietnam, Japan and Singapore.

Imprint of digital transformation and tourism promotion communication

In 2022, Vietnam tourism improved to apply digital transformation. The smart tourism ecosystem has been formed on the basis of the core digital platforms of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism such as the Vietnam tourism database; Vietnam Travel app; Smart travel card and many other technology products to support tourism business and management. VNAT also organized programe to guide digital transformation in many localities nationwide.

The communication and promotion of tourism on the websites and VNAT’s social networks is focused. Travel media show on YouTube under title “Discover Vietnam” attracted a million viewers. Website vietnam.travel ranked 152 thousand globally, up 423 thousand places compared to the same period in 2021.

tourism in vietnam after covid 19

International visitors to Vietnam Tourism Pavilion at WTM London 2022

Vietnam tourism industry strives to welcome 8 million international visitor arrivals in 2023

In next year, Vietnam tourism will face many difficult due to world economy showing signs of recession. Vietnam economy has many challenges. World tourism continues to have a recovery but has not returned to the level of 2019. Domestic tourism continues to have growth but the speed will slow down. The main source markets of Vietnam have not yet fully opened. The impact of Industry 4.0 on the tourism industry will be stronger.

In 2023, Vietnam's tourism sets a target of welcoming 110 million visitor arrivals, of which about 8 million international visitor arrivals; tourism receipt is about 650 trillion VND.

Vietnam tourism will participate in international tourism events such as the ASEAN Tourism Forum ATF 2023 in Indonesia; ITB in Berlin - Germany; WTM in London - UK; promote Vietnam tourism on CNN and some major international media channels; organizing roadshows in ASEAN, Northeast Asia, Australia, Europe and North America; joining Binh Thuan Province in organizing Visit Vietnam Year 2023 – “Binh Thuan: Green tourism”.

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23/07/2022   14:00 (GMT+07:00)

Vietnam’s tourism recovery strongly after pandemic

After more than 2 years of being almost paralyzed by the covid-19 epidemic, vietnam's tourism industry has been making an impressive recovery..

In the first half of 2022, the local tourism industry served 413,400 international and 60.8 million domestic tourists, exceeding the goal set for the whole year. 

tourism in vietnam after covid 19

The total revenue earned by the industry during this time was estimated at 265,000 billion VND. The absolute value of the above figures is still modest, but compared with the same period of 2021, we can see the efforts of the whole industry to achieve outstanding growth, contributing to creating momentum for a stronger recovery in the near future.  

tourism in vietnam after covid 19

Also, nearly 350 international travel service providers were licenced during this time, an increase of nearly 15 times compared to the same period in 2021.

This resurgence has partly compensated for the heavy losses and damage during the pandemic-hit period when the number of international travel agencies dropped sharply from 2,656 in 2019 to 2,111 in 2021.

tourism in vietnam after covid 19

“Vietnam’s tourism industry has officially reopened as of March 15, 2022 under the Prime Minister’s decision. This is an important milestone that marks the return of this spearhead economic sector. All of indicators of the tourism industry have miraculously recovered. Thanks to the explosion of domestic tourists after the Covid-19 epidemic, after half of the year the industry already obtained the targets set for the entire year,” said Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, Director General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

tourism in vietnam after covid 19

The catalyst for the new order

In the southern province of An Giang, it is a comprehensive investment in the natural eco-tourism environment. An extremely impressive highlight will be a lotus field up to tens of thousands of square meters which will open up a magical space right in front of the Tra Su Melaleuca Forest; entertainment works in the Tuc Dup Hill tourist site; and the souvenir shopping area inside the An Hao Solar Power Plant, a unique tourist attraction in An Giang. In addition, local delicacies are also changed to suit the taste of visitors. 

To further lure visitors, many tourist sites have offered preferential tickets and services for some types of visitors like children, war invalids, poor people, teachers, medical staff, or big groups of tourists, etc.… They have also focused on improving the quality of services and tours to better serve visitors.

The flexibility, quick adaptation to the new context and proactive renewal of the supply chain of products and services of leading tourist firms are very important.

Recently, in Tho Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province, a resort project worth of hundreds of millions of US dollars of a big investor in the south has been launched.

tourism in vietnam after covid 19

“After a long time being restrained by the Covid pandemic, now the stormy weather cannot stop us. We are trying our best to complete this project to welcome guests to the resort as soon as possible, perhaps before the New Year 2023,” the investor said.

The door has opened for the tourism industry. Post-epidemic tourism is transforming in a new style that clearly shows the smart investment of businesses. Today, countries around the world see tourism as a money-making machine, which can change the economy in a comprehensive way and the professional and creative service culture will be the launching pad for the investors who know how to grasp new opportunities.

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Vietnam's tourism

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How Covid-19 derailed Vietnam’s tourism industry

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A bright future for tourism in Vietnam after COVID-19

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tourism in vietnam after covid 19

The rapid spread of COVID-19 around the globe has caused significant damage to several industries, including tourism, which has been one of the hardest hit.

RMIT University (Vietnam) Tourism and Hospitality Management Senior Lecturer Dr Nuno F. Ribeiro.

RMIT University (Vietnam) Tourism and Hospitality Management Senior Lecturer Dr Nuno F. Ribeiro said countries that have a fast recovering tourism industry post COVID-19 will be those whose governments prioritised health and wellbeing, and successfully contained the spread of the virus.

“The Vietnamese government has prioritised health and wellbeing during this epidemic, which is the most important thing in a people-intensive tourism industry,” Dr Ribeiro said.

“The local government has also supported tourism businesses with several initiatives which will be critical to allow a quick return to operations once the pandemic is resolved. This will be much easier to do rather than rebuilding an entire economic sector if no help is provided.”

Dr Ribeiro, who leads the tourism and hospitality research cluster within RMIT’s School of Business & Management, said the government’s fast and effective handling of the COVID-19 pandemic may even make Vietnam the preferred travel destination in the Asia Pacific region, over countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

“For some people, travel and tourism is seen as a necessity, not a luxury. And tourists will not only travel to the most beautiful and interesting countries in the world, but primarily to the safest,” he said. “And Vietnam is doing a fantastic job in proving that it is one of the safest destinations in the world.”

In the space of only a few months, Vietnam went from millions of tourists to zero. Dr Ribeiro highlighted that this rapid decline has, and will continue to have, an enormous impact on tourism businesses, and affect the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese people.

The latest initiative from Vietnam’s Prime Minister directed the State Bank of Vietnam to launch a credit support package worth 250 trillion VND (US$10.5 billion) for businesses, and the Ministry of Finance to offer 30 trillion VND (US$1.2 billion) for the same purpose, which Dr Ribeiro applauded.

“I think this is an excellent initiative, that will not only have immediate positive impacts right now, but also have positive effects in the future, not just for the tourism sector, but for the economy as a whole,” he said.

“While this truly is an unprecedented event, the history of tourism since 1945 shows us that, while tourism is vulnerable to cyclical crises, it also rebounds faster and stronger than any other economic sector.”

As an academic with more than 20 years’ experience in tourism, Dr Ribeiro believes there are some further measures available to help alleviate the negative impact of COVID-19 in Vietnam.

  • Continue to coordinate a gradual and safe return to tourism operations with the relevant ministries
  • Provide tax rebates for tourism businesses and encourage management not to dismiss employees, but to retrain them so they are ready to re-enter the workforce soon after the pandemic is over.
  • Diversify Vietnam’s main inbound tourism markets. As this COVID-19 pandemic has clearly shown, the dependency on two markets (China and South Korea) is not sustainable in the long term
  • Learn from other places that have dealt with major disasters like Bali in Indonesia, or New Orleans in the United States
  • Begin soft marketing campaigns using social media and advertising campaigns, aimed at potential tourists, or returning tourists who cannot visit Vietnam right now.

Story: Dr Nuno F. Ribeiro and Thuy Le

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Emerging COVID-19 success story: Vietnam's commitment to containment

Vietnam is one country which has responded well to the coronavirus pandemic. how did they do so in-country experts provide key insights..

This is a guest post by Todd Pollack (i), Guy Thwaites (ii), Maia Rabaa (ii), Marc Choisy (ii), Rogier van Doorn (ii), Le Van Tan (ii), Duong Huy Luong (iiia), Dang Quang Tan (iiib), Tran Dai Quang (iiib), Phung Cong Dinh (iv), Ngu Duy Nghia (v), Tran Anh Tu (v), La Ngoc Quang (vi), Nguyen Cong Khanh (v), Dang Duc Anh (v), Tran Nhu Duong (v), Sang Minh Le (vii), Thai Pham Quang (v), Vu Duong (viii), and Exemplars in Global Health (see institutional affiliations 1 ).

This article was published earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic, based on the latest published data at that time.

We now source data on confirmed cases and deaths from the WHO. You can find the most up-to-date data for all countries in our Coronavirus Data Explorer .

Read the previous version of this article published 30 June 2020.

A previous version of this article covered the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam from January to June 2020.

Introduction

As of December 31, 2020, Vietnam had reported 1,465 laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 35 deaths. 2 This success has been attributed to several key factors, including a well-developed public health system, a decisive central government, and a proactive containment strategy based on comprehensive testing, tracing, and quarantining.

Detect:  Vietnam has taken a targeted approach to testing, scaling it up in areas with community transmission. Contact tracing is comprehensive, with three degrees of contacts traced for each positive case.

Contain:  As a result of its detection process, hundreds of thousands of people, including international travelers and those who had close contact with people who tested positive, were placed in quarantine centers run by the government, greatly reducing both household and community transmission. Hot spots with demonstrated community transmission, including Da Nang during its outbreak in July and August 2020, were locked down immediately, and the government communicated frequently with citizens to keep them informed and involved in the public health response.

One of the reasons Vietnam was able to act so quickly and keep the case count so low is that the country experienced a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003 and human cases of avian influenza between 2004 and 2010. As a result, Vietnam had both the experience and infrastructure to take appropriate action. Vietnam makes many key containment decisions in a matter of days, which may take weeks for governments in other countries to make. Although Vietnam is a highly centralized country, a number of key decisions were made at the local level, which also contributed to the swift response.

Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam joined Exemplars and our partners to share perspective on Vietnam’s success against COVID-19.

Country overview.

Since the 1980s, Vietnam, a country of nearly 100 million people, has undergone a significant economic transformation. The adoption of economic reforms known as the Doi Moi policies in the mid-1980s turned a centrally planned economy into a socialist-oriented market economy, setting Vietnam on a path to its current middle-income status.

Vietnam has invested heavily in its health care system, with public health expenditures per capita increasing an average rate of 9 percent per year between 2000 and 2016. 3 These investments have paid off with rapidly improving health indicators. For example, infant mortality and maternal mortality decreased by more than half between 1990 and 2018. 4

Vietnam has a history of successfully managing pandemics: it was the second country after China to face SARS and, after 63 cases and five deaths, it was the first country declared SARS-free by the World Health Organization (WHO). 5 Many interventions pioneered by Vietnam during the SARS epidemic are being used to respond to COVID-19. Similarly, its experience with epidemic preparedness and response measures may have led to greater willingness among people in the country to comply with a central public health response.

In the wake of the SARS epidemic, Vietnam increased investments in its public health infrastructure, developing a national public health emergency operations center and a national public health surveillance system. 6 The national center and four regional centers run exercises and trainings to prepare key stakeholders in government for outbreaks, and they have managed preparedness and response efforts for measles, Ebola, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and Zika. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has continued to incorporate new lessons and regularly conducts intra-action and after-action reviews. 7

Vietnam has long maintained robust systems to collect and aggregate public data, and in 2009 it shifted to a nearly real-time, web-based system. Since 2016, hospitals are required to report notifiable diseases within 24 hours to a central database, ensuring that the Ministry of Health can track epidemiological developments across the country. 8  In collaboration with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Vietnam implemented an innovative “event-based” surveillance program in 2018. Event-based surveillance empowers members of the public, including teachers, pharmacists, religious leaders, and even traditional medicine healers, to report public health events. The goal is to identify clusters of people who have similar symptoms that might suggest an outbreak is emerging. 9

Outbreak Timeline

Vietnam’s first case of COVID-19 was reported on January 23, 2020. A week later, Vietnam formed a national steering committee that initially met every two days to coordinate the country’s “whole of government” strategy. 10  In Vinh Phuc, a northern province about an hour’s drive from Hanoi, provincial leaders locked down Son Loi commune, isolated patients and their close contacts in quarantine camps for at least 14 days, and activated community-wide screening at the first evidence of community spread. 11

Chart showing new COVID-19 cases per day in Vietnam

A second wave of cases, imported from new hot spots in Europe and the United States, was discovered on March 6. Within a day after the first case of the second wave was detected, the government had tracked and isolated about 200 close contacts of those infected. 12

As of May 1, a hundred days into the outbreak, Vietnam had confirmed just 270 cases, despite extensive testing, and with no community transmission since April 15. 13  Vietnam began loosening restrictions in May, including resuming domestic travel across the country.

On July 25, Vietnam marked 99 days without any community transmission, until an outbreak occurred in the city of Da Nang, a city with a population of more than 1 million that receives about 8 million tourists annually. Da Nang was especially crowded in July because people were eager to travel after a tense spring, and the government promoted domestic tourism as a way to compensate for the economic losses from international tourism. What started as nosocomial transmission quickly spilled over into the community, and during the last week of July new incident cases increased by about 30 percent, the fastest growth rate since the beginning of the epidemic. 14

Between July 25 and September 8, 551 locally transmitted cases were reported from 15 cities and provinces across the country, with Da Nang and nearby Quang Nam Province most affected. Approximately 98 percent of cases were either related to major hospitals in Da Nang or had a history of visiting Da Nang. (From July 1 to July 27, it was estimated that more than 1.5 million people returned from Da Nang to other provinces of Vietnam, of which 41,000 had visited Da Nang Hospital.) A temporary hospital for treatment of suspected and mild cases was built, and two other hospitals were designated for COVID-19 treatment and put under the direction of a special committee from the Ministry of Health. 14

To bring the outbreak under control, Vietnam turned to the same strategies that had been successful in ending earlier outbreaks: targeted lockdowns, travel bans, business closures, mass quarantines, and widespread testing. As of September 10, 61,968 people were being monitored, 998 were quarantined in health care facilities, 15,619 were quarantined in centralized facilities, and 45,351 were self-quarantined at home. 15

Since containing the Da Nang outbreak, Vietnam has continued reopening plans, although the country borders have remained closed except for specific circumstances, and the 14-day centralized quarantine policy continues to apply to most incoming Vietnamese and international travelers.

In late January 2020, the Ministry of Science and Technology met with virologists to encourage the development of diagnostic tests. Starting in early February, publicly funded institutions in Vietnam developed at least four locally made COVID-19 tests that were validated by the Ministry of Defense and the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. Subsequently, private companies including Viet A and Thai Duong offered capacity to manufacture the test kits. Most confirmation laboratories where these tests are analyzed use in-house versions of WHO protocol, allowing tests to be widely administered without long wait times.

Development timelines of diagnostic test kits:

  • February 7, 2020: Test kit developed by Hanoi University of Science and Technology. Testing method: RT-LAMP (reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification). Cost: US$15. Testing time: 70 minutes.
  • March 3, 2020: Test kit developed by Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology. Testing method: real-time RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction). Cost: less than US$21. Testing time: 80 minutes from receiving a sample.
  • March 5, 2020: Test kits developed by Military Medical University, commercialized by Viet A. Cost: US$19–$25. Testing method: RT-PCR and real-time RT-PCR. Testing time: over one hour but has testing capacity four times the number of samples as the CDC kit. 16  This test, which was responsible for up to 80% of testing in Vietnam during the global stock-out, was certified by the European Union and other authorities, and Viet A has received orders from 20 countries and territories. 17
  • April 28, 2020: Production and launch of the RT-LAMP kit and RT-PCR kit 18  commercialized by Thai Duong company.

Testing capacity also ramped up quickly, from just two testing sites nationwide in late January to 120 by May. As of October 22, 137 laboratories were capable of testing by RT-PCR, with a maximum daily capacity of 51,000 tests. 19 Of these laboratories, 62 are designated as screening laboratories and 75 as confirmatory laboratories. Plans are underway to further expand laboratory testing to include use of GeneXpert machines within the lung hospital system. 19

Given its low case numbers, the country decided on a strategy of using testing to identify clusters and prevent wider transmission. When community transmission was detected (even just one case), the government reacted quickly with contact tracing, commune-level lockdowns, and widespread local testing to ensure no cases were missed. However, the number of tests administered increased during the Da Nang outbreak. Between July 23 and September 24, more than 700,000 tests were conducted, and those who had visited high-risk areas in Da Nang (as identified by the Ministry of Health) were required to fill out a health declaration form via mobile app and notify local health authorities for sample collection and testing. 20 From September 3 to September 10, a third of all households in Da Nang—72,492 households—were tested, along with 13,776 students and staff taking part in graduation exams. All were negative. 21

Contact Tracing

Contact tracing and quarantine are the key parts of containment. Vietnam’s contact tracing strategy stands out as uniquely comprehensive—it is based on tracing degrees of contact from F0 (the infected person) through F1 (those who have had close contact with F0 or are suspected of being infected) and F2 (close contact with F1), and all the way up to F5.

There is a very small window of time in which to track and quarantine contacts before they become infectious. The incubation period between contact with the virus and start of symptoms is on average five days. Infectiousness begins two days before symptom onset. Therefore, only three days are available from the point of contact with a case to find and quarantine contacts before they could infect others. It is critical to move fast, mobilize the contract-tracing apparatus, and locate the contacts.

The process in Vietnam works as follows:

  • Once a patient with COVID-19 is identified (F0), local public health officials, with support from health professionals, security officers, the military, and other civil servants, work with the patient to identify who they might have been in contact with and infected in the past 14 days.
  • All close contacts (F1), defined as people who have been within approximately 6 feet (2 meters) of or have prolonged contact of 30 or more minutes with a confirmed COVID-19 case, are identified and tested for the virus.
  • If F1s test positive for the virus, they are placed in isolation at a hospital—all COVID-19 patients are hospitalized at no cost in Vietnam, regardless of symptoms.
  • If F1s do not test positive, they are quarantined at a government-run quarantine center for 14 days.
  • Close contacts of the previously identified close contacts (F2s) are required to self-isolate at home for 14 days.

tourism in vietnam after covid 19

One noteworthy aspect of Vietnam’s approach is that it identified and quarantined suspected cases based on their epidemiological risk of infection (if they had contact with a confirmed case or traveled to a COVID-19 affected country), not whether they exhibited symptoms. The high proportion of cases that never develop symptoms (43 percent) suggests that this approach may have been a key contributor to limiting community transmission at an early stage. 23

For SARS, a strategy of identifying and isolating symptomatic people was effective because the virus was infectious only after symptoms started. With SARS-CoV-2, however, such a strategy would be inadequate, since infectiousness can occur before the onset or in the absence of symptoms.

From January 23 to May 1, 2020, over 200,000 people spent time in a quarantine facility, 23 but the numbers increased dramatically after the Da Nang outbreak. To enable contract tracing of the more than 1.5 million people linked to the Da Nang outbreak, the government mobilized resources to localities with poor health systems. 14 Ho Chi Minh City conducted contact tracing of everyone from Da Nang and stratified them into groups. People with respiratory symptoms or those exposed to the three epicenter hospitals in Da Nang were placed in a centralized quarantine facility and tested; others were isolated at home and monitored by local commune health staff.

tourism in vietnam after covid 19

As of December 31, 2020, a total of 10,242,896 people had been placed under quarantine: 211,983 in health care facilities, 4,296,302 in centralized quarantine facilities, and 5,734,611 at home. 25

tourism in vietnam after covid 19

On March 10, the Ministry of Health worked with telecom companies to launch NCOVI, an app that helps citizens create a “neighborhood watch system” that complements official contact tracing efforts and may have helped to slow transmission of the disease, although the app has drawn criticism from some privacy advocates. NCOVI includes a map of detected cases and clusters of infections and allows users to declare their own health status, report suspected cases, and watch real-time movement of people placed under quarantine. 27 In mid-April, Vietnamese cybersecurity firm Bkav launched Bluezone, a Bluetooth-enabled mobile app that notifies users if they have been within approximately 6 feet (2 meters) of a confirmed case within 14 days. When users are notified of exposure, they are encouraged to contact public health officials immediately. 28 The Ministry of Information and Communications aimed to reach 60 percent of the population with the app and worked with network operators to promote it. By August 20, the application had exceeded 20 million downloads. 14

Infection Prevention and Control in Health Care Settings

Preventing transmission to health care workers, and from health care workers to the community, is another important containment strategy. During the SARS outbreak in 2003–2004, dozens of Vietnamese health care workers were infected; apart from the index patient, everyone in Vietnam who died from SARS was a doctor or a nurse. 29 Over the past ten years, however, Vietnam has significantly improved hospital infection control by investing in organizational systems, building physical facilities, buying equipment and supplies, and training health workers.

In preparation for the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam further strengthened hospital procedures to prevent infection in health care settings. On February 19, 2020, the Ministry of Health issued national Guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control for COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Disease in Healthcare Establishments. This document provides comprehensive guidance to hospitals on screening, admission and isolation of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, establishment of isolation areas in hospitals, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces, waste management, collection, preservation, packing and transport of patient samples, prevention of laboratory-acquired infection of COVID-19, handling of remains of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, and guidance for COVID-19 prevention for family members and visitors.

Regardless, Da Nang General Hospital was the epicenter of the Da Nang outbreak, with at least 251 cases reported among patients, caregivers, and staff. In August, the hospital was locked down. 14

Targeted Lockdowns

Vietnam implemented mass quarantines in suspected hot spots based on evolving epidemiological evidence over time (see Table 1). Vietnam entered a nationwide lockdown on April 1. Initially, the lockdown was set for 15 days, but it was extended to 21 days in 28 out of 63 provinces. During the Da Nang outbreak in August, 10 provinces were locked down.

Mass Gathering, Travel, and Mobility Restrictions

Even before the first cases in the country were confirmed, Vietnam took early steps to implement closures, require masks, and limit mobility for citizens and international travelers. Most other countries waited to make these types of decisions until numbers were much higher.

Inbound passengers from Wuhan, China, received additional screening before Vietnam’s first case was reported. Visas for Chinese tourists were no longer issued as of January 30, 2020, just a week after the first case was confirmed. At the end of the ten-day Lunar New Year holiday on January 31—and with only five confirmed in-country cases—the government mandated that all schools nationwide remain closed. Masks were recommended in early February, before WHO or most countries did so, and were made mandatory nationwide in mid-March.

Flights to and from China were suspended on February 1 and trains were canceled shortly thereafter, on February 5. These restrictions were implemented when cases were in the single digits. Flights from the Schengen Area—26 countries in Europe—and the United Kingdom were suspended on March 15 (after the second wave of cases, traced to people who had been traveling in Europe), and all visa issuance was discontinued on March 18.

In early February, Vietnam began its practice of placing international arrivals from COVID-19 affected countries in large government-run quarantine centers for 14 days. Vietnam began using the centers for Vietnamese arrivals from China on February 4 and expanded the practice to Vietnamese arrivals from South Korea on March 1. Beginning on March 20–22, all international arrivals were placed in the quarantine centers. International flights were also diverted away from airports still used for domestic travel. For most of the past year, all international incoming commercial flights have been stopped and only people with special permission are allowed to enter the country from abroad; all travelers must quarantine for 14 days.

tourism in vietnam after covid 19

Clear, Consistent, Creative Public Health Messaging

While leaders in many countries downplayed the threat of COVID-19, the Vietnamese government communicated in clear, strong terms about the dangers of the illness even before the first case was reported. On January 9, the Ministry of Health first warned citizens of the threat; since then, the government has communicated frequently with the public, adding a short prevention statement to every phone call placed in the country, texting people directly, and taking advantage of Vietnam’s high use of social media—there are 64 million active Facebook users in Vietnam and 80 percent of smartphone users in Vietnam have the local social media app, Zalo, installed. 37

In late February, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health released “Ghen Co Vy,” meaning “jealous coronavirus,” a well-known pop song given new lyrics and turned into a handwashing public service announcement. 17 The institute asked Khac Hung to rewrite the lyrics and dancer Quang Dang to choreograph dance moves; the release ultimately spearheaded a dance challenge on TikTok. 38 The #Onhavanvui (#StayHomeIsFun) campaign on TikTok has had more than 8 billion views. 39 During the Da Nang outbreak, Vietnamese celebrities and social media users shared “stay strong” posts to show their support. Across the city, buildings shone with “I love Da Nang” light displays. 40

Throughout these communications, the government stayed on message. At first, it consistently used the motto: “Fighting the epidemic is like fighting against the enemy.” 41  Later, the government branded each citizen’s responsibility as “5K” (Nam Khong): (1) face mask; (2) hygiene; (3) safe distance; (4) gathering; (5) health declaration. Toward the end of 2020, with support from WHO, the Ministry of Health launched the Safe Coexistence with COVID-19 communications initiative, including a long-term online campaign, Normalize the New Normal, jointly launched by the United Nations and other international organizations in November. 21

The government was on the lookout for misinformation from the very beginning. A 2018 cybersecurity law already gave the government substantial authority in this area, but on April 14, Vietnam passed a specific decree outlining fines for people who use social media to “share false, untruthful, distorted, or slanderous information.” The police have pursued more than 200 cases since then. 42 This ordinance has generated opposition from Amnesty International and others. However, according to data from YouGov, as of December 21, 91 percent of the Vietnamese people believe the government is responding “very” or “somewhat” well. 43

Economic Impact

The pandemic is projected to cost Vietnam nearly 200,000 billion dong (US$ 9.4 billion) in revenue, according to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. The country’s tourism sector was among the hardest hit as borders remain closed to international tourists. In typical years, Vietnam welcomes 21 million international arrivals. 44 The shops and hotels in the most upscale streets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City remain empty. 45 Fruit exports fell by half between April and June 2020, with freight operators demanding two to four times the normal prices. 46

Overall, however, Vietnam is weathering the economic crisis better than many other countries. It is one of the few countries in the world currently experiencing positive GDP growth (noting that Vietnam had a high baseline GDP growth before the pandemic). The manufacturing sector was growing again by June, after five months of decline. 47

Early in the pandemic, local producers were able to capitalize on exports of PPE. France, which was severely hit by the virus, imported hundreds of millions of cloth masks from Vietnam in May. The US government purchased 4.5 million made-in-Vietnam PPE suits. In August, global demand dropped as countries around the world gradually collected themselves, leading Vietnamese mask exports to decline by a third. 40

In recent months, international flights have been opened for foreign workers, such as engineers from South Korea’s LG, who are needed to keep the economy functioning. 45 Some international investors are pushing for the country to shorten the time for compulsory isolation for foreign workers.

tourism in vietnam after covid 19

Vietnam’s response to COVID-19 has been exceptional, and although some of its success derives from the country’s unique context, many lessons from Vietnam are widely applicable, including the following:

  • Investment in a public health infrastructure (e.g., emergency operations centers and surveillance systems) enables countries to have a head start in managing public health crises effectively. Vietnam learned lessons from SARS and avian influenza, and other countries can learn those same lessons from COVID-19.
  • Early action, ranging from border closures and masks to testing and lockdowns, can curb community spread before it gets out of control.
  • Thorough contact tracing can help facilitate a targeted containment strategy.
  • Quarantines based on possible exposure, rather than symptoms only, can reduce asymptomatic and presymptomatic transmission. Specifically, the mandatory testing and quarantining of international travelers appears to be an effective policy.
  • Clear communication is crucial. A clear, consistent, and serious narrative is important throughout the crisis.
  • A strong whole-of-society approach engages multisectoral stakeholders in decision-making processes and encourages cohesive participation in appropriate measures.

With the exception of the Da Nang outbreak in August, Vietnam has managed, more or less, to prevent community transmission for a full year while keeping the economy open enough to facilitate GDP growth. Even the Da Nang outbreak was contained quickly, using a combination of many of the best practices the country had developed over time. No other country of Vietnam’s size has experienced this level of success.

In-depth explainers on Exemplar countries

This framework identified three countries which provide key success stories in addressing the pandemic: South Korea, Vietnam and Germany. In these related articles, in-country experts provide key insights into how these countries achieved this.

How experts use data to identify emerging COVID-19 success stories

How can we define success stories in addressing COVID-19?

South Korea

Emerging COVID-19 success story: South Korea learned the lessons of MERS

Emerging COVID-19 success story: Germany's strong enabling environment

This article is one of a series focused on identifying and understanding Exemplars in the response to the Coronavirus pandemic. It is hosted by the Exemplars in Global Health (EGH) platform.

Exemplars in Global Health is a coalition of experts, funders, and collaborators around the globe, supported by Gates Ventures and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who share the belief that rigorously understanding global health successes can help drive better resource allocation, policy, and implementation decisions. The Exemplars in Global Health platform was created to help decision-makers around the world quickly learn how countries have solved major health and human capital challenges.

Institutional affiliations:

(i) Partnership for Health Advancement in Vietnam, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

(ii) Oxford University Clinical Research Unit

(iii) Ministry of Health (Vietnam)

(iv) Ministry of Science and Technology (Vietnam)

(v) National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (Vietnam)

(vi) Hanoi University of Public Health

(vii) World Bank in Vietnam

(v) Alive & Thrive, FHI Solutions (FHI 360)

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Vietnam Ministry of Health

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Nortajuddin A. Vietnam’s exemplary response to COVID-19.  The Asean Post . April 9, 2020.  https://theaseanpost.com/article/vietnams-exemplary-response-covid-19 . Accessed May 20, 2020.

Vietnam launches first ever contact-tracing app to curb Covid-19. VNExplorer website. April 19, 2020.  https://vnexplorer.net/vietnam-launches-first-ever-contact-tracing-app-to-curb-covid-19-a202025458.html . Accessed May 20, 2020.

Reilley B, Van Herp M, Sermand D, Dentico N. SARS and Carlo Urbani.  N Engl J Med . 2003;348(20):1951‐1952.  http://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp030080 . Accessed May 22, 2020.

Onishi T. Vietnam locks down Son Loi district near Hanoi for 20 days. Nikkei Asian Review . February 14, 2020. https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Vietnam-locks-down-Son-Loi-district-near-Hanoi-for-20-days . Accessed May 22, 2020.

Vu M, Tran BT. The Secret to Vietnam’s COVID-19 Response Success. The Diplomat . April 18, 2020. https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/the-secret-to-vietnams-covid-19-response-success/ . Accessed May 28, 2020.

Binh Thuan locks down 2 streets after 5 people tested positive for COVID-19. Vietnam Insider . March 13, 2020. https://vietnaminsider.vn/binh-thuan-locks-down-2-streets-after-5-people-tested-positive-for-covid-19/ . Accessed May 20, 2020.

COVID-19 adds to worry in Vietnam’s drought-struck Cham village. Tuoi Tre News . March 23, 2020. https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/features/20200323/covid19-adds-to-worry-in-vietnams-droughtstruck-cham-village/53629.html . Accessed May 22, 2020.

A 1,600 people hamlet isolated after a girl tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Vietnam Insider . March 24, 2020. https://vietnaminsider.vn/a-1600-people-hamlet-isolated-after-a-girl-tested-positive-for-the-novel-coronavirus/ . Accessed May 22, 2020.

Boudreau J, Nguyen XQ. Hanoi’s largest hospital locked down on virus outbreak fears. Bloomberg . March 28, 2020. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-28/hanoi-s-largest-hospital-locked-down-on-virus-outbreak-fears . Accessed May 20, 2020.

Rapid Response Information Team of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 in Vietnam; 2020.

La V-P, Pham T-H, Ho M-T, et al. Policy response, social media and science journalism for the sustainability of the public health system amid the COVID-19 outbreak: the Vietnam lessons.  Sustainability . 2020;12(7):2931.  https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072931 . Accessed May 22, 2020.

O’Kane C. Catchy PSA about coronavirus turns into viral TikTok challenge about washing your hands. CBS News. March 4, 2020.  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-prevention-vietnam-song-ghen-co-vy-tik-tok-challenge-about-washing-hands-quang-dang-john-oliver/ . Accessed May 28, 2020.

Diep U. COVID-19: For Vietnam, information is a public-health weapon.  Reporting Asean . June 18, 2020.  https://www.reportingasean.net/covid-19-vietnam-iinformation-public-health-weapon/ . Accessed November 17, 2020.

Nguyen S. Vietnam’s pandemic success is a lesson for the world.  Global Asia . September 2020. 15(3).  https://www.globalasia.org/v15no3/cover/vietnams-pandemic-success-is-a-lesson-for-the-world_sen-nguyen . Accessed November 17, 2020.

Vu M, Tran BT. The secret to Vietnam’s COVID-19 response success.  The Diplomat . April 18, 2020.  https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/the-secret-to-vietnams-covid-19-response-success/ . Accessed May 28, 2020.

Nguyen TTP, Nguyen DC, Nguyen ATT, et al. Fake news affecting the adherence of national response measures during the COVID-19 lockdown period: the experience of Vietnam.  Front Public Health . 2020;8:589872.  https://dx.doi.org/10.3389%2Ffpubh.2020.589872 . Accessed February 11, 2021.

YouGov. Perception of government handling of COVID-19, Vietnam, March 11–December 31, 2020 [data set].  https://today.yougov.com/topics/international/articles-reports/2020/03/17/perception-government-handling-covid-19 . Accessed January 21, 2021.

Anh K. COVID-19 costs around US$9.4 billion in budget revenue.  VGP News . November 2, 2020.  http://news.chinhphu.vn/Home/COVID19-costs-around-US94-billion-in-budget-revenue/202011/41975.vgp . Accessed November 17, 2020.

Thuy TL. Vietnam is not pitting economic growth against public health as it fights Covid.  The Guardian . October 20, 2020.  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/20/vietnam-covid-economic-growth-public-health-coronavirus . Accessed November 17, 2020.

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Leung K, Wu JT. The gradual release exit strategy after lockdown against COVID-19.  Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific . August 1, 2020.  https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.lanwpc.2020.100008 . Accessed February 11, 2021.

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Foreign tourism in Vietnam a shadow of pre-COVID boom

Visa policy, missing Chinese blamed for slow recovery; India offers hope

HANOI -- Tourism in Vietnam is struggling to recover from the COVID-19 slowdown, although the country has already lifted pandemic-related travel restrictions.

In the first 10 months of this year, 2.4 million foreign tourists visited Vietnam, around 15% of the number before who entered the country before the pandemic struck, according to Vietnam's General Statistics Office.

From Singapore to Japan, Asian airlines rush to ramp up routes

Thailand, singapore tourists jump in line as japan opens borders, airport projects in thailand, singapore resume after covid hiatus, thailand, vietnam, myanmar deepen russia ties to blunt economic woes, asean hotels roll out red carpet for 'revenge travel', latest on travel & leisure, peninsula hotels group says $130m myanmar project still stalled, japan saw record foreign visitors in february, tourism agency says, japan to trim red tape for tourism off the beaten path, sponsored content, about sponsored content this content was commissioned by nikkei's global business bureau..

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tourism in vietnam after covid 19

  • Solutions for Vietnam's tourism development in 2024

Vietnam is now targeting to restore the tourism indices to pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels.

By 2024, Vietnam's tourism industry aims to cater to 17-18 million international arrivals and around 110 million domestic visits, up 30% and 2%, respectively.

To make the goal attainable, Chairman of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Trung Khanh presented seven breakthrough solutions at a tourism conference entitled "Solutions for the Tourism Sector to Achieve Breakthroughs" held recently in Ho Chi Minh City.

The solutions include completing the Tourism Master Plan for the 2025-2030 period, with a vision for 2045. Once the plan is approved by the Prime Minister, the tourism industry will set the direction for implementation. The sector will foster connectivity, develop green and sustainable destinations, and focus on the tourist experience.

Khanh said the sector would propose content and innovative commercial promotion methods based on these segments: community-based tourism, wellness tourism, rural tourism, MICE tourism, golf tourism, and railway tourism. In addition, Vietnam will set up trade and tourism promotion offices abroad, with Vientiane (Laos) as the first planned location.

Meanwhile, he said it's needed to develop tourism products based on potentials and advantages to attract domestic and foreign tourists and, more importantly, to retain them with suitable products.

"It's necessary to research and propose solutions to remove obstacles for localities and tourism businesses, especially investment and tax issues.

Sixthly, to work with local authorities to manage destinations to ensure the safety of tourists, and step up digital transformation and develop tourism databases," said Khanh.

According to VNAT statistics, Vietnam welcomed 12.6 million international tourist arrivals in 2023, exceeding the annual target of around eight million, and catered for around 108 million domestic arrivals.

Speaking at the conference, Le Truong Hien Hoa, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, said HCMC topped the list of all 63 localities contributing to Vietnam's tourism sector in 2023, both in terms of arrivals and tourism revenue.

Ho Chi Minh City welcomed nearly five million international visitors and served 35 million domestic travelers last year, generating revenues of over VND160 trillion ($6.5 billion) in 2023. The city has set a target of welcoming six million international visitors and earning VND190 trillion (US$7.8 billion) in tourism revenue this year.

“On the other hand, to develop the tourism sector, Ho Chi Minh City also focuses on solutions to develop human resources and new, characteristic tourism products. Specifically, each district has perfected one characteristic product to draw tourists. As for promotional activities, the city's tourism sector has organized various tourism and promotion events...”, he added.

At present, Vietnam's promotion of its tourism abroad is effective; in particular, the new visa policy has had a strong impact. The department had been using the media and actively promoting destinations even before the policy was introduced, so the results achieved are commendable, the VNAT executive said.

Regarding  Hanoi's tourism industry , Nguyen Hong Minh, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Tourism Department, said the department has drawn up a tourism development plan for 2024 with several groups of special tasks and solutions, including several groups of prioritized breakthrough solutions. Regarding the strategic management of tourism activities, the department has consulted with the city government to issue a separate conclusion on the city's tourism development in the new situation in 2024-2025.Concerning the groups of breakthrough policies to comprehensively develop tourism in the capital in the coming period, the department has proactively researched, advised, and submitted to the Hanoi People's Council a number of specific mechanisms and policies to support the development of tourist destinations, as well as models of community-based, agro and rural tourism in the capital.

"We are also working with organizations and experts at home and abroad to conduct surveys and censuses to perfect the system of statistical indicators and the database of the capital's tourism industry. This will help us design strategies to develop tourism products that meet the new needs of tourists," said Nguyen Hong Minh.

Regarding new product development, Hanoi's tourism sector will focus on offering unique and attractive products to groups. It will also develop a comprehensive, professional program to promote the city on strategic international media and television channels such as CNN, CNBC, or TikTok.

Pham Quy Huy, CEO of Kiwi Travel, said that with the current relatively high price of domestic air tickets, Vietnamese travelers often choose to travel abroad rather than domestically. While Vietnam strives to attract international visitors, this trend among Vietnamese tourists is a major obstacle to linking and developing long-term inbound tours.

To improve the experience for travelers, he recommended that the tourism sector not only attract visitors but also realign the peak travel season for each region, such as the central coastline or the northwestern mountains. Tourism businesses should also look at ways to work together more effectively to promote domestic travel and attract overseas tourists.

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Airfares Have Dropped. Here’s Why They Could Go Even Lower in 2024

Sally French

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money .

Inflation has hit most of the economy, but that’s hardly the case with airfare. Not only are airfares down 6% year-over-year based on January 2024 prices, but they’re even down 15% versus a decade ago. That’s according to consumer price index data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published in February. Some experts predict airfares to international destinations will drop even lower in 2024.

According to the American Express Global Business Travel Air Monitor 2024 report, prices on certain international routes may drop as much as 12%.

Here’s how AmEx GBT anticipates average economy airfares will change in 2024 versus 2023, for a sampling of regions:

South America to North America: Drop by 11.9%.

North America to Central America: Drop by 7.8%.

North America to Asia: Drop by 7.5%.

Asia to North America: Drop by 5.2%.

North America to Europe: Drop by 3.5%.

Europe to North America: Drop by 1.2%.

So, why are airfares dropping?

Existing airlines are offering more flights and routes

2023 was a huge year for travel, with several records broken. The U.S. State Department issued a record 24 million passport books and cards during the 2023 fiscal year, signaling increased interest in travel abroad.

Katy Nastro, a spokesperson for airfare tracking website Going, has seen an increase in international flights booked as well.

“For example, in 2023, almost 14% more people flew between Costa Rica and the U.S. than pre-pandemic,” Nastro says.

Airlines added 10% more flights between the U.S. and Central America in 2023 versus 2022, according to scheduling data analyzed by Going from aviation analytics company Cirium Diio. In 2024, airlines are expected to add another 10%.

Last year’s high traveler volume has prompted airlines to increase flight schedules to other parts of the world. For example, Delta Air Lines announced that — in light of a record-setting summer 2023 — it would launch its largest-ever transatlantic schedule for summer 2024. That includes new daily service from New York to Naples, Italy, beginning in May, as well as more flights from the U.S. to Paris; Venice, Italy; Barcelona, Spain; and Dublin.

For travel from North America to Asia, there are 5.5 million more airline seats for sale in the first half of 2024 versus the same period in 2023. That’s a 35% year-over-year increase, says Jeremy Quek, principal global air practice line lead at AmEx GBT.

“More availability in turn can help with pricing,” Nastro says. “Heading into 2024, in theory, this should reduce overall prices.”

tourism in vietnam after covid 19

Budget airlines are bringing down prices

New, smaller airlines (particularly low-cost carriers ) are also competing for customers, which helps bring down airfares industrywide.

For example, Norse Atlantic Airways is a Norwegian low-cost airline that started flying to the U.S. in 2022. Now it operates 13 routes between the U.S. and five European cities. Come May 2024, Norse will launch summer flights between New York and Athens, Greece.

» Learn more: When to fly on low-cost carriers versus full-service airlines

A return to normalcy after COVID-19

Quek says much of the phenomenon of falling airfares is a post-COVID-19 pandemic recalibration, considering so many airlines reduced schedules in 2020.

“Airline schedules, especially on long-haul international flights, are set at least six months out,” Quek says. “Restarting a route can take even longer. As countries announced border reopenings, airlines were constrained on how quickly they could reintroduce flights.”

And it’s not just schedules returning to normal, but airfares too. Airfares originating in the U.S. hit all-time highs in May 2022, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, when the summer of “revenge travel” was in full swing. Quek says this year’s price decreases are largely a return to pre-pandemic equilibrium rather than an extraordinary drop in prices.

Airfares are falling, but don't wait to book

Though airfares are falling, don’t delay booking in hopes that they’ll fall further. Going advises booking two to eight months out for international travel.

» Learn more: The best days to book a flight

“Airfares tend to increase the closer you get to booking,” Nastro says. “In reality, it is far more likely for airlines to sell tickets at higher prices at the last minute.”

This article was written by NerdWallet and was originally published by The Associated Press.

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tourism in vietnam after covid 19

  • Inspiring stories from Vietnam in Covid-19

All photography by Christian Berg

There is a saying in Vietnamese that goes, “The whole leaf covers the torn leaf.” When the COVID-19 pandemic took its toll on Vietnam, the country came together to care for its own in the unique way the Vietnamese do. Early preventative measures reduced the health risks inside Vietnam, however the kindness of the people and the collective spirit of support is Vietnam’s real success story. Read on for a few inspiring stories of how the Vietnamese responded during the COVID-19 crisis.

Generous gifts.

travel to vietnam covid

When it became clear that many people did not have enough food for their families during the pandemic, one young Vietnamese entrepreneur set up a free “rice ATM” in Ho Chi Minh City. Soon rice ATMs were also set up in other cities dispensing this basic staple at no cost. In Quảng Trị, Bình Thuận, and many other provinces, locals hosted weekend ‘markets’ where struggling families could shop for essentials for free, and generous donors gave out meals on street corners. Many Vietnamese donated in other ways. Tailors in Quảng Ngãi and Cần Thơ used their sewing machines to create free masks. Volunteers in Đà Nẵng drove through the nights to deliver supplies to hospitals. University students gave their dorm rooms to be used as quarantine facilities. Stories like these warmed hearts across the country.

Bringing citizens home

One of the most dramatic stories that circulated in Vietnam early in the pandemic was the repatriation flight from Wuhan to Vietnam. Aware of the dangers of the mission, Vietnam Airlines asked for volunteers to help bring 40 Vietnamese home from the pandemic’s epicentre. More than 100 flight crew raised their hands to go to Wuhan and enter quarantine on arrival back in Vietnam. The flight was carefully orchestrated to protect crew and passengers, and everyone returned safe and sound. Over the months that followed, Vietnam's airlines all joined the mission to bring Vietnamese home from around the world. These brave flight crews were celebrated by Vietnamese alongside the medical workers and military personnel.

Care for guests and visitors 

vietnam virus 2020

Despite the unusual circumstances created by the pandemic, Vietnam’s warm hospitality and care for its visitors shone through on many occasions. When one British pilot became seriously ill and required a lung transplant, more than 60 Vietnamese volunteered their lungs for the procedure to help him, and teams of the country’s best doctors met virtually to discuss the patient’s recovery. It was a great success for Vietnam when Patient 91 recovered and was able to fly home. Vietnam’s tourism board also set up an English helpline to assist stranded travellers, and hospitality group Victoria Hotels & Resorts offered four-star rooms at 20 USD a night to travellers who needed to stay longer. 

Quarantine camps

Over the course of the pandemic, thousands of returning Vietnamese and expats spent time in quarantine. Vietnam’s soldiers were tasked with the job of setting up makeshift camps around the country and running daily operations. The soldiers did everything from cleaning and delivering food to baby-sitting, winning the admiration of their guests for their hard work. Gavin Wheeldon, a British citizen, penned an essay titled ‘Life Inside a Vietnamese Government Quarantine', detailing his daily life in the camp and expressing gratitude for the “friendly and caring” soldiers who “work(ed) tirelessly" to make his life more comfortable in a time of chaos.  

Supplies for friends overseas

vietnam covid update

Because many Vietnamese already wear masks on motorcycles, the country had plenty of masks to go around. But it soon became clear that some of our neighbours did not. In response to the crisis, Vietnam sent 420,000 USD worth of masks and medical supplies to Australia, India, Singapore, Thailand, as well as other countries. More than 700,000 made-in-Vietnam masks were donated to Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK, and the US. On a smaller scale, two children from Hanoi spent their Lunar New Year lucky money savings from over the years to buy 20,000 masks which they sent to patients in the United Kingdom. British Ambassador to Vietnam Gareth Ward wrote a personal thank you letter to the children for their kindness. 

Fundraising for COVID-19 victims

Like many places, Vietnam has seen countless industries devastated by the pandemic; but generous members of the business community and private individuals are working together to bring relief to those severely affected. The ‘Rise with Vietnam’ relay took place in October 2020, and saw 153 runners covering the length of the country to raise funds for workers who lost their jobs due to COVID-19. The runners raised 4.9 billion VND for the cause. Vietnam's top singers and songwriters also gathered for a virtual concert which raised 1.3 billion VND for women affected by the pandemic. The government’s COVID-19 fund drew donations from North to South amounting to more than to 2.2 trillion VND.

Praise for Vietnam’s efforts

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After months of working together to combat the virus, Vietnam received an outpouring of praise from locals and expats who appreciated the capable handling of the situation. In April 2020, an expat started the ‘Vietnam We Thank You' campaign honouring Vietnam’s doctors, nurses, police force, soldiers, and volunteers for their efforts to keep people safe and healthy. Foreigners living in Vietnam and travellers treated under quarantine posted thank you notes on social media, cheering Vietnam on. 

As a result of the pandemic, Vietnam’s community spirit is stronger than ever, and the whole country is eagerly awaiting the day it will welcome visitors back again.

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tourism in vietnam after covid 19

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Lao Airlines to resume direct flights to Cambodia

Friday, 15 Mar 2024

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PHNOM PENH: Tourism stakeholders are welcoming the resumption of direct flights between Cambodia and Laos after several years of suspension due to the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn that affected tourism between the two Asean neighbours.

Sinn Chanserey Vutha, undersecretary of state and spokesperson for the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA), spoke to The Post about the development on Thursday (March 14).

He mentioned that after the commitments agreed upon by leaders of the two countries at the 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in the Chinese capital Beijing last October, and in light of the tourism sector’s gradual recovery, Lao Airlines has decided to resume its direct flights.

The state-owned carrier will start operating again from the Lao capital Vientiane to Phnom Penh International Airport (PNH) on March 19.

Chanserey Vutha explained that the airline previously operated direct flights on the Vientiane-Phnom Penh route from the 1980s until the mid-2000s. However, due to market factors, these flights were temporarily suspended.

He said that during this period, the airline maintained its right to operate the route through a code-share agreement with Vietnam Airlines.

He noted that despite the changes, it has continued to operate direct flights between Luang Prabang and Pakse in Laos and Cambodia’s Siem Reap province using ATR 72 aircraft, with approximately three flights per week.

“The airline will operate using either the Airbus A320 or ATR 72 on the Vientiane-Phnom Penh route, with three weekly flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The first flight will land [at PNH] on March 19,” he said.

Sar Sarin, vice-president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents (CATA) and founder and CEO of Tovtrip, a Phnom Penh-based excursion planning website and app, told The Post on March 14 that the resumption of the flight reflects the current improvement of the tourism sector after being severely impacted by the Covid-19 crisis.

“We have observed that since the containment of the pandemic, the number of tourists from the region, especially from our neighbouring countries, has increased remarkably compared to other regions,” he said.

“The resumption of Lao Airlines will contribute to serving the flow of tourists and businessmen between our two Asean neighbouring nations,” he added.

Thourn Sinan, chairman of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Cambodia chapter, said the reopening of flights is a positive sign for the sector, which has been slowly recovering.

“Cambodia has welcomed many tourists from the region in the past, so the relaunch of Lao Airlines reflects the increasing demand for flights between the two countries. At the same time, both nations are jointly promoting our cultural tourism for people-to-people exchanges,” he said.

According to Chanserey Vutha, the SSCA issued a flight permit to the airline on February 5 to facilitate foreign tourists and investors.

He noted that it has announced the launch of new international routes in the region as well, including Savannakhet, Laos-Bangkok and Vientiane-Da Nang, Vietnam.

Chanserey Vutha remarked that in 2023, Laos was the fourth-largest source of foreign tourists to Cambodia, with over 370,000, marking a 302% increase over 2022.

“Lao Airlines hopes and believes that Cambodian and foreign tourists will support the direct flight. In the long run, [it] also plans to connect the route to Preah Sihanouk province,” he said.

In 2023, Cambodia welcomed more than 5.4 million foreign visitors, a nearly 140% increase compared to 2022. Visitors from four Asian countries accounted for nearly 70% of the total, according to the Ministry of Tourism. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN

Tags / Keywords: Cambodia , Laos , direct , flight

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Opinion | After COVID-19, who do you trust?

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tourism in vietnam after covid 19

Four years ago, our world ground to a halt as COVID-19 swept the globe from Wuhan to Milan to Westchester County, New York where it took my mother-in-law. Millions in America and around the globe succumbed to this rapidly mutating respiratory virus for which science had no treatment. Health care workers, governments and businesses were forced to learn on the fly.

Mistakes were made. Power was yielded and co-opted. Some overreacted. Just as many under-reacted, or worse, muddied the already muddy mishmash of often contradictory mandates and warnings by deliberately misleading the public about what was needed so they could exploit the crisis for their own gain.

There were consequences for every action and inaction.

Businesses folded. Traffic evaporated. Gas prices plunged as offices shuttered and the supply chain slowed to a crawl.  Pilates were out, Purell was in. The travel spigot was turned off. Airplanes flew nearly empty. Without jobs waiting for them, immigrants stopped crossing our borders. Ball games were played in deserted stadiums. Theaters went dark. Restaurants moved to the sidewalks to survive. And ballots were mailed to everyone in California, opening the floodgates of paranoia culminating in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

March 19, 2020 is the day California Gov. Gavin Newsom asked us to stay home for “two weeks” to get ahead of the virus. Those two weeks turned into two years; two years unlike anything the modern world has experienced. The reverberations continue to this day and will echo far into the future. The COVID-19 pandemic changed the arc of history. Will any lessons be learned?

When the next crisis hits do we repeat the shutdowns of schools and businesses, travel and trade or do we let nature take its course? Do we mandate vaccines (assuming we can create one) or do we let each man decide for himself? Given the fallout, it’s hard to imagine any politician shutting down Thanksgiving and Christmas a second time.

Twenty million met their end during the First World War. The eleventh hour of the eleventh month, 1918, marked the close of battle, but opened the door to an even deadlier disaster, the Spanish Flu pandemic that killed 100 million. Carried home by   soldiers and sailors fortunate enough to have survived the trenches and torpedoes of war, the mass migrations of people spread a deadly pathogen far beyond government or medicine’s capacity to contain. Today we are infinitely more mobile and far more numerous. A sneeze in China gets a “Gesundheit” in San Francisco. Public health in the modern world is a scientific and political problem.

So, how did we do?

The answer may not be satisfying.

What was right for the West Side of Manhattan or Los Angeles may not have been right for Wyoming. Partisanship made these decisions more difficult. While viruses don’t care who you vote for, the people deciding what to do about viruses do.

There’s an old adage among military historians: “The generals always fight the last war.” This is also true of politicians tasked with responding to a new disease. We look to the past for help when deciding the right course of action in a crisis. The ideological agendas grafted onto the COVID-19 fight will make it that much harder for future epidemiologists and political leaders to convince a skeptical public to trust them.

Doug McIntyre’s column appears Sundays. Reach him at: [email protected]. His novel, “Frank’s Shadow” is available at Amazon.com. 

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CDC updates Covid isolation guidelines for people who test positive

A passenger wears a mask while riding a train in Washington, D.C.

People who test positive for Covid no longer need to isolate for five days , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

The CDC’s new guidance now matches public health advice for flu and other respiratory illnesses: Stay home when you’re sick, but return to school or work once you’re feeling better and you’ve been without a fever for 24 hours.

The shift reflects sustained decreases in the most severe outcomes of Covid since the beginning of the pandemic, as well as a recognition that many people aren’t testing themselves for Covid anyway.

“Folks often don’t know what virus they have when they first get sick, so this will help them know what to do, regardless,” CDC director Dr. Mandy Cohen said during a media briefing Friday.

Over the past couple of years, weekly hospital admissions for Covid have fallen by more than 75%, and deaths have decreased by more than 90%, Cohen said.

“To put that differently, in 2021, Covid was the third leading cause of death in the United States. Last year, it was the 10th,” Dr. Brendan Jackson, head of respiratory virus response within the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during the briefing.

Many doctors have been urging the CDC to lift isolation guidance for months, saying it did little to stop the spread of Covid.

The experiences of California and Oregon , which previously lifted their Covid isolation guidelines, proved that to be true.

“Recent data indicate that California and Oregon, where isolation guidance looks more like CDC’s updated recommendations, are not experiencing higher Covid-19 emergency department visits or hospitalizations,” Jackson said.

Changing the Covid isolation to mirror what’s recommended for flu and other respiratory illnesses makes sense to Dr. David Margolius, the public health director for the city of Cleveland.

“We’ve gotten to the point where we are suffering from flu at a higher rate than Covid,” he said. “What this guidance will do is help to reinforce that— regardless of what contagious respiratory viral infection you have — stay home when you’re sick, come back when you’re better.”

Dr. Kristin Englund, an infectious diseases expert at the Cleveland Clinic, said the new guidance would be beneficial in curbing the spread of all respiratory viruses.

“I think this is going to help us in the coming years to make sure that our numbers of influenza and RSV cases can also be cut down, not just Covid,” she said.

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Still, the decision was likely to draw criticism from some clinicians who point to the fact that the U.S. logged 17,310 new Covid hospitalizations in the past week alone.

“It’s something that is likely to draw a wide array of opinions and perhaps even conflicting opinions,” said Dr. Faisal Khan, Seattle’s director of public health. “But [the CDC’s] rationale is sound in that the pandemic is now in a very different phase from where it was in 2021 or 2022 or 2023.”

Though the isolation guidelines have been wiped away, the CDC still encourages people to play it safe for five days after they are feeling better. That includes masking around vulnerable people and opening windows to improve the flow of fresh air indoors.

The majority of viral spread happens when people are the sickest. “As the days go on, less virus spreads,” Cohen said.

People at higher risk for severe Covid complications, such as the elderly, people with weak immune systems and pregnant women, may need to take additional precautions.

Dr. Katie Passaretti, chief epidemiologist at Atrium Health in Charlotte, said it was a “move in the positive direction.”

“We are continuing to edge into what the world looks like after Covid, with Covid being one of many respiratory viruses that are certain that circulate,” she said.

The new guidance is for the general public only, and does not include isolation guidelines in hospital settings, which is generally 10 days.

On Wednesday, the agency said that adults 65 and older should get a booster shot of the Covid vaccine this spring. It’s anticipated that the nation will experience an uptick in the illness later this summer.

Winter and summer waves of Covid have emerged over the past four years, with cases peaking in January and August, respectively, according to the  CDC .

Another, reformulated, shot is expected to be available and recommended this fall.

CDC’s main tips for reducing Covid spread:

  • Get the Covid vaccine whenever it is available. Cohen said that 95% of people who were hospitalized with Covid this past winter had not received the latest vaccine.
  • Cover coughs and sneezes, and wash hands frequently.
  • Increase ventilation by opening windows, using air purifiers and gathering outside when possible.

tourism in vietnam after covid 19

Erika Edwards is a health and medical news writer and reporter for NBC News and "TODAY."

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