Mr. Nguyen Luu Trung - Vice Chairman of Kien Giang Provincial People's Committee said that the province and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have agreed on the time to welcome international visitors to Phu Quoc at the end of November 2021. The criteria and standards for welcoming domestic visitors back this October are being studied.
Currently, the province is implementing training and guidance for officers, employees and workers of service providers in Phu Quoc on the process of welcoming and serving guests; using information technology applications in disease control and prevention...
Kien Giang province also coordinated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to appraise and evaluate the quality of products and services, approve the list of qualified units to participate in welcoming and serving international visitors to Phu Quoc; communicate and promote the pilot program to welcome international tourists to Phu Quoc on domestic and foreign media.
Mr. Chung said the province will pilot the selection of a number of locations and types of services that meet the criteria and conditions to welcome guests, but have not yet implemented them on a large scale. The expected services will include 3-5 star resorts, boats transporting visitors to the islands in the South An Thoi area, golf courses, casinos, Vinwonders entertainment, cable car experiences, fishing, diving to see coral, walking under the sea, Safari zoo...
To ensure safety against the epidemic, separate services will be organized so that international visitors do not come into contact with domestic visitors or the community. For example, the cable car service will have a separate time of day to serve international visitors, not domestic visitors; other services are similar.
It is expected that during the pilot phase, Phu Quoc will only welcome international tourists through package tours organized by travel agencies, not applicable to those entering the country for other purposes. International tourists will enter by air, through charter flights.
When asked about his plans to travel to Phu Quoc during the upcoming pilot opening period, British photographer Nic Shonfeld, who has lived and worked in Vietnam for more than 6 years, shared: "I will choose Phu Quoc as my year-end vacation destination, partly because I like this place, partly because Phu Quoc is also the only place in Vietnam that will open to foreigners. It has been several years since I have been able to visit Vietnam."
"Although Phu Quoc is now famous for its modern European-style buildings, I really hope to experience the traditional culture of this island in the future. I think not all of Phu Quoc has been "Europeanized" like the images on the internet, I believe I can still find indigenous cultural values here," the photographer added.
Vietnam's international arrivals itinerary
From November 2021 to March 2022 is the pilot period to welcome international tourists to Phu Quoc. The subjects will be tourists from countries with good disease control and vaccination capacity such as: Northeast Asia, Europe, the United States, the Middle East, Australia...
During the period from December 2021 to June 2022, the model of opening to welcome international visitors will be replicated in a number of other destinations that have met epidemic prevention requirements such as: Ha Long (Quang Ninh), Hoi An (Quang Nam), Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa), Da Lat (Lam Dong).
