Hotel fee reductions are offered to foreign tourists stranded due to Covid-19.

Recently, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, requested localities to urgently review and compile statistics on the number of foreign tourists who are stranded and wish to leave Vietnam before April 14th.

Accordingly, hotels are responsible for compiling and reporting the number of foreigners staying at their establishments, and updating information on those who remain due to objective reasons such as quarantine, flight suspensions, or border closures, and who wish to leave Vietnam.

In addition, the General Department of Tourism also requested accommodation businesses to provide support by waiving or reducing room and meal fees for foreign tourists who are stranded until the Ministry of Transport arranges flights to bring them back home.

The last group of French tourists from Ho Chi Minh City left Vietnam on March 29th. The Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security has also facilitated visa issuance and temporary residence extensions for foreign citizens remaining in Vietnam due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and unable to return home. Specifically, international tourists will be granted an extension of 30 days. Foreign tourists who entered Vietnam under visa exemption or with expired tourist visas but lack a sponsoring organization and are unable to leave can apply for a temporary residence extension through their Embassy or Consulate General.

However, the Immigration Department also noted that in cases of overstaying temporary residence permits for less than 10 days due to objective, unavoidable circumstances, if supported by documents, administrative penalties may be waived. Previously, preliminary statistics from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, as of the end of March 2020, showed that approximately 407 guests were staying in 33 large hotels in the city, including nearly 350 foreign nationals, mainly from Japan, Russia, and Germany.

To prevent the spread of Covid-19, hotels receiving guests must review and gather complete personal information of their guests, such as name, date of birth, nationality, gender, passport number, contact person, itinerary, and vehicle number used to travel to Ho Chi Minh City...

During the stay, the hotel must monitor the health of guests and take measures to ensure the health and safety of guests and employees, remind guests to limit leaving the hotel, require mandatory health declarations, regularly check body temperature and wear masks, maintain a distance of 2 meters when interacting, and refrain from organizing buffet meals or serving food and drinks to guests in their rooms...

Recently, in response to the desire of German and European Union (EU) citizens in Vietnam to return home, and with the approval of the Vietnamese Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vietnam Airlines operated two special flights from Vietnam to Germany on April 6th and 8th. These flights were sponsored by the German Government and implemented in coordination with Vietnam Airlines by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Notably, the April 8th flight also carried medical equipment donated by the Vietnamese Government to the governments and people of five countries – Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom – to support the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

My Tong