China set to resume group tours to Vietnam

By Tam Anh March 8, 2023 | 04:39 pm PT

Foreign tourists arrive in Vietnam. Photo by VnExpress/Quang Toan

The Chinese government has decided to add Vietnam to the list of countries to which its nationals can go on outbound tours with effect from March 15.

Nguyen Phuong Hoa, director of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's international cooperation department, confirming the information, told VnExpress that at a meeting Wednesday, Banh The Doan, the cultural counselor at the Chinese embassy in Hanoi, had assured that China wants to continue tourism cooperation with Vietnam.

Doan also said bilateral tourism cooperation had been exemplary before Covid-19, mutually beneficial and contributing to ties between the two countries.

China had, on Feb. 6, released an initial list of countries to which group tours were allowed post-Covid, and it did not include Vietnam.

China has traditionally been Vietnam's largest tourism partner. In 2019 some 5.8 million Chinese had visited the country, accounting for nearly a third of all international arrivals.

The number of Vietnamese visiting China topped 4.5 million, making that country in turn the top tourism destination.

HSBC has forecast Vietnam could receive three to 4.5 million visitors from China this year, or 50-80% of pre-pandemic levels.