Foreign tourists happy as Vietnam lifts travel restrictions on reopening

By Nguyen Quy March 15, 2022 | 10:31 pm PT

A foreign couple drink beer on Bui Vien Street in HCMC on December 22, 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Many foreign tourists said they are excited and ready to visit Vietnam as soon as possible as the country scrapped entry restrictions after inbound tourism reopening.

Ben Teh from Singapore said he was glad that Vietnam is finally opening with relaxed entry rules and he can plan his trip to meet his friends.

"This is actually good news. It has been two years since I visited Vietnam. Miss my friends in Ho Chi Minh City," Teh told VnExpress International.

"Lifting the quarantine restriction is good news for those looking for a short trip as no one would visit Vietnam with the previous three-day quarantine rule," he added.

Teh plans to be in HCMC next week and would visit Hue, Vietnam's former imperial capital famous for royal tombs and ancient temples.

Ivana Katrinka Palacios from the Philippines said she was delighted to hear that Vietnam lifted most travel restrictions and allowed foreign tourists to travel freely with a negative Covid result upon arrival.

"No longer needing to undergo quarantine is such a huge relief. This urged me to start planning my visit to Vietnam," said Palacios, who plans to visit Hanoi next month.

"The guidelines are a win-win situation for all, the government will revive its tourism economy while tourists will be able to move freely around Vietnam and enjoy its beauty."

"Tourists like me booked and planned their trips months ago so I really hope that this is concrete already, and the government will not change its mind again."

Teh and Palacios are among many tourists who have been waiting for weeks for Vietnam's official reopening policies.

The country had announced to fully reopen on March 15, but only on that day that the government announced to resume visa policies, and only the next day that the Health Ministry issued new entry rules.

Ken Rafter from Australia, who had expressed disappointment with the late official announcement in earlier talk with VnExpress International, now said the new entry rules "look quite good."

He had been waiting for nearly two years to come back to Vietnam.

"It'll be fantastic to take my family back to your beautiful country," Rafter said, adding they plan to visit popular tourist destinations like HCMC, Da Nang, Hoi An, Hanoi and Ninh Binh.

Vietnam closed its inbound tourism and halted grating visas for foreign tourists in March 2020. It partially reopened to tourists under a vaccine passport program last November and has received over 10,000 arrivals since.