Tourism advisory council proposes digital pass to revive domestic travel

Vietnam Green Travel Pass, a digital app that incorporates a person's test results, Covid recovery and vaccine certificates, would create conditions for people to conveniently travel within the country and help revive economic and tourism activities.

The travel pass would be issued for those having received two doses of the Covid vaccine, or Covid patients who have been granted recovery certificates and people who have tested negative for the virus within the previous 72 hours.

Hoang Nhan Chinh, chief general secretary of Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board, told Tuoi Tre newspaper many countries around the world have started applying digital travel passes that allow their citizens to use vaccination certificates for travel and domestic activities.

While the green travel pass is piloted, the government should prioritize negotiations of mutual recognition agreements with ASEAN countries, the EU and International Air Transport Association's Travel Pass.

According to tourism experts, not until 2022 could Vietnam consider opening up to foreign tourists.

Vietnam closed its borders and canceled all international flights in March last year, and has since allowed only certain categories of visitors with strict Covid-19 quarantine requirements.

As Vietnam struggles with its most challenging outbreak triggered by the highly transmissible Delta variant, most localities across the country imposed strict lockdowns that restricted arrivals and suspended tourism activities.

So far in the fourth wave that hit Vietnam in late April, the nation has recorded 457,882 Covid cases. The country has vaccinated around 20 million people, including over 2.16 million who have received two shots.