Resort

The central province of Quang Nam, home to UNESCO-recognized Hoi An Ancient Town, is expected to be Vietnam’s first locality to apply ‘vaccine passport’ policy once approved by the prime minister.

The Quang Nam People’s Committee, the local tourism sector, and businesses had spent months drafting a detail plan on such vaccine passport policy, said Nguyen Thanh Hong, director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

The plan has been supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and will soon be submitted to the national government for approval.

According to the scheme, the reopening of some international routes to Vietnam will be piloted from July to September, with target groups being South Korean visitors who seek resort-oriented vacations and golf tourism.

The top priority is to ensure safety for tourists as well as local workers and residents, said Le Tri Thanh, chairman of the Quang Nam People’s Committee.

The South Korean visitors would travel to the Vietnamese province on charter flights and land at Chu Lai Airport.

The tourists will then be transported to Hoiana and Tui Blue Nam Hoi An resorts for their vacations lasting five to ten days.

They must have vaccine passports and test negative for the novel coronavirus. The visitors will undergo another COVID-19 test before heading back to their home country.

The transportation and provision of services to these visitors will have to strictly follow COVID-19 prevention and control regulations.

The two resorts are separated from residential areas, which will minimize the risk of virus spread, while all staff members will also be vaccinated and required to wear protective clothing when having contact with the foreign tourists.

“If the results are promising, the plan will be applied to other tourist areas and groups of visitors,” Chairman Thanh stated.

Nguyen Phu Khanh, deputy general manager of Tui Blue Nam Hoi An, said that all units of the resort have been focusing on preparing for the welcoming of international tourists.

Separate welcoming areas have been established, and special training sessions have been provided to all staff members, Khanh elaborated.

Hoiana has also been making necessary preparations for the upcoming trial phase.

The resort complex covers hundreds of hectares, has a private gate, and consists of premium hotels, suites, golf courses, and restaurants.

Nguyen Van Trung, representative of Chu Lai Airport, said that the airdrome is waiting for specific instructions from competent authorities.

Exclusive terminals will be designated to welcome foreign visitors, while certain areas and equipment will also be renovated, Trung added.

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Le Tri Thanh, Quang Nam chairman, said Sunday that the central province has sent a draft plan to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on welcoming international tourists.

If approved, Quang Nam will become the first province in the country to accept visitors with the so-called Covid-19 vaccine passports.

The plan will have visitors entering Vietnam on tours organized by international travel agencies. Each visitor should have a vaccine passport (documented proof of vaccination) and a certificate from medical agencies showing negative Covid-19 test results.

“We plan to welcome South Korean visitors in the first phase. We will learn from the experience, and in the second phase, we can open to more markets,” Thanh said.

The group of tourists will go on a charter flight to the Chu Lai Airport and be taken straight to resorts in Duy Xuyen District or Nui Thanh District for 5-10 days, not to quarantine facilities.

Chu Lai is slated to become an international airport and be eligible to add necessary equipment to receive charter flights.

Nguyen Thanh Hong, Director of the Quang Nam Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the two resorts were isolated and quite far from residential areas. The staff at these two resorts will be Covid-19 vaccinated and would follow and apply all pandemic prevention measures, he/she said.

Nguyen Van, deputy director of the provincial health department, said the plan to welcome international visitors has been carefully prepared.

“Throughout the transportation process, the visitors will be required to stay in the car with no stops on the way. The pandemic prevention measures at the accommodations will be applied just like a quarantine center.”

On April 15, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung had said that the ministry plans to reopen international tourism under a roadmap in which the pilot phase from July 2021 to September 2021 will focus on beach tourism and golf tourism in Quang Nam for visitors from the South Korean market.

The ministry’s studies have found that the south of Hoi An area and Chu Lai Airport in Quang Nam Province meet the requirements of safety, transport infrastructure and tourism services as an area for the pilot phase.

The ministry has said that in order to forward the proposal to the prime minister, the Quang Nam administration must review facilities, equipment, human resources and safety requirements; and prepare an official document confirming the province’s readiness to coordinate with the ministry in implementing the plan.

Due to the closure of the borders as a pandemic safety measure, the number of international visitors to Vietnam was just 3.7 million in 2020, down 80 over 2019.

Vietnam stopped all international commercial flights in March 2020. International visitors coming into the country since are mainly experts, high-tech workers, investors and foreigners working on projects in Vietnam.

“We are researching and preparing step by step the pilot selection of a number of markets to apply vaccine passports, welcoming visitors while ensuring safety amid the pandemic,” Hung said.

He also said that his ministry wants the government to apply the vaccine passport policy soon, because it would be key to opening the door for international visitors.

The sub-zones include the Cai Rong Area, North Cai Bau Area and the Van Don airport area.

Speaking at the conference, Quang Ninh Vice Chairman Cao Tuong Huy praised the Van Don Economic Zone management board for completing the plans for the economic zone’s most important areas.

He also spoke highly of investors who had overcome the difficulties caused by Covid-19 to quickly finalise procedures for their projects.

The official added that such plans are the basis to call for capable and reputable investors to implement high-quality projects, helping boost sustainable socio-economic development in Van Don.

At the conference, Quang Ninh Province granted an investment license to a high-end hotel and resort complex to Cat Linh Van Don Company and Mai Quyen Tourism Company.

The project will cover 2.34 hectares and has total investment capital of VND4 trillion (US$173 million).

The call for investment in the Van Don Economic Zone has affirmed Quang Ninh Province’s consistent policy of reforming administrative procedures and improving the business environment.

Passengers arrive at Chu Lai Airport in Quảng Nam Province. The central province plans to host international tourists with vaccine passports as part of a pilot project. Photo courtesy of Jetstar Pacific

QUẢNG NAM — The central province of Quảng Nam has put forward plans to host international tourists with vaccine passports and negative coronavirus tests.

As part of the plans, arrivals at Chu Lai Airport will stay at the assigned Hoiana resorts in Duy Xuyên District and Tui Blue Hotel in Núi Thành District for five or 10 days.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, Lê Trí Thanh confirmed the plans to Việt Nam News , stating that the province and managing boards of the two resorts and Chu Lai Airport authorities held a working session on preparations to soon host tourists with the proposed vaccine passports.

Thanh said the province will register with the Government to become the first province in Việt Nam to pilot the hosting of international visitors and roll out a ‘safe tourism’ programme.

“We plan to receive South Korean ‘vaccine passport’ tourists on chartered flights as part of the pilot project, and they (tourists) must test negative for coronavirus by Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR),” Thanh said.

“Chu Lai Airport will be given better medical testing equipment and coronavirus prevention measure for arrivals as well as the reception sites at the two hotels,” he said.

The chairman said the two hotels are far from community and residential quarters, and the two sites had been tested and surveyed by the Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also agreed with the pilot plan.

Thanh said all staff of the two hotels and task force members will be vaccinated and implement coronavirus preventive measures before hosting tourists.

Beach-front Hoiana integrated resort and hotel comlex and Tui Blue in central Quảng Nam Province are assigned to host the first  international visitors with vaccine passports. Photo by Thanh Hà

Quảng Nam Province’s tourism industry saw poor growth in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and storms and floods.

The province, which is home to the UNESCO-recognised world heritage sites Hội An ancient town and Chàm Islands-Hội An world biosphere site, saw tourism revenue decline by 82.7 per cent in 2020, hosting only 1.46 million tourists – an 81 per cent reduction from 2019.

The tourism association of Quảng Nam has inked an agreement to boost post-COVID-19 tourism in the region in 2021 with Đà Nẵng and Thừa Thiên-Huế. — VNS