Vietnam holds an advantage over Thailand in terms of epidemic control. Last month, when the government of Vietnam loosened the social distancing policy, Thailand was still busy struggling with the epidemic.

However, some days ago, when the government of Thailand eased travel restrictions and loosened conditions for business activities, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) immediately announced a 3-period tourism recovery strategy.

Vietnamese travel firms have urged state management agencies to help reopen the international markets. The tardiness in applying policies may put Vietnam at a disadvantage.

The Tourism Advisory Board (TAB) has sent a letter to the Prime Minister, suggesting solutions to revive international tourism in the post-Covid-19 period.

TAB said the opening of the domestic market is not enough to ease the difficulties the tourism industry is facing. Therefore, it believes that it is necessary to reopen the international markets, targeting the countries which can satisfy requirements on epidemic control.

The set of procedures for market reopening could be the bilateral agreements with every country and the works that need to be done to implement the reopening. The bilateral agreements need to be one step ahead other countries, or at least at the same time with the other countries which are Vietnam’s rivals.

The market reopening must be implemented with a set of procedures for market reopening.

The set of procedures for market reopening could be the bilateral agreements with every country and the works that need to be done to implement the reopening. The bilateral agreements need to be one step ahead other countries, or at least at the same time with the other countries which are Vietnam’s rivals.

The works that need to be done include: reopening air routes and allowing direct flights only; waiving visas; requiring foreigners entering the country to make medical declarations and have temperature checked; and obtaining agreements on nCoV testing.

It is also necessary to discuss with other countries about an agreement about the installation of an app tracking foreigners’ movements during their stay in Vietnam, and discuss other solutions to ensure safety.

Travel firms agree that it is necessary to set strict regulations to ensure safety. The epidemic is still raging, and the lax regulations won’t be able to protect the community, while the continued market closure will put the economy, and the tourism industry in particular, in difficulty.

Tran Xuan Hung, president of Viking Travel, said it would be better to provide free testing service to travelers at airports and shorten the time of waiting for the results, warning that people won’t travel if they have to wait hours at the airports for test results.

Travel firms complained that a lot of tax and credit policies to support businesses and the policies for travelers have not been applied in reality. Many businesses fear that they won’t survive until they can get support.

Mai Lan

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