The volume of international searches for  Vietnam’s tourism has surged by 50-70 percent, the fourth highest increase in the world, according to Google’s market trend tracker tool.
 
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) on May 5 reported that after Vietnam fully reopened for tourists from March 15, 2022, this index of Vietnam has maintained a high growth, showing the strong recovery of the country's tourism industry.

Large volumes of search for Vietnam tourism information are seen in the US, Singapore, Japan, India, France, Germany, Thailand, Canada and the UK.

Vietnam's most searched destinations were Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Phu Quoc, Da Nang, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Da Lat, Phan Thiet, Hue and Quy Nhon.

Data from Google shows that by the end of April 2022, the international search volume for flights related to Vietnam increased by 1,114 percent, and continued to climb by 2,000 percent in May compared to the same period in 2021.

Meanwhile, the search volume for accommodation in Vietnam increased more than 4 times from the beginning of April 2022 to mid-May 2022.  

Statistics show that international visitors to Vietnam increased sharply in May. The number of international visitors to Vietnam in the first five months of 2022 were 4.5 times higher than that of the same period last year. The volume of domestic travellers reached 48.6 million in the five month period from January to May.

Vietnam urged to expand visa exemption to soon recover tourism

Vietnam is recommended to expand visa waiver policy to meet the target of welcoming five million visitors at the end of this year. 

Visa exemption will matter a lot to post-pandemic tourism in the context that Vietnam is on the way to recovering its economy, in which the tourism industry accounts for 9.2% of the country’s GDP before Covid-19, lawmaker Tran Thi Van said at the ongoing National Assembly. 

“Tourists prefer destinations with a high degree of visa openness. For that reason, any country with an open visa policy will have more opportunity to attract international visitors,” Van said in the discussions held this week. 

’For reference, Van said Vietnam is less open than regional countries as it exempts nationals from only 23 countries from visa requirement. Meanwhile, Thailand exempts citizens from 65 countries from visas for stay of up to 60 days with multiple entries while Indonesia offers up to 30 days of visa-free stay with the possibility of extension. 

“It’s hard for Vietnam to attract tourists with such a strict visa policy,” she noted.           

She suggested that Vietnam should increase the visa exemption period from 15 days to 30 days, with multiple entries, cut procedures for travel agencies and tourists, and simplify the issuance of e-visa and visas on-arrival. 

The lawmaker stressed the importance of the visa waiver program to the development of tourism as the number of foreign tourists coming to Vietnam reached more than 365,000 in the first five months of 2022, making it hard to achieve the year-end target of five million.  

She said the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) should have clear guidelines and well-prepared tourism promotion programs abroad to attract visitors. 

MCST Minister Nguyen Van Hung said the ministry is working on the visa exemption to remove existing problems. After March 15 [the time when Vietnam fully opened its borders to visitors], guests can be directly granted visas, no longer through a travel agent like before, Hung told lawmakers at an interpellation earlier this month. 

Hung said the tourism industry now focuses on improving the quality of human resources to upgrade destinations and digitize facilities to enable the industry to meet this year’s tourist arrival target. 

He said Vietnam’s early pilot and fully-open tourism programs have brought in good results as more visitors are coming. But it takes more time to adjust the industry to the new normal, especially to reach the pre-pandemic level. 

Vietnam is now in summer or the high tourism season and tourist attractions, mainly coastal areas across the country, are expected to be overwhelmed.

HCM City promotes family medicine at grassroots healthcare clinics

Starting this month, the municipal health department will hold monthly meetings with medical workers at primary healthcare centres to promote family medicine and other initiatives.

The aim is to improve primary healthcare system and offer better initial medical services to residents.

The city now has 133 hospitals and 7,000 specialist clinics and polyclinics, but only 310 commune and ward medical stations with 1,700 medical workers.

The department is working on a draft plan to restructure the city’s primary healthcare centres depending on population size. For example, it will have a commune and ward healthcare station for 10,000-20,000 people.

The package includes risk assessment and management for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, early cancer diagnosis, health education, smoking cessation counselling, self-care and palliative care.

It will be piloted at some medical stations before being implemented at all the stations.

People should not panic over post-COVID-19 symptoms: health ministry

The Ministry of Health has encouraged people not to panic if they experience post-COVID symptoms, and has called on hospitals, medical institutes and health authorities to continue medical examinations, treatment and rehabilitation for people who are infected with COVID-19 or are recovering.

Medical facilities have been asked to provide polyclinics and specialised approaches in examing people who have COVID-19 symptoms, especially in respiratory, cardiovascular and mental health. 

The requirements will help ensure appropriate diagnosis and avoid the abuse of inappropriate and unnecessary indications.

Health facilities and departments must strengthen communication and raise public understanding so that people and medical staff can properly and fully understand the symptoms of both COVID-19 infection and recovery.

"As a result, people will know if they need a medical visit and can avoid too much worry and panic," according to the ministry's statement.

APEC sculpture park in Da Nang among latest Southeast Asian tourist sites

Situated in the central city of Da Nang, APEC Sculpture Park has been named among seven new tourist attractions in Southeast Asia, as selected by newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP) of Hong Kong (China).

According to details given by the publication, Da Nang has other notable attractions beyond its fine beaches. However, it noted that in recent years the authorities of the central city have aimed to fill this gap by creating modern landmarks that double as dazzling social media backdrops.

The central city of Da Nang therefore opened APEC Sculpture Park, an extension of the 2017-built APEC Park, on the west bank of the Han river to serve as a new check-in spot and public destination for the tourism hub.

The park, which was built on 8,600 square metre site with total investment of VND759 billion, equal to US$33 million, features a large steel arch in the shape of a flying kite on an open site for both tourists and local residents.

The building is surrounded by green trees and features a stage for public events and is topped by a huge, striking roof which has been designed to resemble a flying kite.

The other six tourist attractions in Southeast Asia to make the list are Benjakitti Forest Park and Thai cave rescue exhibition in Thailand, Saloma Link Bridge in Malaysia, SkyHelix Sentosa in Singapore, Genting SkyWorlds Theme Park in Malaysia, and Baywalk Dolomite Beach in the Philippines.

Two more African swine fever vaccines to be licensed in Vietnam by year-end

Two more vaccines against African swine fever (ASF), developed by AVAC Vietnam Co., Ltd. and Dabaco Group JSC, are expected to be licensed in Vietnam by the end of this year.

Testing of AVAC ASF LIVE vaccine started in pig farms in March 2022, with the efficacy rate reaching 95%. AVAC is finalising legal steps to register for the circulation of the vaccine.

Meanwhile, Dabaco’s DACOVAC-ASF2 vaccine has been tested and evaluated since March 2022. 

Vietnam has recently authorised the commercial circulation of NAVET-ASFVAC vaccine produced by Navetco National Veterinary JSC (Navetco), helping the country to become the first in the world to successfully research and produce a vaccine against African swine fever, and licence its commercial circulation.

The company began developing the vaccine in February 2020 with the help of US experts. Following lab trials, the vaccine has proved to be able to protect at least 80% of immunised pigs, which retain immunity for six months.

Binh Thuan aims to plant 10 million trees by 2025

A ceremony to launch a tree planting drive was held in Phan Thiet city of the southern central province of Binh Thuan on June 5 by the provincial People's Committee in collaboration with  NovaGroup.

The drive aims to plant 10 million trees in the locality by 2025.

According to the provincial People's Committee, the event is hoped to promote the tree planting and afforestation movement in the province, contributing to implementing  the 1-billion-tree growing project across the country for the 2021 – 2025.

The event also aims to raise public awareness of the importance and value of forests, tree planting and afforestation associated with sustainable socio-economic development and environmental protection, towards mitigating natural disasters and adapting to climate change.

Binh Thuan has 336,132 ha of forest land, and 6,410 ha of newly-planted forest. The locality’s forest coverage rate reaches 43 percent.

Policy profiteering occurs in many large cases: Public Security Ministry's Spokesperson

Many defendants in major economic cases took advantage of policies and abused their positions and powers to make profit for themselves through violations of regulations on bidding, or through giving and receiving bribes, said Lieut. Gen. To An Xo, Chief of the Office and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security, at a Government press conference on June 4.

He took the case in the Consular Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an example for policy profiteering.

Investigators found that excluding all expenses, the profit from each “rescue flight” repatriating Vietnamese citizens abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic amounted to several billions of VND, he said, adding that nearly 2,000 such flights were operated in the period.

In the case related to the FLC group, initial investigation revealed that from September 1, 2016 to January 10, 2022, Trinh Van Quyet, Chairman of the FLC Group directed Trinh Thi Minh Hue, a member of FLC Group JSC's accounting department, to set up 26 companies in the name of 26 individuals, and open 450 accounts in 41 securities companies in order to manipulate the market, creating fake supply-demand with six FLC codes and illegally earning 975 billion VND, he said.

The Investigation Police Agency under the Ministry of Public Security have received 557 denunciations on market manipulation by Quyet and his compliances, he added.

Xo affirmed that all those who are involved in law violation cases including many Party members and managing officials, will receive due punishment by the Party and in line with the law.

Sustainable landscape project launched for Central Highlands provinces

A project to strengthen integrated sustainable landscape management through a deforestation-free jurisdiction in the Central Highlands provinces of Lam Dong and Dak Nong was launched on June 4.

The project has a total budget of five million EUR funded by the EU through UNDP Vietnam. It  will be implemented over four years (2022–2026) in Lam Dong and Dak Nong.

The project’s targets by 2026 are to protect 25,000 hectares of natural forest; reduce harmful CO2 emissions by three million tonnes; enable 35 percent of the project area’s marginalised populations in both provinces to benefit from improved livelihoods, especially women and ethnic minorities; and increase the total value of commodities in the project area by 25 percent.

Its results will be replicated and integrated into Vietnam’s development strategies and policies. 

Four international organisations are also providing additional technical assistance to the project: the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, the European Forest Institute, the Sustainable Trade Initiative, and the United Nations Environment Programme. 

The Central Highlands region has been facing a significant loss of its natural forests due to converting to plantation forests. From 2005 to 2020, the natural forest area in the Highlands was reduced from 2.83 million to 2.18 million hectares.  

PM requires action be taken against illegal forest destruction, encroachment

The Prime Minister's Directive 05/CT-TTg has required ministries, sectors and localities to strengthen forest management and protection, and urgently take action against illegal deforestation and encroachment on forest land.

The newly-issued directive said there are serious violations of regulations on forest protection in some provinces, including several large-scale illegal deforestation cases, causing public concern.
To effectively prevent deforestation and implement international commitments at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), the PM requested provinces and cities to tighten the management of forests, particularly the change of purpose of forest land use.

They must closely coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) in completing the National Forestry Master Plan for 2021-30, with a vision to 2050.

Investigations into illegal forest destruction cases should be quickened and violators strictly punished

Provinces and cities must direct the forest rangers to examine and evaluate the entire natural forest area under their management so as to promptly detect, prevent and strictly handle acts of encroachment on forest land, according to the directive.

Vietnamese cultural festival held by Russian students in Vladivostok

A Vietnamese cultural festival was held on June 3 by a club of Russian students of Vietnamese studies at Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) in Vladivostok with the help of the FEFU Association of Russian and International Students (ARIS).

Speaking at the festival, Evgeny Vlasov, Deputy Vice-President for International Relations at FEFU, hailed both Vietnamese and Russian students for organising the festival. They have put great efforts to introduce and promote the beauty of Vietnam’s nature and people, he said.

Diana Albertovna, Head of the FEFU Department of the Asia-Pacific Region, welcomed the event, noting that it provided visitors a better understanding of Vietnamese culture and people.

The festival gave visitors a glimpse of Vietnam’s geography, its “Con Rong Chau Tien” (Offspring of Dragon and Fairy) tale and Tet Nguyen Dan (Lunar New Year) festival, and introduced the meaning of the Vietnamese national flag.

It featured performances of Vietnamese martial arts, songs and folk dances as well as various traditional folk games. “Pho cuon” (rice noodle roll), one of Vietnamese traditional dishes, was also introduced.

FEFU is among the universities in Russia with a large number of students, about 30, pursuing Vietnamese language studies. More than 80 Vietnamese students are studying at the university.

Vietnamese doctors provide free health check-ups, medicines for needy people in Laos

A delegation of Ho Chi Minh City's Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs on June 4 provided free health check-ups and medicines for impoverished overseas Vietnamese and Lao people in Vientiane.

The programme was implemented with the coordination of the Vietnamese Embassy in Laos and and the Executive Committee of the Vietnamese Association in Vientiane.

This annual event was part of activities to respond to the Vietnam - Laos and Laos - Vietnam Year of Friendship and Solidarity 2022, and celebrate the 60th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties, and the 45th year of the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation between the two countries.

New book sketches life of veteran soldier-artist Trang Phượng

A photo book outlining the work and career of 83-year-old artist Trang Phượng, a founding member of the HCM City Fine Arts Association, has just been released.

Titled Họa Sĩ - Chiến Sĩ Trang Phượng (Painter - Soldier Trang Phượng) the bilingual (Vietnamese and English) book has been released by the Fine Arts Publishing House.

It consists of 100 sketches of actual happenings on battlefields in the South during the resistance war against America as well as portraits of his comrades.

The publication also has pictures of 70 oil on canvas and watercolour paintings capturing the lives of people and soldiers during times of war and peace in Việt Nam.

It highlights the history of the Department of Liberation Arts (currently the HCM City Fine Arts Association) which was founded by Phượng and leading painters Cổ Tấn Long Châu and Phạm Minh Sáu in 1962.

Police arrest drunk driver for causing fatal accident in Bắc Giang

Bắc Giang Police on Friday arrested a man for being drunk while driving, causing a severe traffic accident that resulted in three deaths.

Nguyễn Đức Thịnh, 35, lives in Ngô Quyền Ward, Bắc Giang City, and is an officer of the Road Maintenance Management Board at Bắc Giang Department of Transport.

While driving his car, his blood alcohol concentration was 0.604mg per litre. The crash happened at 11pm on Thursday in Bắc Giang City. He reportedly was on the way home after attending a party. 

Thịnh drove his Audi and crashed into a motorbike at the Hùng Vương-Hoàng Văn Thụ intersection.

Three people on the motorbike, N.M.H., 48, from Thọ Xương Ward, Bắc Giang City, who owns a light and sound equipment store, his wife D.T.Q, 44, a primary school teacher, and his daughter N.T.D, 13, died at the scene. 

The car and motorbike were seriously damaged.

Witnesses said the car was running at a very high speed at the time of the incident.

Lê Ô Pích, deputy chairman of Bắc Giang Province People's Committee, on Friday has visited the only remaining member of the deceased family, a son born in 2002 who is studying at a university in the province. 

Source: VNA/SGT/VNS/VOV/Dtinews/SGGP/VGP/Hanoitimes