A chartered flight from Jeju Island in South Korea to Phu Quoc in Kien Giang, Vietnam, was scheduled to land at 10 am and depart at 4 pm. The flight schedule may not fit the hotel room operation timetable.

However, after being informed about the chartered flight, the New World Phu Quoc Resort said that it was willing to design a specific policy for the travelers of the flight and welcome them to the resort.

The travelers on the chartered flight received rooms earlier than usual, at 10 am, though the usual check-in time was 3 pm, and a check-out at 4 pm, instead of the usual 12 pm.

A representative of the resort said the adjustment of the visa policy starting August 15, under which the e-visa validity is 90 days instead of 30 days, will create favorable conditions for travelers to stay longer in Vietnam, thus helping the tourism industry to recover after the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said the resort hopes the number of foreign travelers this year will account for 60 percent of total travelers.

“We are trying to attend to every desire of travelers as much as we can,” she said.

Travel firms and accommodation facilities in Vietnam are creating new policies to adapt to the new circumstances of markets which have reopened their international air routes, including to Vietnam.

Statistics from Agoda show that the number of searches for the new visa policy in Vietnam increased by 33 percent over the last two weeks since the policy was approved. 

The sharpest increase in the number of searches for accommodation was seen from French travelers, up by 72 percent. Other countries, including the Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany and the US, have also shown an increased level of interest in Vietnam’s tourism, up by 38-45 percent.

This is attributed to the stable recovery of flights between Vietnam and China, at a 53 percent rate currently compared to the number in 2019, just after Singapore (75 percent recovery) and Malaysia (57 percent). 

The CEO of Grand Ho Tram Strip Walt Power is optimistic about the new visa policy, saying that foreign travelers now have more reasons to come to Vietnam and stay longer.

Vietnam received 6.6 million foreign travelers in the first seven months of the year, while it plans to receive 8 million foreign travelers in the whole year 2023.

Ngoc Ha