Vietnam to reopen Phu Quoc island to tourists
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Vietnam </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-10/vietnam-to-reopen-resort-island-to-foreign-tourists/100453458" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">plans</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to reopen the island of Phu Quoc to inbound tourists from October, as the country looks to revive its hard-hit economy.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The island will be expected to open for a six-month trial period, according to a statement from the government.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Vietnam is currently closed to all visitors except returning citizens and investors, but the island will soon be open to fully vaccinated tourists with a negative COVID-19 test result.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">During the pandemic, Vietnam’s tourism industry experienced a large decline as the number of visitors plummeted from 18 million in 2019 to 3.8 million last year. </span></p>
<blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba1VPFujeFt/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba1VPFujeFt/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Visit Vietnam (@visitvietnam)</a></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The prolonged pandemic has seriously hurt the tourism industry,” Vietnam’s Tourism and Culture Minister Nguyen Van Hung said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before opening up the island, the tourism industry said all residents of Phu Quoc would be fully vaccinated.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The ministry added that the island had not reported any community infections and had sufficient quarantine and treatment facilities.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The country has contained the virus for much of the pandemic, but has faced a recent surge in cases of the Delta variant.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh conceded that Vietnam has been facing a lengthy battle against coronavirus and could not rely solely on lockdown and quarantine.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The news comes as 570,000 people in Vietnam have been infected and 14,400 people have lost their lives.</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: visitvietnam / Instagram</span></em></p>
