Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has postponed a pilot tourism programme to welcome back international visitors until late November or early December.
Originally scheduled to start by September, the delay is due to a slower than anticipated roll out of vaccinations for local residents and a recent outbreak of COVID-19 on the popular island.
As previously reported by Inside Asian Gaming, the national government has been pushing to reopen selected locations for foreign tourism within this year, with Phu Quoc seen as the leading candidate due to its relatively small population of around 178,000 residents and workers.
Phu Quoc is home to Corona Resort and Casino, opened in January 2019 and currently the only casino in Vietnam at which locals are permitted to gamble.
Under the Ministry’s proposal, around 90% of those living on Phu Quoc need to be fully vaccinated in order to create herd immunity. Foreign visitation will then be allowed for anyone holding a vaccine certificate or vaccine passport and who had provided a negative COVID-19 test.
While Phu Quoc officially granted permission for Corona Casino to reopen last week, along with many other tourist attractions such as theme parks, Vice chairman of Kien Giang Province People’s Committee, Nguyen Luu Trung, said this week that adjustments to the island’s reopening plan needed to be made.
“What should be done when a European tourist is infected with COVID-19 in Vietnam? Will he or she be offered treatment according to the regulations of the Ministry of Health? And who will be responsible for the payment,” he said, according to a report by VietnamNet.
Under Phu Quoc’s pilot plan, tourists will be able to stay in any of 19 hotels and access seven entertainment areas, with specific routes designated for them to travel between Phu Quoc Airport and those select areas.
Only around 35% of Phu Quoc’s population has received a first vaccine dose and 7% their second dose so far, leaving the island far from its target inoculation rate to reopen.
