Ahead of Vietnam's planned reopening on Mar 15, many question marks remain

Hanoi

EVEN though Vietnam announced last month that international tourists can visit the country from Mar 15, there are concerns within the tourism industry about the speed of the sector's recovery and if the government will even commit to the border reopening.

"No one believes that (the borders) will fully reopen that day," said Miguel Angel, the head of human resources and quality at the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board.

He said the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST) are at odds with each other over whether the reopening should go ahead amid the ongoing surge of Covid-19 cases around the country.

He also says this has become a common occurrence over the last 6 to 9 months as various official announcements have been made and later retracted, or plans put in place only to be cancelled not long after.

It's still unclear at this point which groups of travellers will be granted visas upon arrival, and if there's a need to undergo any form of quarantine at all.

Despite the uncertainty over the rules, Soline Linh Le, a tourism and hospitality lecturer at RMIT Vietnam and a Strategic Board Member at Vietnam Dental Tourism, is more optimistic that the reopening will go ahead as scheduled.

"In general, there are positive signs and I think there will be no more delays," she told The Business Times.

She also said that businesses were well versed in responding to the dynamic nature of Covid-19 and are more prepared to react quickly should the situation change.

Vietnam reported 160,676 new Covid-19 infections on Thursday (Mar 10), down 3,920 cases from the previous day, according to its Ministry of Health. The capital Hanoi remains the hotspot with over 30,000 fresh cases logged on Thursday.

There are, however, bigger challenges beyond the pandemic that are causing some pain points for the industry.

"There is a big shortage of manpower, especially for big brands that are trying to recruit staff," said Le.

Thanh Bui, the chief executive officer of Vietnam Discovery Travel, agreed and said this is a major problem faced by many firms as they seek to recover from the downturn of the past 2 years.

According to the MoCST, the tourism industry lost as many as 80 per cent of its workers in 2020 as almost every country in the world shut their borders.

In the more immediate future, Angel says the biggest hurdle that needs to be overcome is the lack of a "clear and detailed and reopening schedule".

He says the government needs to sort out its policy on visas, Covid-19 entry requirements for travellers, and the exact protocols tourism businesses need to follow in their day-to-day operations.

These, he said, are severely restricting how successful the reopening can be.

Bui also said this is a problem and that the industry is pushing for no quarantine or Covid-19 testing requirements for tourists.

The ultimate decision, however, will be at the discretion of the government although Angel says this does not seem to be a priority at the moment.

"I don't see the government, just days before the opening, being very proactive on that," he said, cutting a frustrated figure.

How quickly the industry can rebound from the downturn caused by the pandemic is also up for debate.

Angel says that most foreign tourists these days plan their trips well in advance and would have already confirmed their vacations for the rest of this year.

As such, businesses in Vietnam should instead be preparing for tourists to return in larger numbers only in 2023.

Le noted that some parts of the industry will bounce back faster than others. Specifically, she said that medical tourism could see a surge from people who avoided surgery due to the pandemic and are now ready to travel again.

Regardless, few in the tourism industry - which was worth US$45 billion a year before the pandemic and accounted for 9 per cent of Vietnam's GDP in 2019 - want to see the hiatus stretch out any longer with most eager to get back to work.

"Everyone is looking forward to Mar 15," said Le.