The event, co-hosted by the municipal Tourism Department and municipal Tourism Association, attracted 120 travel businesses and agencies from 40 cities and provinces across the country.

Tourism festival launched to promote Ho Chi Minh City as a safe and lively destination.

Running until December 25, this year’s event is being held virtually on the event’s website, the portal of the municipal Tourism Department at www.visithcmc.vn, the Shopee e-commerce site, and the Traveloka online tour agency.

Being held on both 2D and 3D platforms, the festival features 100 virtual stalls of prestigious tour agents and tourism sectors from participating localities, introducing customers to new destinations, local signature tourism products, and the latest technologies used in the tourism sector.

The festival also features the launch of a contest and a start-up competition calling for initiatives and solutions to recover Ho Chi Minh City’s tourism, a webinar on measures promoting the application of information technology in tourism, and an online exchange with famous travel bloggers such as Ngo Tran Hai An, Khoai Lang Thang and Nhi Dang.

Addressing the launch ceremony, Vice Chairwoman of the municipal People’s Committee Phan Thi Thang stressed that the domestic market plays a key role in the recovery of the city’s tourism industry.

She called on the city’s hospitality sector to strengthen connectivity with other localities in the region in order to design more interesting tourism products and services to while mobilising all available resources towards tourism development.

She also asked travel businesses to ready plans to welcome back international visitors when circumstances allow and the Government approves.

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Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior announced it will lift an entry ban on fully vaccinated expats from six countries including Vietnam from Dec. 1.

Domestic destinations suitable for solo travel

Solo travel is forecast to be a mainstream trend after the Covid-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, Booking.com statistics showed that only 17% of global tourists planned to travel alone; however, this number has almost doubled as 30% of global tourists and 29% of Vietnamese tourists say that they will plan a solo trip in the future. 

Conditions for international travel agencies to welcome international tourists into Vietnam

Temporary guidance No. 4122/HD-BVHTTDL dated November 5, 2021 from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism requires international travel businesses participating in a pilot programme to welcome international visitors to Vietnam to ensure the implementation of the following tasks.

Singapore to allow 7-day home isolation for vaccinated Vietnamese travelers

Fully vaccinated travelers from four ASEAN countries including Vietnam will have their stay-home periods cut by three days to a week upon entering Singapore from Friday.

Source: NDO