OREANDA-NEWS. According to ATOR, Vietnam does not plan to open borders for foreign tourists in the near future, but they are preparing for their return and have already identified one of the mandatory requirements for the entry of foreigners.

The Russian government announced the resumption of regular flights to Vietnam from January 17. At the current date, transportation on the Moscow-Hanoi route is allowed (twice a week). However, flights will not be possible for at least another month.

Due to new outbreaks of COVID-19 in the world and the emergence of new strains of coronavirus, Vietnam suspended all international commercial flights in early January 2021. According to the authorities, exceptions were made only for repatriation flights and special ones approved by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Transport of the country. All arriving from abroad are required to go through 14 days of self-isolation.

As an argument for the stringent requirements for the entry of international travelers, the Vietnamese government calls the successful fight against COVID-19: as of January 16, only 1,537 cases of infection and 35 deaths were registered in the country, and no new cases were recorded over the past 44 days.

At the Vietnam National Tourism Forum last week, it was stated that the timing of the return of foreign tourism remains unclear as key entry markets record high COVID-19 statistics. For this reason, the country's travel companies were advised to "reorient themselves to the domestic market" in order to avoid further losses.

They are preparing for the return of foreigners in Vietnam. It is already known that one of the conditions for accepting foreign travelers will be their compulsory medical insurance to cover the costs associated with COVID-19. But, according to experts, this requirement will be far from the only one.