The success of the "Phuket sandbox" model shows that Vietnam can completely apply a similar model in Phu Quoc island.
Dream "sandbox"
Phuket Island with many beautiful scenes is attracting international tourists after Thailand piloted to welcome vaccinated guests
Phuket Island is the first point in Thailand to reopen to foreign tourists who have been fully vaccinated and certified not to have Covid-19. On the first day of opening, July 1, there were 11 flights landing in Phuket, including 2 charter flights and 9 commercial flights with nearly 300 passengers from Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Singapore. Up to now, the number of visitors has increased to thousands of people from many countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States.
In order to meet the increased travel demand after Phuket opened, Thai Vietjet, the airline with the second market share in Thailand, quickly implemented epidemic prevention measures and maintained domestic routes to ensure the movement of people.
According to Mr. Chatchai Viriiyavejakul, Director of the Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, the "Phuket sandbox" model has attracted the attention of many foreign tourists. To date, nearly 8,000 visitors have applied to enter Thailand since the "Phuket sandbox" began its pilot phase.
Visitors to Phuket can relax in the hotel's swimming pool and walk along the beautiful beaches. Sports activities and shopping can take place normally, provided that visitors must wear masks in public places. “This is the perfect place to rest and relax after a long period of travel restrictions,” said Sigal Baram, a tourist from Israel with her husband and friends.
The Thai government expects about 100,000 foreign tourists to visit Phuket in the third quarter of this year, generating about $277 million in revenue.
After Phuket, Thailand plans to gradually expand to other tourist destinations such as Koh Samui, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan, finally realizing the goal of reopening the country in October.
Opportunity for Phu Quoc
Phu Quoc Island will pilot international visitors who have been vaccinated in safe areas
The success of the "Phuket sandbox" model shows that Vietnam can completely apply a similar model on Phu Quoc island (Kien Giang) - where the Prime Minister has directed a pilot study to welcome international guests using this model. vaccine passports. Currently, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is collecting opinions on a pilot project to welcome international tourists to Phu Quoc for a period of 6 months, expected from October 2021 and divided into 2 phases.
The first phase lasts from October to December 2021, Phu Quoc will welcome about 2,000 - 3,000 guests/month through charter flights. Tourists to Phu Quoc will be served within a limited range and locations, at large-scale resorts, capable of separating resorts and must be safe, exclusively for international tourists. .
The second phase from January to March 2022 will welcome 5,000 - 10,000 guests/month. At this time, visitors can come by commercial flights and the tourist destination will be expanded.
In general, in the 6 months of piloting, it is expected to welcome from 25,000 - 40,000 international tourists to Phu Quoc. All visitors coming here will have to have a certificate of full vaccination against Covid-19 vaccine recognized by Vietnam, the time for the second injection is at least 14 days and not more than 12 months by the time of entry. Or, visitors must have a certificate of recovery from Covid-19 recognized by Vietnam, the time from discharge to the date of entry must not exceed 12 months, and must have RT-PCR/RT-test results. LAMP negative within 72 hours prior to departure.
If the pilot project to welcome international visitors to Phu Quoc is successfully implemented, the tourism industry will have the opportunity to recover operations right during the epidemic period, and at the same time meet the huge tourism demand of the people.
