The Vietnamese holiday island of Phu Quoc today welcomed more than 200 fully vaccinated tourists from South Korea.

South Korean visitors are the first foreign tourists to Vietnam since the country closed its borders almost two years ago to stop the spread of coronavirus infections.

Vietnam closed its borders in March 2020, shortly after confirming its first reported case of COVID-19 infection.

Since then, Vietnam has only allowed several international flights per week with foreign experts, diplomats and returning Vietnamese nationals.

These international arrivals must undergo a 14-day quarantine at designated hotels or government-operated facilities.

Today, fully vaccinated South Korean tourists have been tested for COVID-19 upon arrival, and once negative results are returned, they can enjoy all tourist activities on the island without a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

South Korean visitors will be able to freely enjoy sightseeing, shopping and entertainment events requiring vaccination certificates.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, all staff working in the island’s service facilities and 99% of the adult residents of Phu Quoc have been fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.

The island also plans to vaccinate children between the ages of 12 and 17 next month.

Vietnam is the latest Asian country to join Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia to reopen their borders to fully vaccinated foreign visitors.

Thailand was the first to allow the limited number of fully vaccinated foreign visitors to the island of Phuket before expanding to other regions, including Bangkok, from November 1.

The Indonesian tourist island of Bali opened its doors to arrivals last month with some restrictions, including testing and a five-day hotel quarantine.

Malaysia opened the island of Langkawi as part of a pilot “COVID-19 bubble” program.