Vietnam's tourism authorities have unveiled plans to begin welcoming back tourists from October.

The country will operate a phased reopening, starting with the picturesque island of Phu Quoc. Initially, only tourists who are fully vaccinated against Covid will be able to visit for non-essential purposes.

There will be a number of other requirements in place too. Tourists will also need a negative Covid test result to be allowed to enter Vietnam, will need to have booked a package holiday from one of the approved travel agencies, and will need proof of both health and travel insurance.

Children under 12 will be able to accompany vaccinated parents or guardians.

The new scheme will mark the first time that Vietnam has reopened to tourists since March 2020. You can find out more on vietnamtourism.gov.

At the time of writing, Vietnam is on the UK's amber list. This means that anyone returning to the UK will need to take a pre-departure test, and a PCR test on day two. Adults who are not fully vaccinated will also need to self-isolate for 10 days at home and take a second PCR test on day eight.

Vietnam isn't the first destination to opt for a phased reopening for international tourists.

Thailand operated a similar scheme when it began welcoming back tourists in July, with only vaccinated tourists able to enter the country, and only to visit Phuket.

Since then, the country has continued to reopen various holiday hotspots. Brits were also welcome in the country, but at the end of August it was placed on the UK's red list. This means that currently any Brits returning to the UK will be required to stay in a quarantine hotel for at least 10 days, forking out costs that can be upwards of £2,000 in some instances. (We've got a guide explaining what to do if you have a holiday booked).

The silver lining for Brits is that there are still plenty of countries open to UK holidaymakers, usually with entry requirements such as showing proof of vaccination or a negative Covid PCR test (or in some cases, both).

For example, a number of green list destinations such as Anguilla, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia are all open to Brits who are fully vaccinated against Covid (usually this means having received your second dose of an approved jab at least 14 days before travel, but the rules can differ depending on your chosen destination).

The UK government's next travel review is currently expected to be announced on Thursday, September 16. Travel experts have shared their predictions on what changes could be made to the green, amber and red lists, not to mention there is speculation that the traffic lights system could be scrapped entirely by October, although this has not yet been confirmed.

We've also put together a guide to potential green and red list changes based on the recent Covid case numbers and vaccination rates, including popular holiday destinations like Spain, Portugal and Italy.

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