, Columnist
Vietnam Breaks Out of the Covid Tourist Trap
Holidaymakers are back, and they’re mostly local. That may be a model for the rest of the world.
Vietnamese tourists are holidaying again.
Photographer: Linh Pham/Getty Images
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Vietnam is pulling ahead in the race to reopen Southeast Asia to city-hoppers and sunseekers.
International arrivals were down 98% in May from a year earlier, after a record 2019. Yet success in containing the coronavirus epidemic means domestic travel has already restarted. Thailand, by comparison, is still under a state of emergency, and other neighbors in the tourism-friendly region are only slowly easing restrictions. The steady reopening will help Vietnam’s convalescing economy, and may encourage a welcome rethink on leisure industry priorities.