Tourism industry insiders urge govt to ease visa requirements

At a gathering chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam on Wednesday, Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, director of the HCMC Division of Tourism, proposed the federal government order the Ministry of Overseas Affairs to contemplate waiving visas for extra nations, as a substitute of the current 24.

She additionally urged the federal government to increase visa-free stays for vacationers from Western European nations from the present 15 to 30 days as a result of Westerners are likely to make longer journeys, Vietnam Information Company reported.

She additionally anticipated the federal government to simplify e-visa issuance procedures to facilitate vacationer entry.

Nguyen Thien Phuc, product supervisor of Ho Chi Minh Metropolis-based Vidotour Indochina Travel, additionally petitioned the federal government to take away visa obstacles to draw overseas vacationers for the remainder of the 12 months.

Nguyen Van Hung, Minister of Tradition, Sports activities and Tourism, admitted although Vietnam reopened its borders to overseas vacationers, its visa insurance policies are much less engaging than neighboring nations.

Earlier, he proposed increasing visa exemption for vacationers from the U.S., Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India to spice up restoration.

Within the first seven months this 12 months, Vietnam acquired 733,000 overseas arrivals, solely 15 % of this 12 months’s goal.

Vietnam reopened its borders to overseas vacationers final November earlier than permitting quarantine-free entry from March 15.

Along with 24 tourism markets eligible for 15 to 30-day visa exemption, Vietnam now solely points a one-month single-entry e-visa to guests from different nations.

Many foreigners have expressed hope that the federal government returns to the three-month visa coverage that was the norm earlier than the pandemic.