The move is intended to attract more international tourists to Vietnam
The visa waiver period for foreigners entering Vietnam is likely to be extended from 15 to 30 days, according to a draft directive from the prime minister on attracting international tourists to Vietnam, local media reported.
Under the draft directive prepared by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Public Security will work with relevant ministries, agencies and municipalities to extend the visa waiver period for citizens of countries entitled to Vietnam’s visa-free policy.
In addition, e-Visas will be issued to citizens of all Vietnam tourism source markets.
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The Ministry of Public Security was also suggested to improve the technology application and improve the process and procedures for issuing e-Visas.
It should also simplify immigration and clearance procedures at border gates and airports, creating the most favorable conditions for international travelers to Vietnam.
The draft directive also contained specific tasks for other ministries and municipalities.
In particular, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism should improve the country’s tourism competitiveness, restructure tourism activities to meet global trends, and develop high-quality, diversified, high value-added specialty tourism products.
The ministry will improve the quality of local tourism manpower so that they can meet international standards.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should study the 2017 Law on Overseas Representative Missions of Vietnam and other related legal documents and propose amendments to facilitate the establishment of Vietnam’s Overseas Tourism Promotion Agency to support tourism development.
Visa policy is one of the bottlenecks of tourism in Vietnam, failing to attract many foreign visitors.
Vietnam’s current visa policy is considered less friendly than that of other countries in the Southeast Asian region.
Therefore, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh demanded the review, amendment and addition of visa-related policies to create favorable conditions for international tourists.
Vietnam reopened its doors to foreign travelers in March last year, ahead of many other countries in the region.
The local tourism sector has recovered, but the results are not as expected.
The number of international tourists who visited Vietnam last year only met 70 percent of the target.
The country has set a target of welcoming 110 million tourists this year, including 102 million domestic travelers and eight million international guests, according to the Tuoi Tre news.
International visitors to Vietnam reached more than 871,000 arrivals in January 2023, an increase of 23.2 percent compared to December 2022 and 44.2 times more than last year.
