Citizens from five countries – the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy will enjoy visa exemption since July 1, 2015
NDO – Foreign visitors to Vietnam in the first five months of this year dropped by 12.6% compared to the same period in 2014 with a 23.1% decrease in the number of visitors travelling by road, 34.4% reduction in visitors by sea and 0.8% drop in visitors by air – bad news for Vietnamese tourism, according to the General Statistics Office.
Under the government’s Resolution No.46/NQ-CP issued on June 18, 2015, Vietnam will grant visa exemptions for citizens from five countries – the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy – for stays no longer than 15 days. The Resolution will be in effect for one year, beginning July 1, 2015 and ending on June 30, 2016, and will apply to all types of passports.
As a result, citizens of 22 countries are now able to enjoy Vietnam’s visa exemptions including nine ASEAN countries, four Nordic countries, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Japan, Russia, Belarus and the five recently approved countries.
Within ASEAN, Singapore has granted visa exemptions for tourists from 158 countries, and the Philippines and Thailand provide visa exemptions for citizens from 157 and 155 countries respectively. In addition, 174 out of 229 countries and territories across the world have exempted visas for citizens from the US, Germany and the UK; 173 countries have granted visa exemption for Canadian citizens and 172 countries have granted exemption for citizens from France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Portugal.
Vietnam has great potential to develop tourism thanks to political stability, increasing socio-economic development, friendly and open-minded people, reasonable prices of commodities and services, diverse landscapes and ecosystems, a long coastline and fascinating chain of caves.
Vietnam also possesses a unique ‘collection’ of world heritages including eight UNESCO world heritage sites and 12 UNESCO’s world intangible cultural heritages – higher than the total number of official heritages granted to Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.
International arrivals to Vietnam have increased directly proportional to the coverage of direct flights connecting tourist spots, the simplification of visa procedures and visitor management. Since the visa waiver in 2014, the number of Japanese and RoK tourists to Vietnam has increased 2.43 times and 3.6 times respectively. The number of Russian visitors to Vietnam has also gone up 7.45 times since 2009.
The facts have proven that strong and sustainable tourism development will be attained based on close co-ordination between all relevant ministries, sectors and agencies; the reduction of entry procedures; and the comprehensive development of infrastructure and services. Tourism development is also attributed to environmental protection, political and social security, and the effective use of tourism resources among others.
Tourism is a composite industry comprising different sectors of the economy which can create a pervasive influence and positive driving force for economic restructuring, generate jobs and increase the incomes of millions of workers. Therefore, it is urgent we develop a professional and high-quality tourism industry to make it a key economic sector, contributing significantly to the GDP.
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