The number of foreign visitors to Vietnam is remarkably decreasing. International visitors to Vietnam in the first 4 months fell more than 12 percent over the same period. At a recent conference to solve the issue and promote the development of Vietnam tourism, many argued that one of the major obstacles hindering the development of the tourism industry in the country is the visa.
At present, visa fee is US$45. Travel agencies support travellers by preparing documents, including air tickets, passport copies, etc. Travellers simply bring them to Vietnam embassies in host countries to apply for visa but it still remains difficult to achieve a favourable result. Regarding this problem, Mr Vu The Binh, Vice Chairman of Vietnam Tourism Association said that the dropping of visa would be an effective solution for the tourism industry to attract more international tourists to Vietnam. He took the example of Singapore that has exempted 158 countries from the visa requirement and during the last 14 years, the number of international tourists visiting the country has increased by 30-40 percent. Meanwhile, Vietnam currently offers visa exemption to travellers from just 16 countries. The growth rate of this group of visitors has reduced from 34.8 percent in 2010 to 4 percent in 2014.
At the regular meeting in May, the Government discussed and agreed with the solution proposed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism that, in addition to 16 countries, Vietnam will exempt visa for two groups of countries which are considered key markets with strategic, comprehensive partners having potential visitors with high expenditure. Japan is a typical example which shows the positive effects of visa exemption. Since July 2013, the country has exempted visa for those from Thailand, Malaysia and extended or repeated visa for visitors from Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Thus, in 2014, the number of tourists to Japan from these markets increased to 70 percent compared to that of previous years. In Vietnam, last year, the number of tourists also increased from 2 to 7 times, greater than the average growth in international arrivals after the visa exemption.
Another solution to increase the number of international visitors is to establish Tourism Development Fund which is expected to mobilise VND2,000-2,500 billion after 5 years. Previously, 30 percent of the fund is from the state budget, and the rest from the socialisation fund and revenues from tourism. The tourism development fund is used for activities such as tourism promotion; training and development of human resources; handling problems arising from natural disasters, war and epidemics; environmental protection and security safety for travellers.
Leaders from Vietnam National Administration of Tourism insisted that if these measures, especially visa-free be immediately deployed, the number of visitors to Vietnam will increase again. Because, apart from the scenic highlights, Vietnam is also considered a safe-friendly tourism destination for visitors worldwide.
Le Hien
Visa Exemptions to Attract Foreign Visitors to Vietnam Related image(s)
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