More European tourists to Vietnam thanks to visa exemption

More European tourists to Vietnam thanks to visa exemption

The Hanoitimes – Vietnam welcomed 5.55 million international visitors in the January-July period, a 24% year-on-year increase, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

The country’s tourism sector recorded a strong growth in tourist arrivals from Italy, Spain, the UK, Germany and France during the reviewed time as the Government on June 30 issued the resolution to extend the visa exemption for citizens from these five Western European countries.
Citizens from the five European countries are allowed to enter and stay in Vietnam for up to 15 days without a visa.
According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), 846,300 foreign tourists came to Vietnam in July, up 41.2% over the same month last year.
The stastics pointed out that Italian tourist arrivals in the period rose by 30.5% year-on-year to 27,425; Spain up 24.2% to 22,835; the UK up 23.4% to 147,673; Germany up 17.5% to 97,421 and France up 13.2% to 142,214.
In July alone, the number from Italy was 3,026, Spain 4,797, the UK 19,365, Germany 10,550 and France 18,193, representing year-on-year growth of 32.7%, 30.4%, 15.7%, 21.2% and 9.5%.

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Besides, the number of tourists from other key markets also increased strongly in the first seven months, with Hong Kong up a staggering 111.8%, China 54.5%, Thailand 37.2%, and the Republic of Korea (RoK) 37%. However, a drop of 17.6% was recorded in the number of Cambodian visitors.
Last year, Vietnam received 1.1 million RoK’s tourists.
But Vu The Binh, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association said visitors from RoK may surge this year, but next year the figure would be still unpredictable. He said that Vietnam’s tourism industry does not develop in a sustainable manner.
Binh shared that in the ASEAN region, Thailand, in contrast, has a long-term plan and proper investment strategies to develop its tourism industry. Around 30 million international visitors come to Thailand a year while Vietnam only targets several million tourists from abroad, he noted.
Vietnam is expected to welcome 9 million international arrivals this year, exceeding the target of 8.5 million.

Thu Minh

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