Though Vietnam’s visa procedures were simplified in recent years, the country’s visa requirements are placed a lowly 116th out of 136 countries in the WEF’s Competitiveness Index.
Vietnam ranks fifth in ASEAN in terms of the number of foreign arrivals
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If Vietnam’s visa policy is further opened up, the country will be much more attractive to foreign visitors, the insiders said. Vietnam currently ranks fifth in ASEAN in terms of the number of foreign arrivals.
Nguyen Quoc Ky, CEO of local tour organizer Vietravel, said that many tourists complain that the visa rigmarole is one of the biggest obstacles to visiting a country. To boost tourism, Vietnam should adopt a one-sided visa-free policy as many countries have done.
According to representatives from the Vietnam Tourism Association, visa exemption should be expanded to more countries.
Once Vietnam is willing to scrap visa requirements, it should also allow tourists to stay longer in the country, from the current 15 days to 30 days, it suggested, adding that the expansion will encourage holidaymakers to stay longer and spend more in the country.
Local travel agencies hope for more robust growth if the government considers extending the list of visa-free countries in June 2018, Ky said.
The visa exemption has been proved an effective measure to attract foreign arrivals to the country in recent years.
Vu The Binh, vice chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said that the visa-exemption policy for citizens from the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy that has been in force since July 2015 has boosted the number of European tourists to the country.
The exemption policy attracted 720,000 tourists from these countries in the first 12 months – an increase of 96,000 tourists compared to the period in 2014 – yielding total revenues of US$126 million. Last year, 58,000 more European tourists visited the country and yielded $76 million in revenues.
Vietnam has so far also taken measures to ease foreign visitors through the application of e-visa program.
According to the Administration of Immigration under the Ministry of Public Security, 96,478 foreigners requested e-visas on Vietnam’s immigration portal last year.
Procedures for granting e-visas on the website are implemented simply, ensuring publicity and transparency. The time for processing e-visa applications is within three working days.
Vietnam began allowing tourists from 40 countries to apply for e-visas from February 1, 2017, such as China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States, the UK, Germany and Sweden.
The government recently decided to expand e-visa issuance for visitors from six more countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UAE, India and the Netherlands.
Visitors with e-visas can enter through eight international airports, 13 international border gates on land or seven ports.
Simplifying immigration procedures is a common trend around the world. According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2016-17 from the World Economic Forum (WEF), the percentage of tourists requesting visas to enter a country decreased from 77 percent in 2008 to 58 percent in 2016.
Vietnam aims to welcome 16 million foreign visitors in 2018, year-on-year increase of 25 percent.
In the first two months of this year, the country served 2.86 million foreign holiday-makers, up 29.7 percent against the same period of 2017.
