Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung, at a conference in Hanoi on Wednesday, suggested offering visa-free stays to citizens from more countries, including major source markets for Vietnam, like China and India, and wealthy markets amid the lower-than-expected number of foreign tourists visiting the Southeast Asian country.
Vietnam should offer short-term visa waivers for large, potential markets, such as China and India, to boost tourism recovery, especially during the low travel season, the minister said at the conference on fast and sustainable tourism development presided over by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
The list of countries eligible for Vietnam’s visa exemption should be expanded to include countries with a higher level of development than Vietnam and high spending on tourist products and services, such as Australia, Canada, the U.S., and the remaining members of the European Union that have yet to be exempted from visas.
Vietnam currently offers visa waivers for 25 countries, including nine ASEAN members, Chile, Panama, Kyrgyzstan, the UK, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Norway, Belarus, and seven EU members—Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland.
Hung also called for the further cooperation of relevant agencies and more preferential policies to boost tourism recovery and development.
It is also needed to foster inter-locality coordination to establish value chains, develop tourism products, and build a civilized, safe and friendly tourism environment, Minister Hung added.
He noted that tourism promotion programs should be drastically carried out to speed up the international tourism recovery.
He attributed the slower-than-expected tourism recovery to some traditional source markets’ tardiness to gain the growth levels as in the pre-pandemic period and Vietnam's slow access to new and potential markets.
The minister also mentioned the slow recovery of international air routes, political conflicts, and consumers’ tighter budgets for travel due to high inflation as reasons for the sluggish recovery.
Speaking at the conference, PM Chinh stressed that tourism is Vietnam’s key economic sector which has contributed to creating jobs, alleviating poverty, attracting investment, boosting economic growth, preserving and promoting historic and cultural values, and improving the life of local residents.
Tourism is also a practical and effective international bridge as tourists from all over the world visit, experience, understand, and love the land, culture, and people of Vietnam, the government leader said.
He assessed that local tourism has recovered over the past 10 months.
As of the end of last month, Vietnam had welcomed some 10 million international tourist arrivals and served 99 million domestic visitors.
However, the number of foreign travelers in the 10-month period was equal to only 69 percent of the figure in the same period in 2019, when the COVID-19 pandemic had not hit the country.
The number of domestic visitors has stagnated after strong growth in 2022.
Therefore, he ordered solutions to Vietnam’s tourism so that the sector can develop fast and sustainably to reach the target of welcoming at least 35 million international tourists and 120 million local tourist arrivals by 2025, and 50 million foreign visitors and 160 million domestic traveler arrivals by 2030.
The prime minister also asked associations, enterprises, experts, ministries, agencies, and localities to propose breakthrough, specific and feasible solutions and policies to develop infrastructure and human resources in an effort to bolster tourism.
In response, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, chairwoman of Vietnamese conglomerate Sovico Holdings, said the aviation sector has not been able to generate profits after the pandemic, while the operations of many hotels, restaurants, and entertainment service providers remain suspended.
As a result, she proposed making conditions favorable for aviation and launching national action plans to boost tourism in the localities that have airports.
A representative of Vingroup, another local private conglomerate, said it is high time to clear hindrances to tourism by issuing flexible visa policies, specifically offering short-term visa waivers for some key markets.
Regulations on tourist management and tourist site development should be revised to develop tourism, Nguyen Quoc Ky, chairman of travel firm Vietravel, suggested, adding that Vietnam should update its tourism development strategies and organize international events to attract travelers.
Earlier, the Vietnamese government issued a resolution to grant e-visas to citizens from all countries and territories.
The country allowed extending the validity of e-visas granted to foreigners entering the country to 90 days from no more than 30 days for single entry or multiple entries.
It also lengthen the visa-free stay to 45 days from 15 days for citizens of 13 countries, regardless of passport types or entry purposes, as long as they meet the entry requirements outlined in Vietnamese law.
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