Government considers visa exemption for 7 countries
Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has just directed relevant sectors to assess the political, economic and security impacts of visa exemptions for visitors from Japan, South Korea, Russia and four Nordic countries recently.
At the recent meeting of the State Steering Committee on Tourism, many people recommended that the Government should consider and issue policies to facilitate international visitors to Vietnam for tourism, such as unilateral visa exemption for tourists from some key markets (Japan, South Korea, the Russian Federation and 4 Nordic countries), and adjust the temporary stay period for visa-exempt tourists to 30 days instead of 15 days as at present.
Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to comprehensively assess the impact of visa exemption for citizens of the above seven countries and propose future directions for submission to the Government for decision.
European tourists visit the Mekong Delta. Photo: Doan Loan
In April, the Vietnam Tourism Association petitioned the Government to continue visa exemption for these 7 countries, in the context that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the trial of visa exemption for 7 countries caused Vietnam to lose 50 million USD.
According to Mr. Vu The Binh, Vice President of the Tourism Association, if the Government does not exempt visas, Vietnam will lose its competitive advantage over countries with open visa policies for foreign tourists, for example, Thailand is exempting visas for 55 countries and Malaysia is exempting visas for 155 countries...
Mr. Binh said that compared to other countries in the region, Vietnam is still not a very attractive destination, and now with the complicated visa procedures, tourists are not very interested. Moreover, among the 7 countries that have exempted visas, South Korea, Russia and Japan are all potential markets for Vietnamese tourism. In 2012, the revenue from tourists of these three countries was 2 billion USD and the VAT collected was 200 million USD.
According to (VnXpress) - LC
