Illustrative image (Source: VNA)Although the country has offered unilateral visaexemption and e-visas, the policy is not competitive enough as the 15-day visaexemption has yet to satisfy the need of visitors from such markets asEurope, North America and Australia, who often stay from three to four weeks inVietnam, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST).
Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department ofTourism Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa said the ministry should propose the Governmentinstruct the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to expand the list of countries andterritories qualified for visa exemption and e-visa, and restore visa grantingat border gates.
She also suggested simplifying visa procedures forvisitors who get infected with COVID-19 during their stay in Vietnam andundergo treatment in the Southeast Asian nation.
The official proposed extending visa-free stay fromthe current 15 to 30 days to attract more tourists.
Nguyen Thien Phuc, Director of Product Research& Development at Vidotour Indochina Travel, said apart from the visapolicy, a national communication strategy and a contingent of trained personnelare needed for the domestic tourism sector.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism hascoordinated with associations, businesses and airlines to outline promotionplans to quickly ramp up international tourism, focusing on Southeast Asian,Northeast Asian and European markets.
Specifically, Vietnam will join JATA Tourism Expo, aleading regional travel fair which will take place in Japan from September22-25, and the World Travel Market in the UK from November 7-9.
There will be also festivals and programmespromoting Vietnamese tourism in major markets like the Republic of Korea,Japan, Taiwan (China), Europe, North America and Australia, along with an arrayof events at home.
The sector served nearly 72 million domestictourists and 733,000 foreign visitors so far this year, according to the MCST.
The Ministry of Public Security said it grantede-visas to citizens from 80 countries and territories and offered visasexemption to travelers from 25 others./.
VNA
