Not really opened yet, Vietnam tourism still counts each international visitor

From March 15, 2022, in addition to unilateral visa exemption for citizens of 13 countries, bilaterally with 88 countries and territories, an electronic visa (e-visa) is also officially granted by Vietnam. After a 2-year hiatus due to Covid-19.

Citizens of 80 countries coming to Vietnam, regardless of purposes such as tourism, commercial investment, visiting relatives, working, getting married,… and staying for no more than 30 days, can apply for a visa. electronic visa (e-visa).

However, some travel companies said that the Apply for a visa It is still very difficult, especially for retail customers, to apply for an e-visa.

At the National Tourism Forum on April 1, Cao Tri Dung, Chairman of Da Nang Tourism Association, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam TravelMart International Travel Company, said that although we have announced the full opening security, but the current bottleneck is still visas, especially for retail customers. Not all guests need to apply for a visa immediately, in many cases a guarantee is required. Meanwhile, some businesses do not have this service, so guests have to “swim by themselves”.

International visitors to Vietnam after opening for tourism (photo VNA)

According to a representative of a tourism business, this is not easy. If you do not apply for an e-visa on your own, you will lose a fee of 25 USD. Those who are lucky can get an e-visa or a business visa (business visa), or from a visa-exempt country, for less than 15 or 30 days (depending on nationality).

With international delegations, Vietnam currently has not received large groups because the international tourist season is usually from September last year to April next year. Therefore, the communications director of a large travel agency in Ho Chi Minh City said that it is not clear whether it is difficult to consider visas or not.

However, Mr. Dau Anh Tuan, Head of VCCI Legal Department, assessed that Vietnam’s visa policy is reducing the direct competitiveness of Vietnam’s tourism compared to ASEAN countries.

If most countries in the region have applied a visa-free policy for international visitors to enter from 30 days, then Vietnam is one of the very few Southeast Asian countries that still requires a visa for most of them. tourists. Visa exemption application time is very short, only 15-50% compared to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia…

Regarding e-visa, many countries with competitive tourism such as Thailand or Singapore have applied with low fees, open procedures on electronic platforms. Meanwhile, the cost of tourist visas issued on entry at Vietnam’s border gates is nearly double that of other countries such as Cambodia, Laos or Indonesia.

Not to mention, information about applying for a visa to enter Vietnam is rarely aggregated publicly and clearly on any official portal, causing great limitations in transparency and openness. Open, flexible, attractive of Vietnam’s tourism to international visitors.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Khoa Luan, Director of Photo Viet Hop on – Hop off Travel Company, said that in order to promote Vietnam’s tourism, the first thing is the problem. entry visa.

Luan said, no matter how beautiful your house is, how luxurious it is, but if the door is closed, no one can enter. Vietnam exempts visas for citizens of 13 countries, but looking at Thailand, Indonesia has exempted 130 countries.

“They are promoted internationally for almost free, while we still measure each guest entering at the airport and it costs a lot to promote,” he said frankly. Therefore, the real opening, in which the focus is on visa policy, will be fully open, not only welcoming tourists but also business visitors, commercial activities, import and export into Vietnam.

At the recent conference to launch the reopening of tourism activities in Quang Ninh, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, an economic expert, said that even though we have opened visas as before the epidemic, we will only welcome 25-30% of visitors. . Therefore, it is necessary to expand the visa-free policy to more countries.

Ngoc Ha