Western European tourists has been considered to visit Vietnam Fluently in recent years. Accordingly, at the regular meeting on 3 June, the Government agreed to enforce the visa exemption policy for visitors from five Western European countries Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy that are from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018 if they stay in Vietnam with no more than 15 days.
Previously, the Tourism Association and Tourism Advisory Board (TAB) had submitted a proposal to extend the visa exemption period from one to five years, increasing the number of stays from 15 to 30 days.
The visa exemption policy for citizens of five Western European countries is being piloted from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016, then extended for a further year, to June 30, 2017. This is the second time this policy is renewed.
According to the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien, visa exemption for visitors from five Western European countries has positively influenced the development of the tourism industry.
In the first five months of this year, the number of international tourists to Vietnam reached more than 5.3 million, 30.8% increase over the same period.
At the meeting, the government came up with solutions to achieve the target of 6.7% GDP which is set out in the first days of this year, in which tourists had to increase by 30%.
Along with the continuation of visa exemption for citizens of the five Western European countries, many members of the Government also suggested that the implementation of electronic visas will also be extended to foreigners.
Earlier in this year, the Government issued Decree No. 07/2017 / ND-CP regulating the order and procedures for pilot issuance of e-visas for foreigners when entering Vietnam.
Tourism experts said that the pilot implementation of electronic visa issuance from January 1, 2017 is a new step towards reforming immigration procedures for visitors.
Many comments at the Government meeting said that for tourists, the cost of visa procedures is not a big problem. However, the most important thing is that the visa procedure must be fast, convenient and avoid nuisance.
In fact, a relatively large proportion of travelers from countries exempted from visas are still applying for visas, as in the case of stays of more than 15 days. Therefore, the electronic visa solution will be beneficial to visitors, thereby contributing to tourism development.