VISA WAIVER FOR WESTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES EXTENDED

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc agreed to extend the visa waiver for visitors from five Western European countries to three years, starting from early July. In a press release on a regular Government meeting issued on May 3, the Prime Minister made a determined effort to carry out tasks and solutions to transform tourism into a spearhead economic sector.

Therefore, the Government will further strengthen tourism promotion activities, create favorable conditions for international tourists to Vietnam, and expand the list of countries benefiting from the e-visa policy.

Since 2015, whenever the visa waiver for tourists from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain neared the date of expiry, tourism firms and authorities would cry for a renewal of the policy which has helped attract more tourists from these five nations.

They lamented that the Government announces its decisions on visa waiver extensions at short notice yearly, prompting travel firms to race against time in marketing and planning. Thus, tour operators and their foreign partners hope for new regulations that give them more time to facilitate their business.

According to the HCMC government, the policy has led to the annual surge of around 14% in foreign visitor arrivals to the city.

Data of the General Statistics Office shows the number of international tourists to the country in January-April rose by 29.5% to more than 5.54 million, of which the number of visitors from Europe grew by 12.9% to over 843,000.

Source: The Saigon Times