E-visa for all countries, what do Vietnamese tourists get?

Vietnam's issuance of e-visas to all countries helps the tourism industry increase its competitive position, but it also needs to quickly find ways to keep visitors staying longer, according to experts.

From August 15, Vietnam will issue electronic visas (e-visas) to citizens of all countries and territories, with the e-visa validity period increased from 30 to 90 days. In addition, the government will extend the temporary stay period from 15 to 45 days for citizens of 13 countries that Vietnam unilaterally exempts from visas. Previously, Vietnam issued e-visas to citizens from 80 destinations.

“The tourism industry is facing strong development opportunities in promoting and attracting international visitors, especially in organizing long-term tourism programs,” Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Doan Van Viet said about the benefits of new visa policies at the “Conference to disseminate new documents to accelerate the recovery and accelerate the effective and sustainable development of Vietnam’s tourism” this morning in Hanoi.

International visitors to Hoi An earlier this year. Photo: Xuan Phuong

According to Mr. Pham Hai Quynh, Director of the Asian Tourism Development Institute, Vietnamese tourism has always been “stuck at the visa stage”, causing many businesses to worry. The current relaxation helps the industry solve two main problems: tourists have enough time to stay longer and meet the needs of tourists going to a second or third country and then returning to Vietnam before returning.

“This is an opportunity for us to balance supply and demand, and also an opportunity for Vietnam to welcome more investment opportunities, restore tourism and the economy after the pandemic,” said Mr. Quynh.

Statistics on tourism activities in the first 7 months of the year from the National Tourism Administration show that China ranked second in the top 10 largest international tourist markets to Vietnam, with nearly 740,000 arrivals out of a total of 6.6 million. However, when exploiting the Chinese tourist market, Vietnam still has to compete with strong rivals such as Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines, according to Deputy General Director of Vietravel Tourism Company Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang. These three countries have all increased the length of stay for tourists to 30 days or more, creating opportunities to attract international visitors before.

“The change in visa policy helps Vietnamese tourism increase its competitive position compared to many competitors, especially Indochina inter-route programs,” said Ms. Hoang.

According to Ms. Hoang, the new policy is a factor that helps businesses develop long-term tourism programs for international visitors. From there, visitors can easily visit on resort or cross-Vietnam tourism routes, connecting tours of three Indochinese countries (Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia), helping to extend their stay and increase foreign currency earnings. The new visa policy is also a motivation for international visitors who want to travel to Vietnam, especially to distant markets such as Europe and New Zealand - which take a lot of time to travel.

E-visa for all countries, what do Vietnamese tourists get?

Passengers check in at Noi Bai airport in June 2022. Photo: Ngoc Thanh

“The new policy makes us excited because we can welcome more guests, but we also have many concerns and worries such as how to make guests stay longer, spend more, and increase attraction for guests to return,” said Vu Van Tuyen, director of Travelogy Vietnam tourism company.

Mr. Tuyen said that businesses are facing difficulties such as: destination promotion campaigns are not really effective, provinces and cities all have similar tourism products, high travel prices while the tourism supply chain is not unified.

“We have more than 20 famous night markets in Vietnam, but none of them has created a brand or been on par with other night markets in other countries in the region,” said Mr. Tuyen.

With 25 years of experience in the industry and having had the opportunity to learn about tourism in many countries, Mr. Tuyen believes that price is never an issue that hinders tourists. “Customers want to spend a lot of money but they are not satisfied with the service they receive.”

“We should put the price issue aside,” said Mr. Tuyen. Instead, localities need to focus on creating unique, regional products to attract tourists.

The new visa policy creates more favorable conditions for international visitors, but the growth figures “may not be too impressive this year” because international visitors, especially those from the European and American markets, often book tours half a year in advance. However, according to Ms. Hoang, Vietnam can welcome 10-11 million visitors this year and can expect a strong recovery like before the pandemic next year.

However, to achieve this, travel companies also need to coordinate with partners to design new tourism programs, innovate products, continue to promote and market to source markets. Vietnamese tourism also needs to ensure service quality, improve destination management from central to local levels to bring tourists the experiences that they originally desired.

“We still have a lot of work to do if we want to attract tourists and improve our competitiveness,” said Director of the National Tourism Administration Nguyen Trung Khanh.

According to Phuong Anh/VNE

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