International tourists interested in Vietnam after new e-visa policy

According to Agoda, French tourists led the increase in the number of searches for accommodation in Vietnam, followed by tourists from the Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany, and the United States with an increase of 38-45% after the new visa policy.

The new policy of granting electronic visas (e-visas) to increase the validity period to 90 days for tourists to Vietnam is gradually approaching the effective date from August 15, 2023, receiving attention from the domestic and foreign tourism industry.

According to online travel platform Agoda, the number of travelers searching for information about this innovative policy increased by 33% in the two weeks after the National Assembly passed and announced it.

A recently released report by online travel platform Agoda shows that Vietnam's innovative e-visa policy has received attention from tourists around the world immediately after its announcement and the number of interested people is on the rise.

Leading the increase in accommodation searches were visitors from France, up 72% compared to two weeks ago.

Other countries and territories such as the Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany, the United States... also recorded an increase of 38-45% in tourism interest to Vietnam.

According to Agoda representative, the platform's data analysis focuses on long-haul travelers from North America, EU, Australia, New Zealand... who face stricter visa policies than those entering other Southeast Asian countries and more broadly in the Asia-Pacific region.

These tourists often have to travel by longer and more expensive round-trip flights, making them more likely to plan longer vacations than tourists from nearby areas. Therefore, more flexibility and openness in the visa issuance process, along with promotional activities and increased combination flights have contributed to the goal of attracting foreign tourists to Vietnam.

Survey research data also shows that there are many positive signals towards Vietnam's goal of attracting 8 million tourists by the end of 2023.

In addition, since the beginning of the year, Vietnam has welcomed about 5.57 million tourists, which is the basis for the tourism industry to expect to achieve the set target.

Typically, after Vietnam introduced a new policy of granting e-visas to increase the duration to 90 days for Indian citizens, India rose from 8th place to become the international market with the second largest number of bookings in Vietnam, after South Korea.

In fact, recently a MICE group (tourism combining conferences, seminars, exhibitions, events, and corporate incentive travel for employees and partners) of nearly 500 guests from HDFC ERGO General Insurance, India, arrived in Ho Chi Minh City.

This MICE group participated in various activities in the City and some inter-provincial tours in the Southern region such as experiencing the conference journey, staying, enjoying Vietnamese and Indian cuisine at some restaurants, hotels...

The delegation also visited a series of destinations, including: War Remnants Museum, City Post Office, Ben Thanh Market, Saigon Square, and Cu Chi Tunnels.

From a local perspective, Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, said that the Department will work with relevant departments and sectors to perfect the policy for developing MICE tourism in the area. In particular, the Ho Chi Minh City tourism industry will increase the attractiveness of destinations to attract high-spending visitors while paying attention to honoring and encouraging the tourism business community to bring MICE visitors to the city.

Statistics show that in the first 6 months of 2023, international visitors to the City reached 1,941,267, an increase of 306% over the same period in 2022 and reaching 38.8% of the 2023 plan.

Domestic tourists to the City reached 16,415,438 arrivals, up 48% over the same period in 2022 and reaching 46.9% of the 2023 plan./.

My Phuong (VietnamPlus)

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