Vietnam tourism awaits the day of 'win-win' with common visa for 6 Southeast Asian countries

Vietnamese travel businesses hope the "6 countries, one destination" initiative will become a reality, promising more services and products for long-distance customers.

At the meeting between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on October 9, on the occasion of the 44th-45th ASEAN Summit in Laos, the two sides agreed to expand cooperation in areas with great potential, including coordinating with relevant countries to pilot the tourism cooperation initiative "6 countries, one destination".

Thailand's Proposed "6 Countries, One Destination" Visa from April, for this country and five other Southeast Asian countries including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Myanmar to promote regional tourism.

Mr. Tu Quy Thanh, Director of Lien Bang Tourism Company, commented that this is the right time for Southeast Asian countries to join hands and attract tourists. "Tourism is no longer in its golden age like in 2019, countries need to aim for a common goal to develop together," he said.

Foreign tourists traveling to Hue in October 2023. Photo: Vietnam Tourism

According to the newspaper The Diplomat , a magazine specializing in Asia-Pacific issues, said that Southeast Asian tourism will take several years to return to its 2019 heyday - especially when Chinese tourists, who played a large role in the pre-pandemic boom, are still slow to recover. During the Golden Week of Chinese tourists (October 1-7), many Vietnamese businesses specializing in this type of tourist admitted that the number of visitors was only about 10% of the pre-pandemic level; tour guide no job

Pham Anh Vu, Deputy General Director of Viet Travel Company, which specializes in inbound tourism combined with conferences, said that visitors from far away markets to Vietnam often want to combine tourism with neighboring countries to explore many destinations in one trip.

Normally, when the customer's schedule in Vietnam ends, the company will continue to apply for a visa, acting as a focal point to organize tours for customers to Cambodia and Laos by land or water. However, when the schedule ends, the customer will fly to Thailand or another country with airport infrastructure, connecting to good international destinations to return home.

If the initiative is approved, international visitors, who spend an average of 7-14 days in Vietnam, could extend their trips to 3-4 weeks. Since Vietnam’s airport infrastructure is better than Laos and Cambodia, travel companies could organize tours starting in Vietnam, continuing to these two countries and then returning to fly home.

Mr. Vu added that multinational tours require close coordination between travel agencies in each country. In addition, tourism services need to be standardized to ensure a seamless experience for tourists.

Mr. Hoang The Hau, Director of Dai Viet International Tourism, sees the potential to develop a caravan tour product line (self-driving tourist vehicles) across two or three countries. The company mainly sells caravan tours to Southeast Asian customers but has worked with a small number of European customers. This could be a "great" product when travel procedures between Southeast Asian countries are more convenient.

In addition, he said that Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia will benefit from countries with good tourism promotion activities such as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia through sharing visitors and experiences. In 2023, Malaysia will welcome the most visitors in Southeast Asia, ranking above Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam respectively. With this model, Mr. Hau hopes that all 6 countries can join hands to "win together".

International visitors in Hoi An in early 2024. Photo: Dac Thanh

The "6 Countries, One Destination" initiative is considered a form of Schengen visa in Southeast Asia. According to Travel and Tour World (TTW) , the Schengen visa has stimulated economic growth by increasing the number of tourists, bringing revenue to local businesses. The Schengen visa facilitates easy travel among 29 European countries, turning the continent into a global tourist attraction. In addition, more than 40 countries allow visa exemption for Schengen visa holders, encouraging tourists to explore more destinations outside of Europe.

TTW call general visa Six Southeast Asian countries are the “new Schengen visa”, promising to boost tourism and benefits for participating countries. Editor-in-Chief Anup Kumar Keshan said stakeholders “need to have a common consensus on the urgency of this type of visa”.

Although it is believed that a common visa for six Southeast Asian countries could have a positive impact on the tourism industry as the Schengen visa did, many in the industry question its feasibility and point out some potential drawbacks.

Representatives of both Vietnam Tourism and Lien Bang Tourism are concerned about the general policy because each country has different entry regulations. This was also mentioned by Fragomen - a leading immigration company headquartered in the US - when discussing the "6 countries, one destination" initiative in April. According to this unit, the initiative is ambitious but countries need to have enough determination to implement it, otherwise achieving a visa like Schengen is still a "distant dream".

Alex Sheal, founder of Vietnam In Focus, a travel company that has been operating in Vietnam for nearly 10 years, said Vietnam could be one of the countries that benefit the most from the influx of tourists to Thailand. However, if you spend about 2-3 weeks traveling and don’t spend time applying for a visa, you may not spend much time in Vietnam to explore “deeply”.

Alex said Vietnam is interesting, but Cambodia has Angkor Wat and Thailand has countless tourist islands competing with Phu Quoc. Vietnam In Focus representative predicted that this policy will bring more benefits and competition to the parties involved, while expressing concern. risk of overtourism like Venice or Barcelona today.

"Everything is still just a prediction and I am also waiting for the day this initiative becomes a reality," Alex said.

Source