Expecting China to loosen visas for Vietnamese visitors

After China reduced tourist visa fees by 25% for citizens of several countries, including Vietnam, experts expect visa policies to be further relaxed to promote tourism.

From December 11, China's policy of reducing tourist visa fees by 25% for Vietnamese citizens will take effect, from 60 USD to 45 USD, according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The visa fee for Vietnamese citizens to enter China is the lowest among the countries that apply this policy. The application period is until December 31, 2024.

According to Xinhua News Agency, this move is considered the latest solution by the Chinese government to promote the tourism industry.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Lijiang, China. Photo taken by Vietnamese tour guide Liu Yuling in November. Photo: Liu Yuling

Nguyen Ngoc Lan, 30, said this was "good news" for "people who like Chinese romance novels and want to travel here" like her. Lan had been to China six times before and planned to go to China in September 2024. "I will save 200,000 VND on visa fees thanks to the new policy," she said. Although the amount of money saved is not much, to Lan "it is very valuable."

Director of the Asian Tourism Development Institute Le Hai Quynh said that "China's move to reduce visa fees has great significance for the tourism industry and international relations". Vietnamese tourists are facilitated and motivated to travel to China, thereby promoting the development of the tourism industry and creating a new market.

Lux Group CEO Pham Ha said the visa fee reduction "has a certain positive impact" in boosting the number of Vietnamese tourists to China after the pandemic.

Redtours Flamingo General Director Nguyen Cong Hoan said that in addition to official visitors (with official passports), Vietnamese visitors to China come in three forms: applying for group visas at the border gate, travel documents and paper visas. The reduced visa fee is being applied to visas applied for at the embassy. This fee reduction brings direct benefits to visitors applying for paper visas such as visiting relatives, independent tourists, and business travelers. "Vietnamese visitors traveling in groups have almost no impact," Mr. Hoan said.

To significantly increase the number of Vietnamese tourists to China, visa policies need to be further relaxed, according to many tourism experts. Mr. Ha hopes that in the future, China will move towards waiving visa fees or temporarily exempting visas for Vietnamese tourists during the peak tourist season.

Mr. Hai Quynh said the ultimate meaning and impact of visa fee reduction still depends on many different factors such as labor force regulations, tourism promotion activities and tourists' perceptions of safety and security conditions in the country they want to visit.

The head of Redtours Flamingo said that the number of Vietnamese tourists traveling to China still mainly buy tours and travel in groups. Before the pandemic, the procedure for issuing group visas to Vietnamese tourists in China was "very quick and easy". "Usually after 1-2 days of submitting documents, the customer is granted a visa", Mr. Hoan said. However, after the pandemic, the procedure for issuing group visas is more complicated and difficult, the issuance time is longer and up to 15 days. Besides, while before the pandemic, most customers applying for group visas were accepted, now many customers are still rejected.

"Tourism businesses hope that the group visa policy will be as open as before the pandemic," said Mr. Hoan.

Vnexpress.net