International tourists visit Thien Mu Pagoda

Remove "bottlenecks"

On January 15, 2025, the Government issued Resolution No. 11/NQ-CP on visa exemption under the tourism development stimulus program in 2025 for citizens of 3 countries: Poland, the Czech Republic and the Swiss Confederation. The temporary stay period is 45 days from the date of entry, for the purpose of tourism under the program organized by Vietnamese international travel service businesses, regardless of passport type, on the basis of meeting all entry conditions as prescribed by Vietnamese law.

Recently, on March 7, 2025, the Government issued Resolution No. 44/NQ-CP on visa exemption for citizens of 12 countries, including: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. Citizens holding passports from the above 12 countries are allowed to stay in Vietnam for 45 days from the date of entry, regardless of passport type or purpose of entry, on the basis of meeting the entry conditions as prescribed by Vietnamese law.

Visa policy used to be a "bottleneck" for Vietnam's tourism. Previously, tourists from many countries were only enjoying a 15-day visa exemption, making it difficult to attract visitors to many destinations, stay long-term with high spending. From mid-August 2023, the "bottleneck" was gradually removed when the National Assembly agreed to extend the duration of the e-visa from 30 days to 90 days, valid for multiple entries, and increase the temporary stay period from 15 days to 45 days for citizens of countries unilaterally exempted from visas by Vietnam. The open visa policy immediately creates attractiveness for international tourists, making it easier for businesses to develop plans and strategies to attract visitors.

The representative of Hue City Tourism Association said that the visa policy relaxation is like the first emotional “touch point” for tourists, creating an attractive destination for them. The travel and experience trends of tourists are comfortable, enjoyable, and do not have to spend much time waiting. Therefore, the visa policy relaxation partly solves the above problem, contributing to improving the competitiveness of Vietnam tourism with other countries in the region.

According to Mr. Truong Thanh Minh, Director of the Tourism Promotion Information Center, Hue City Department of Tourism, the open visa policy is a boost for tourism to break through. In fact, planning a trip does not stop at 1-2 destinations but wants to go to many places, this takes a lot of time. When applying the visa exemption policy for a long time, tourists can easily plan their schedules, and localities all benefit. Businesses also have more advantages in building tours and routes for customers.

Hue's traditional and potential tourist markets are Western European countries, North America, and some Asian countries, including South Korea. Therefore, the visa exemption policy for citizens of the 15 countries mentioned above is a great opportunity for tourism in the ancient capital to grow strongly in the number of international visitors and exploit their tourism spending.

International visitors check-in at Lap An lagoon

Need a solution to grasp

Visa policy is considered a strategic solution, but it is not a “magic wand”. In other words, tourists will not automatically come if destinations do not have solutions to seize opportunities and propose appropriate strategies to attract and retain tourists.

Mr. Do Ngoc Co, Chairman of Hue City Tourism Association, said that to attract tourists, products are still the core factor. Although there are many attractive policies, if there are no suitable products that meet the tastes and needs of tourists, it is difficult to attract them. Each market has different requirements, so it is necessary to research, build and perfect the product.

In fact, with its rich tourism resources, Hue has many tourism products. However, if we consider the level of unique tourism products, perhaps apart from cultural heritage, Hue has not yet "proved" that it is a memorable tourism product that forces visitors to find a way to return to experience it.

Once, when I met some foreign tourists, through discussion, they said that they had come to Hue for the third time and were struggling to find something new to avoid repetition. Because if they just spent a few days in Hue like the previous time, there would be nothing left to explore. This is a very worrying reflection. Compared to many other destinations such as Thailand, entertainment tourism, shopping, shows... help visitors stay longer and have something new to come back to.

According to some tourism experts, in addition to focusing on improving service quality and providing tourists with the best experiences, it is necessary to pay attention to researching and building suitable products. Those products must have differences associated with the characteristics of the destination. At the same time, it is necessary to step up promotion and advertising.

Article and photos: MINH TAM - LAN ANH

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/du-lich/them-chinh-sach-mien-thi-thuc-co-hoi-hut-khach-152180.html