This is the opinion proposed by many experts and businesses at the workshop "Which tourists should Vietnam exempt visas for?" organized by Thanh Nien Newspaper on April 24.
Looking back at the opening of the tourism industry after the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ky, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietravel Corporation, expressed regret that Vietnam had lost the golden opportunity to bring tourism up to speed and surpass other countries in the ASEAN region. The main reason was the slow visa opening policy.
At present, Vietnam is entering a new era, Mr. Ky hopes that the visa policy will not be delayed again.
The processing time for evisa applications in many countries is only about 1-2 days, some countries process it in just 14 hours but it takes 3-5 days to enter Vietnam. The flexibility of policy adjustments in other countries is also greater than Vietnam. For example, in Thailand, in just 90 days after the pandemic, this country has changed its visa policy 15 times.
Breakthrough visa policies will help the tourism industry make a breakthrough, according to many experts and businesses.
"Countries only consider visa policies as a tool to attract visitors, so they can flexibly change them continuously. Vietnam considers visas as a "lock", but it will take a long time to "unlock". Opening visas is not a new story, but why have we not been able to solve it despite constant petitions? If the Government considers tourism to be a truly key economic sector, visas are the first key that needs to be opened to welcome visitors," said Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ky.
Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy, Marketing Director of Vinpearl (Vingroup), proposed that priority should be given to planning visa exemptions for strategic market groups with potential and real room for growth. In particular, planning for market groups with high spending, long stay and rapidly changing travel behavior such as Australia and New Zealand. Vietnam can completely "take a shortcut" to capture this market share.
Market groups with the trend of tourists loving nature, indigenous culture, tending to take long vacations and not afraid to pay for high-end experiences such as Northern Europe such as Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Emerging market groups have the characteristics of tourists who like long vacations, are willing to spend and look for sunny destinations to avoid winter, such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Mongolia...
As of April 2025, Vietnam has exempted visas for citizens of 29 countries and territories, with stays from 14 to 90 days, but Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore... have applied much more flexible visa exemption policies.
"We also propose that the Government allow the pilot implementation of the "visa sandbox" model in some destinations with good management infrastructure such as Phu Quoc, Nha Trang or Ha Long. Seasonal testing or media campaigns will help measure the actual effectiveness of the policy before expanding it nationwide," Ms. Thuy suggested.
Mr. Nguyen Quang Trung, Head of Development Planning Department, Vietnam Airlines Corporation, proposed that the Government add 20 EU countries (priority Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Portugal...), along with the US, Canada, Australia, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Brazil to the visa exemption list. Extend the visa exemption period for Europe, North America, Australia to 90 days; issue 24-month visas for investors/experts, simplify e-visas (processed in less than 24 hours).
Source: https://nld.com.vn/kien-nghi-mien-visa-cho-du-khach-my-canada-uc-uae-196250424155707826.htm
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