Opening dual visa stream to attract tourists and investors

Vietnam has a dual tool: expanded tourist visas to attract high-end visitors and special visas to attract investors and experts, creating a synergy effect between tourism and economic-investment, strongly contributing to the country's overall economic growth.

Wherever visa is opened, customers increase sharply.

The Government has just issued Resolution No. 229 (dated August 8) on visa exemption under the Tourism Development Stimulus Program for citizens of 12 countries, officially increasing the total number of countries that Vietnam unilaterally exempts from visas to 39. Accordingly, citizens of the following countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland when entering Vietnam for tourism purposes will be exempted from visas for a temporary stay of 45 days, regardless of passport type, on the basis of meeting all entry conditions according to Vietnamese law. This policy is implemented from August 15, 2025 to August 14, 2028.

Breakthroughs in visa policy are a boost for Vietnam tourism to accelerate strongly.

PHOTO: Nhat Thinh

On the same day, August 8, Decree 221/2025 issued by the Government, effective from August 15, also exempts visas for a limited period for foreigners who are in special need of incentives to serve socio-economic development. These are investors, leaders of corporations, leaders of large enterprises in the world, people working in the fields of culture, arts, sports and tourism with great influence, scientists ... This policy is designed to attract talents and celebrities to Vietnam, contributing to promoting the national image effectively and directly.

The leaders of the National Tourism Administration assessed that the recovery and strong development of Vietnam tourism is closely linked to the visa policy that has been systematically built over the past two years, with two main pillars being electronic visa issuance (e-visa) and unilateral visa exemption. This policy has created a synchronous and effective system, opening the door to welcome international tourists.

Vietnam waives visas for 'special figures': Football stars, scientists and who else?

Specifically, from August 15, 2023, Vietnam has expanded the issuance of electronic visas (e-visas) to citizens of all countries and territories, increasing the duration of stay from 30 days to 90 days, valid for single or multiple entries. This has created a revolution in entry procedures, making it easy for visitors to apply for visas online, saving time and costs. The e-visa policy helps improve the competitiveness of Vietnam's tourism with countries in the region, creating the most favorable conditions for international visitors, especially potential markets that have not been exempted from visas. Thanks to that, after a difficult period due to the pandemic, the tourism industry has had a spectacular recovery. By the end of 2023, Vietnam tourism will welcome 12.6 million international visitors, far exceeding the initial target, 3.4 times higher than in 2022. In 2024, the tourism industry will continue to grow strongly, welcoming 17.6 million international visitors, recovering 98% compared to 2019 - the highest level in the ASEAN region.

Vietnam aims to welcome 22 - 23 million international visitors in 2025

PHOTO: Hoang Hung

Entering 2025, positive results continued to be recorded when in the first 7 months of 2025, Vietnam welcomed over 12.2 million international visitors, an increase of 22.5% over the same period last year. The growth rate of Vietnam tourism in the first quarter of 2025 was recorded by the United Nations Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) as the highest in the Asia- Pacific region and ranked 6th in the world. In particular, the contribution of Resolution No. 11 on visa exemption under the Tourism Development Stimulus Program in 2025 for citizens of Poland, Czech Republic and Switzerland since the beginning of the year has affirmed its effectiveness when the number of visitors from these countries to Vietnam has continuously increased every month, raising the total growth rate of visitors from the European market to 38% right in the middle of the lowest season.

"Obviously, besides innovation in products and services, increased promotional activities, and stimulus programs to attract visitors, open visa and immigration policies are a key factor in attracting a large number of international visitors to Vietnam in recent times," said the leader of the National Tourism Administration.

Attract both high-spending and high-value-added customers

After decades of monitoring and contributing to the development of the country's tourism industry, Mr. Vo Anh Tai, Deputy General Director of SaigonTourist Group, is extremely excited about the dramatic changes in visa policy in the recent period. For long-time tourism professionals like Mr. Tai, visas are always considered the biggest and most difficult bottleneck to solve.

Vietnam has many advantages to become an international tourist destination.

PHOTO: Hoang Trung

"Vietnam's tourism is witnessing remarkable progress, especially with breakthrough visa policies. It can be said that Vietnam's visa policy has entered a new phase, both expanding and focusing. Resolution 229 expands visa exemption for a series of high-spending, long-stay European countries, while Decree 221 establishes a temporary visa exemption mechanism for special subjects, creating a connection between tourism policy and high-quality resource attraction policy. The combination of these two policies is both "right" in orientation and "hit" the market and target audience. Not only opening the door to ordinary international visitors in the high-end segment, we also attract special groups of visitors who are capable of bringing capital, knowledge, and investment networks," commented Mr. Vo Anh Tai.

According to Mr. Tai, in the immediate future, visa exemption for European countries under Resolution 229 will help the number of international visitors to Vietnam have more opportunities to increase sharply during the peak season of 2025 - 2026. At the same time, Decree 221 opens a channel to welcome international experts and businessmen to survey, invest and work long-term. This creates two parallel streams of visitors: high-spending service consumers and visitors who create added value for the economy.

In the current period, when the world politics is unstable, the US's reciprocal tariff policy with Vietnam and other countries is constantly changing unpredictably, bringing international inbound tourists to Vietnam is even more important. This is considered one of the shields, an effective defense tool for the economy. In essence, inbound is an on-site export industry, foreign currency revenue from tourism will partially offset the possibility of a decline in goods exports due to the reciprocal tax issue. Thereby, contributing to minimizing the impacts and fluctuations from the new tariff policy, reducing the impact on the economy, increasing foreign exchange reserves, reducing exchange rate fluctuations, domestic currency impacts...

Vietnam has many advantages to become an international tourist destination.

PHOTO: Manh Cuong

"In addition, the combination of the two visa policies also helps to activate the service supply chain from accommodation, cuisine, transportation to shopping and entertainment, ensuring hundreds of thousands of jobs. In the long term, this is the foundation to position Vietnam as an open, friendly and attractive destination for both tourists and investors; both serving immediate needs and ensuring sustainable growth. It can be seen that the role of growing Vietnam's tourism development, especially international tourism in the coming time, is more important than ever and the breakthrough visa policies this time have chosen the right "drop point" to fully promote their effectiveness", Mr. Vo Anh Tai emphasized.

The leaders of the Department of Tourism also affirmed that the new visa policies are a strong boost, creating momentum for the tourism industry to attract more international visitors in the second half of 2025 and the following years. The stability and 3-year validity of the visa exemption policy in Resolution 44 and Resolution 229 of the Government bring peace of mind to investors and businesses, encouraging them to invest in infrastructure, improve service quality, and develop new tourism products to meet the needs of these visitor markets.

In addition to the increase in the number of visitors, the length of stay and spending of international visitors will also increase thanks to the increase in the temporary stay period of countries with unilateral visa exemption from 15 days to 45 days and for countries with electronic visas to 90 days. This policy is especially meaningful for tourists from distant markets such as Europe, Australia, North America... who often have long vacations and high spending levels, preferring multi-destination tours. From here, the excitement of tourism activities will lead to multi-sector and multi-sector development: from revenue from accommodation, food and beverage, transportation, to shopping, entertainment...

It can be affirmed that the Government's new visa policy is not only a short-term stimulus solution, but also a long-term vision of the role of tourism in the country's economic development. This is a golden opportunity for Vietnam to become a new center of international tourism, creating a strong driving force for double-digit economic growth in the coming years, creating momentum for tourism to truly develop into a spearhead economic sector, meeting the expectations of the Party, the State and the whole society.

Leader of Vietnam National Tourism Administration

Turn the tide against heavyweight Thailand

Immediately after Vietnam announced visa exemptions for a series of high-spending European countries, the Thai newspaper Bangkok Post published an article warning that the tourism industry in the land of golden pagodas is weakening due to fierce competition from Vietnam and South Korea, which are improving visa exemption policies for many international tourist markets. In the article, Ms. Morrakot Kuldilok, President of the Eastern Branch of the Thai Hotels Association (THA), cited many tourist groups, especially from Russia, Europe and India, who have shifted their travel from Pattaya to Vietnam and recommended that the Thai Government should act more quickly to resolve the obstacles.

This is not the first time Vietnam has made Thailand fear that it will be dethroned as the "big brother" of Southeast Asia's tourism industry. Previously, the Thai National Soft Power Strategy Committee also commented that the country's tourism industry should not underestimate its competitors in the region, especially Vietnam - a country that is investing heavily in tourism infrastructure such as high-speed railways as well as new tourist attractions and luxury hotel chains. Thai tourism experts believe that the plan to build a high-speed railway worth 67 billion USD that Vietnam has just announced will strongly complement Vietnam's inherent advantages including a long and beautiful coastline, great potential for coastal tourism development, and at the same time attract more luxury hotel projects. If Thailand does not promote new investment in tourism, it will risk losing its competitive advantage.

If in the past, Vietnam always took Thailand as a model for flexible, dynamic, and effective tourism development and considered it the "heaviest competitor" that we could not catch up with, in just a short time, the situation has changed. Every move of Vietnam, from visa policy to infrastructure investment plans, makes the Thai tourism industry watch and worry.

According to Mr. Vo Anh Tai, Vietnam possesses many advantages such as a long, beautiful coastline, unique natural and cultural heritage, diverse cuisine, especially stable security and politics compared to some countries in the region. With the simultaneous implementation of newly issued resolutions, Vietnam has a dual tool: expanded tourist visas to attract high-end visitors and special visas to attract investors and experts, thereby creating a resonance effect between tourism and economic - investment. However, to break through and surpass the regional market, Vietnam still needs to continue upgrading aviation infrastructure, opening more direct flights connecting key international markets, improving the quality of airports as well as tourism infrastructure. At the same time, strongly developing high-end products such as luxury resorts, golf, wellness, MICE, yachts... in parallel with standardizing services, improving the quality of tourism human resources, and price transparency.

In particular, it is necessary to invest in promotion and advertising policies to make the visa policy truly a "golden ticket" in international marketing, highlighting the message: "VN - an accessible, safe and rich business opportunity destination". "If implemented synchronously, in the next 5-7 years, Vietnam can catch up and surpass Thailand in some strategic segments, becoming the world's attractive center", said the Deputy General Director of SaigonTourist Group.

Vietnam's new visa policy system after the Covid-19 pandemic

- Resolution No. 127/NQ-CP dated August 14, 2023: On the application of electronic visas for citizens of countries and territories; international border gates allowing foreigners to enter and exit with electronic visas.

- Resolution No. 44/NQ-CP dated March 7, 2025: On visa exemption for citizens of the following countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK, Russia, Japan, Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

- Resolution No. 229/NQ-CP dated August 8, 2025: On visa exemption under the Tourism Development Stimulus Program for citizens of 12 countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland.

- Decree No. 221/2025 dated August 8, 2025: Regulations on temporary visa exemption for foreigners who are in special need of incentives to serve socio-economic development.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mo-luong-visa-kep-hut-du-khach-va-nha-dau-tu-185250816221014954.htm