Visa opens the runway for tourism to take off

The consecutive decisions to open visas have shown Vietnam's strong determination on the journey to make a breakthrough in tourism.

E-visa restructures tourism industry

The Government has just issued Resolution No. 389, adding 41 border gates to the list of international border gates that allow foreigners to enter and exit with electronic visas (e-visas).

Specifically, in addition to the current 13 air border gates, there are 4 more border gates: Long Thanh International Airport (applied when put into operation); Gia Binh International Airport (applied when put into operation); Vinh port and Chu Lai port. This step ensures synchronization with planning and aviation infrastructure in the new period, contributing to promoting the effectiveness of key national projects. Along with that, the land border has 11 border gates included in the list, expected to contribute to promoting trade, tourism, and expanding the economic corridor between Vietnam and neighboring countries. Notably, in the new list, there are 26 seaport border gates included in the e-visa application, stretching from North to South. These are ports that play an important role in international trade, freight transport, logistics and maritime tourism.

The decision to expand the list of border gates allowing the use of electronic visas (e-visas) is expected to create a breakthrough in the development of inter-regional sea - mountain - river tourism products.

PHOTO: BA DUY

Previously, since 2023, Vietnam has applied e-visas at 42 international border gates, including 13 air border gates, 16 road border gates and 13 sea border gates. The addition of 41 new border gates has increased the total number of e-visa reception points to 83, doubling the scope of application after just over 2 years. According to the assessment of the National Tourism Administration, the e-visa policy has been highly appreciated by the business community and international tourists for its convenience, transparency and accessibility; at the same time creating a positive effect on the tourism, trade and investment industries. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam's visa policies have been continuously updated, flexibly changed, and expanded, becoming a strong influencing factor helping the tourism industry continuously set records in welcoming international visitors.

In particular, the e-visa policy has been extended to all countries and territories, with a maximum stay of up to 90 days, valid for single or multiple entries, making it more convenient for visitors to register for entry online. The Government's continued expansion of border gates to apply e-visas demonstrates a strong determination to implement a transparent, modern visa policy in line with international practices, making tourism truly a spearhead economic sector in the new era.

Happy to welcome the new e-visa policy, Mr. Vo Anh Tai, Deputy General Director of Saigontourist Group, said: Vietnam opening 41 more border gates to allow foreigners to enter with e-visas is a meaningful move that goes beyond the scope of administrative procedures. Behind this policy lies the opportunity to restructure the flow of visitors, tourism space and even the way of thinking of Vietnam's tourism industry in the coming years. The most notable thing is that the border gate system has changed from the "3-center" model - Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City - to a "multi-center" model. When tourists can enter through land border gates, seaports and local airports, Vietnam's international tourist reception map is expanded horizontally, no longer dependent on a few large hubs.

Open visa policy helps Vietnam tourism become one of the fastest growing in the world after the Covid-19 pandemic

PHOTO: NHAT THINH

"This relieves pressure on urban infrastructure, while opening up opportunities for many localities to enter the international tourism flow for the first time. From a market perspective, expanding e-visas helps Vietnam better align with global tourism trends: flexible, dispersed and designed by individuals. Visitors are no longer forced to follow traditional itineraries but can combine many types: crossing land borders, caravan tourism, experiencing the sea and islands by boat, or exploring mountainous areas and plateaus - segments that Vietnam has great potential but exploitation is still limited," Mr. Vo Anh Tai analyzed.

According to the leader of Saigontourist Group, for tourism businesses, this is a rare time to expand routes, expand products and expand connections. Cross-border journeys, long-distance caravan tours, inter-regional sea - mountain - river products will become trends. Businesses that proactively seize opportunities, invest early in new routes, new services, new experiences, will have a great advantage when the market is strongly dispersed according to the newly opened border gate network.

Opening up room for many types of breakthroughs

As soon as the Government's policy of opening the network of border gates to accept e-visas was issued, many localities immediately grasped the spirit to exploit the untapped tourism potential. Typically, Quang Tri province immediately deployed information, updated and added 3 border gates of Gianh, Hon La and Cua Viet ports of the province according to the new regulations. The leader of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the province said that Quang Tri currently has 7 border gates including road, air and sea that will apply e-visas. This is considered an important step to expand the trade door for the locality, creating a foundation for strong development of sea tourism and attracting international visitors with high spending levels. The new visa policy is an important lever for the province to attract shipping lines, international tourist routes and high-class delegations.

Top 10 customer sending markets 11 months 2025 (thousand visits)

SOURCE: DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM

Quang Tri owns nearly 200 km of coastline, along with a diverse ecosystem and rich tourism resources, from eco-tourism - nature, culture - history to marine sports, agriculture and high-end resorts. In the context that the locality is prioritizing attracting the international cruise market, being allowed to apply e-visas at major ports is a key condition for Quang Tri to increase its competitiveness compared to other destinations in the region.

In fact, cruise tourism is a strength of Vietnam, but in the past, the number of cruise passengers to our country was still quite modest compared to the potential. One of the biggest bottlenecks is visa. Also because of the large number of passengers on each ship, visa approval is very difficult. Travel companies inform: A ship of 5,000 - 6,000 people, to get a visa, you have to prepare a lot of documents and other terms. Cruise passengers are often encouraged to apply for visas in groups for convenience when entering and exiting the country, making it easier for border guards to check, control and minimize errors. Vietnam has had many conditions for group visas, and the application process takes a lot of time. Not to mention, if you let passengers apply for visas on their own, it will be very difficult to return if the ship stops at a point or leaves Vietnam.

Many foreign tourists staying in the Central region expressed their excitement at the new information from Quang Tri province. Mr. Michael D., a tourist from Australia, shared: "I used to want to travel by sea along the Central region but the procedural issues made me hesitant. Now that Quang Tri has applied e-visas at the ports, traveling has become easier. I really hope to be able to set foot in one of Quang Tri's seaports soon on my upcoming trip."

Not only by sea, Mr. Cao Tri Dung, Chairman of the Da Nang Tourism Association, said that the e-visa policy will be a boost for Vietnam to "revive" road border tourism that once had a golden age. Vietnam is located on the Trans-Asia route, the East-West route, all of which are vital routes, so the potential for road tourism is huge. However, after 3-4 years of "hot" development, since 2011, the number of visitors has begun to decrease. One of the reasons is that the entry policy still has many shortcomings, the time for procedures takes a long time. That is the reason why the southern border gate between Thailand and Malaysia is very busy with visitors; the same is true for the road border gate between Thailand and Laos, while Vietnam has almost only a bustling border gate system with China, while most of the border gates with Laos and Cambodia are not too bustling. Although in terms of means of transport for tourism, road is only behind air in terms of importance and level of attracting visitors. Road tourism is not inferior to cruise ships in terms of passenger volume, potential and product ecosystems.

E-visa will remove bottlenecks for Vietnam to break through the cruise tourism market

PHOTO: BA DUY

"This e-visa policy continues to be a very correct and timely move of the Government after many more open visa policies in recent times. E-visa has both caught up with the trend of independent travel of tourists and created more attractiveness for diverse types of tourism in Vietnam. In the near future, border gates as well as seaports will be "wide open" to welcome guests as comfortably as air ports. Whether traveling in groups or independently, visitors can easily proactively plan, have more options to travel by road or by sea, connecting to many destinations and then returning to Vietnam for a long time of up to 90 days. Vietnam tourism will open up a lot of room to break through in the coming period", Mr. Cao Tri Dung excitedly said.

After opening, we must "open the quality of the destination"

On the other hand, the Chairman of the Da Nang Tourism Association noted that in order to anticipate the visa policy, tourism businesses need to prepare suitable product lines early, not only to meet but also to orient the diverse needs of tourists. At the same time, state agencies must also soon issue consistent and appropriate management policies. From e-visa approval to entry/exit procedures, there needs to be synchronization and transparency to create a smooth and convenient journey for tourists.

Vietnam tourism sets record in welcoming international visitors

According to the General Statistics Office (Ministry of Finance) just announced, in the 11 months from the beginning of the year until now, the total number of international visitors to Vietnam reached over 19.1 million, an increase of 20.9% over the same period last year. This is a record high number, surpassing the 18 million visitors in the whole year of 2019 - the golden time before the Covid-19 pandemic. In November alone, Vietnam welcomed nearly 2 million international visitors, an increase of 14.2% over the previous month and an increase of 15.6% over the same period in 2024. This is the month with the third highest number of international visitors since the beginning of the year (January and March reached over 2 million). The latest report of the United Nations Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) noted that the recovery of Vietnam's tourism is particularly impressive in the context that the Asia-Pacific region has only recovered 90% compared to the time before the Covid-19 pandemic. UN Tourism rates Vietnam's tourism growth rate among the highest in the world, along with Japan.

Mr. Vo Anh Tai also expressed his opinion: The core of regional tourism development is not "having visitors", but "having unique products to retain visitors". A flexible and open visa policy is only a necessary condition to increase the number of visitors; the decisive factor for visitors to stay longer, spend more and return many times must be quality products. If every place has a night market, walking street, and similar commercial model, opening more border gates will not create different values. Each locality needs to find its original identity, from natural landscape to indigenous culture, to build unique products, instead of copying the popular model. In addition, expanding border gates requires a more modern management system. A larger number of entry points requires the implementation of procedures, monitoring of visitor flows, data sharing, security management and tourist support to be raised to the national level, avoiding a lack of concentration and dispersion. Tourism today is no longer just about welcoming guests, but about managing safe, sustainable and smart travel flows.

"Opening 41 more e-visa border gates is an important step forward, but its significance depends entirely on the transformation ability of localities and businesses. This is not just a story of "opening up", but a problem of internal capacity including infrastructure, services, management, products and differentiation. Opportunities are continuing to open up, but success will only come if Vietnam opens its thinking, opens its way of doing things and opens the quality of its destinations", Mr. Vo Anh Tai emphasized.

According to Mr. Pham Van Thuy, Deputy Director of the National Tourism Administration, loosening and diversifying visa policies is a necessary step to increase the attractiveness of Vietnam as a destination. However, compared to other countries in the region, there is still a lot of room for reform. Specifically, Malaysia currently exempts visas for citizens of 166 countries, Indonesia 169, Singapore 158, while Vietnam is only at 27 countries. Some countries also apply flexible policies such as permanent visa exemption, group visa issuance at border gates or transit visa exemption for up to 240 hours. These are experiences worth considering in our reform roadmap.

"Implementing the Government's direction, the relevant agencies are coordinating to research and propose expanding the list of visa-exempt countries and preferential visa policies for strategic groups. At the same time, the tourism industry is implementing strong promotional activities focusing on markets with favorable visa policies such as Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, Australia, the US and India, while exploiting high-spending customer segments such as MICE tourism, golf, health care, etc. With the synchronous combination of open visa policies and professional promotion strategies, Vietnam has the basis to expect to attract a strong increase in international visitors, contributing to the growth of the tourism industry and making a positive contribution to the country's socio-economic development," Mr. Pham Van Thuy informed.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/visa-mo-duong-bang-cho-du-lich-cat-canh-185251207215627054.htm