Hanoi (VNA) – More breakthrough, open andfacilitating visa policies are needed to attract foreign tourists, thusfulfilling the target set for this year, insiders have said.

The Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT)under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the country aims to serveabout 18 million international visitors and 110 million domestic tourists, andearn some 840 trillion VND (33.89 billion USD) from the sector this year.

Vietnam now waives visas for travelers from 25countries, with 13 enjoying unilateral exemption.

Since August 2023, Vietnam has issued e-visas forall nationalities and extended their maximum stay from 30 to 90 days, withunlimited entries. Those who get visa waivers under Vietnam's unilateralexemption policy can now stay for 45 days rather than the earlier 15.

Experts have described the visa policies as a toolto sharpen the competitiveness of the domestic tourism industry. Thanks to them,Vietnam has become friendlier in the eyes of foreign holidaymakers.

According to the VNAT, Vietnam welcomed more than 3 millionforeign tourists in the first two months of this year, up 68.75% year-on-yearand equivalent to 98.5% of the pre-COVID-19 level.

In terms of source market, the strongest recovery was seen in Asia with a year-on-year rise of 77.8%, followed by Europe with a 76% increase; and Oceania,36.5%.

The Southeast Asian region has experienced a fierce race in tourism with some strong competitors of Vietnam such as Thailand, Malaysia andSingapore rushing to waive visa requirements and simplify entry procedures forinternational tourists.

Given this, experts and tourism insiders share theview that Vietnam needs to further relax its visa policies to gain acompetitive edge as compared with others in the region.

Specifically, Vietnam should unilaterally expandvisa exemption for citizens of countries with a higher level of development,large tourism spending and long-term stays, while piloting visa exemption for shortperiods (from six to 12 months) for those from some promising, large-scalemarkets like China and India, they said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) isnegotiating with 15 countries for mutual visa exemption, and with 80 others forexemption for diplomatic and official passport holders.

The ministry said it will step up negotiations andsign international treaties with a number of countries on visa exemption forordinary passport holders.

The MoFA has also coordinated with the Ministry ofPublic Security to propose expanding the list of eligible countries forunilateral visa exemption, and improving infrastructure to facilitate e-visagranting./.