Binh Thuan (VNA) - The new visa policy, which will officially take effect from August 15, is expected to offer a good chance for the tourism sector of the south-central coastal province of Binh Thuan in particular and Vietnam in general, to attract more international tourists.

After the COVID-19 pandemic is under control, attracting international tourists back to Binh Thuan still faces difficulties. In the first six months of this year, the number of international visitors to Binh Thuan increased sharply compared to the same period in 2022 with 133,000 arrivals, but dropped over 64% from the same period in 2019 before the pandemic broke out.

The business community in Binh Thuan hopes that changes in the new visa policy will  create an “impetus" to promote the local tourism industry’s development in the coming time, towards the segment of high-paying, long-stay tourists.

Hoang Manh Cuong, General Manager of Phu Hai Resort in Phan Thiet city, said that the extension of tourist e-visas from 30 to 90 days is a good news for tourism businesses across the nation.

Currently, tourists from European countries and Australia are tending to visit Asian countries, including Vietnam. Therefore, this is an opportunity for travel firms to exploit new markets, he said.

According to General Director of the Ben Thanh Mui Ne Resort JSC Nguyen Duc Tien, since early this year, the number of international visitors to Binh Thuan accounted for about 12-15% of the market share, lower than its expectation.

However, from the fourth quarter of 2023, the number of international visitors to Binh Thuan will increase thanks to the new visa policy.

Currently, a great number of international visitors, mainly from Western Europe, Germany, North Asia,  have booked at the resort for the period between October and December with the room occupancy rate of 25 to 30%, Tien said.

Nguyen Van Khoa, President of the Binh Thuan Tourism Association, said that the new visa policy will help the tourism industry open its doors to welcome visitors.

Travel and lodging service businesses in Binh Thuan have informed about the policy to their tourism partners in many key markets such as Europe, America, and Asia, Khoa said.

Binh Thuan  expects to serve about 400,000 - 500,000 foreign visitors in 2023, Khoa said.

To prepare for the upcoming peak season of international visitors, service and accommodation units in Binh Thuan have planned to review the preparation of facilities, improved the quality of human resources; and diversified tourism products to attract tourists.

According to Hoang Cong Dinh, Director of DIMA Tour, apart from traditional tours, the firm has built a number of new tours and routes to meet the demand of visitors.

Khoa underlined the importance of ensuring the quality of human resources serving tourism activities, saying that the association has coordinated with the centre for supporting small- and -medium-sized enterprises to organise training courses for personnel managers, thus recruiting and training qualified personnel that can meet the increasing demand of the tourism market in the future.

Statistics show that Binh Thuan served about 5.3 million visitors in the first seven months of this year, surging over 82% year-on-year, and equivalent to 79% of the yearly plan . The local tourism sector raked in nearly 13.5 trillion VND (over 568.1 million USD)./.