After nearly 10 months of visa exemptions, the number of visitors from the five Western European markets has continuously increased.
The MCST also suggested the Government increase the duration of visa exemption from 15 to 30 days for visitors from the five countries while asking for unilateral visa exemptions for citizens from 13 countries coming to Vietnam on package tours organised by international tour operators licensed in Vietnam.
In addition, the ministry suggested an expansion of unilateral visa exemptions for citizens from several countries which are key tourism markets of Vietnam, while applying visa issuance at border gates and electronic visa granting to facilitate international visitors to the country.After nearly 10 months of visa exemptions for visitors from Belarus and the five above-mentioned countries, the number of visitors from these markets has continuously increased, the MCST said.
Statistics by the General Statistics Office showed that the number of visitors from the five Western European countries saw a year-on-year rise, with 4.24%, 16.49% and 20% in the third and the fourth quarters of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016 respectively.
The total number of visitors from the five countries after nine months of the visa exemptions reached 554,242, a 13.91% increase over the same period in 2014 and 2015, bringing in over US$171 million.
The expansion of the visa exemption from one to five years is expected to support tourism businesses to attract visitors coming on large tours and to be in line with the current world trend.