The European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) is calling for more relaxed visa policies and further focus on tourism promotions to stimulate international arrivals to Vietnam.
EuroCham said in its annual "White Book 2010 of Trade Issues & Recommendations" released late last year visa requirements remained a considerable obstacle for travelers who seek trips to Vietnam, especially last-minute travelers.
Currently, only ASEAN passport holders are visa-exempted for stays of up to 30 days.
Also, only passport-holders from Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Japan, South Korea and Russia are allowed to enter the country for a period of 15 days without a visa.
Visa processing is usually complicated and time-consuming and travelers often face a lack of information about visa procedures at the embassies and consulates.
They are among the factors that cause Vietnam to be the most difficult country to be visited within ASEAN, along with Myanmar, according to the book.
Bureaucratic visa requirements and unpredictable processing time also caused last-minute travelers to turn away from Vietnam to look for weekend trips in nearby destinations, such as Thailand’ Phuket, Indonesia’s Bali, Macau and Singapore.
EuroCham suggested the visa exemption program should be extended for countries that can potentially account for significant tourism revenue, such as the European Union’s member countries, the US, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Travelers from the countries should be granted for stays of up to 30 days, according to the agency.
The chamber also called for transparent and consistent visa-on-arrival procedure to attract last-minute expat business travelers in the region and ease logistics for tour operators and travel agencies.
Visa-on-arrival can be granted to travelers who provide a pre-approved letter for Vietnam visa at the country’s international airports or international border gates.
Eurocham also supported the suggestion of the Tourism Working Group (TWG) under the Vietnam Business Forum to build a national tourism promotion to further boost the image of Vietnam as an attractive tourist destination.
It suggested local government should allocate more fund for tourism promotion campaign.
Vietnam’s promotional budget for 2009 only reached $2 million, far behind Thailand’s $220 million budget for tourism promotions following the Bangkok Airport protests in last year, according to TWG.
The tourism industry accounts for nearly five percent of the country’s gross domestic product and is employing ten percent of the labor force in the service sector.
The country last year welcomed nearly 3.8 million foreign visitors, down 11 percent from 2008.
But the sector is hopeful for a recovery of international arrivals this year following the rebound of the global economy.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has forecast that 4.5 to 4.6 million foreign tourists will arrive in the country this year.
Established in 1998, EuroCham, is one the principle voices of the business community in Vietnam to help develop the country into an attractive investment destination and trading partner for European business.
The EuroCham Trade Issues and Recommendations booklet is published annually by the chamber. It identifies the year’s focal business, trade and investment issues affecting our members, the business community and, in many cases society at large.
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