New regulations on residence duration, entry, and exit for foreigners to Viet Nam are expected to create a boost for the inbound tourism industry in Da Nang, and Viet Nam as a whole.

Specifically, starting from August 15, 2023, upon being granted an e-visa, a foreigner can enter and exit an unlimited number of times within 90 days, without having to go through procedures for obtaining a new visa. Citizens of countries that are unilaterally exempted from visas by Viet Nam will be granted temporary residence for 45 days (up from 15 days) and can be considered for visa issuance and temporary residence extension according to regulations.

According to many experts, the relaxation of regulations and length of stay will contribute to attracting international visitors to Da Nang in the near future, and quickly bring Viet Nam’s tourism bounce back to pre-pandemic levels.

Tourism firms hope that relevant ministries, departments and agencies will soon have instructions to implement the new policies. IN THE PHOTO: International tourists are seen crossing Bach Dang Street. Photo: T.H

Hope to have specific instructions soon

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Director of the Omega Travel Trading Service Co., Ltd (Omega tour) said that the new visa policies will open up many opportunities to lure more international visitors to Da Nang.

However, what businesses want now is to soon have specific instructions from relevant ministries, departments, agencies and functional agencies to implement new policies.

Besides, it is necessary to take advantage of this opportunity to further promote the destination and attract more tourists to Da Nang.

General Director of the Furama Resort Danang Nguyen Duc Quynh said that the new visa policies are an extremely happy signal for those working in the hospitality industry. The extension of the entry visa up to 90 days will help tourism businesses expand some market share for the purpose of relaxation, visiting relatives and traveling across Viet Nam, as well as increase the length of travellers’ stay.

According to Chairman of the Da Nang Tourism Association Cao Tri Dung, the Government's application of new visa policies will contribute to improving national destination competitiveness for some countries in the region; facilitating tourism businesses to exploit tourists as well as creating favourable conditions for international visitors to Da Nang in particular and Viet Nam in general, especially travellers with long-term stays from Western Europe, North America, and Australia.

He analysed that "The approval of new visa policies makes it convenient for visitors to Viet Nam to apply for an e-visa in a short time, attracting a variety of nationalities to Viet Nam. This is a huge step forward in line with the current trend of changing customer structure with a dramatic increase in retail customer numbers. According to the trend of digital commerce, solo travel and family travel will account for the majority. Customers will actively apply for visas through online platforms. This can be considered as the biggest removal in the visa application policy, a huge step forward for the tourism industry in general".

Developing tourism products to suit guests’ tastes

The business community in the city expects the local tourism industry to develop more new tourism products to attract tourists from distant markets, Mr. Nguyen Duc Quynh noted.

He underlined a must-do for the city to connect with medical centers to form medical tourism and beauty tourism or develop vacation packages for long-term guests.

He stressed the need for the city to soon resume previously launched air routes such as Da Nang-Doha (Qatar) route, and open more new direct flights to Da Nang in the coming time.

Meanwhile, Mr. Cao Tri Dung acknowledged that, for markets as far as Europe and America, travel plans are usually made 6 months to 1 year in advance, so it takes time to "absorb" the policies. As for markets near Viet Nam, with a high degree of adaptation to new policy, the destination needs a breakthrough to easily attract visitors.

It can be seen that Da Nang is one of the localities with the best visitor recovery in the country. The number of international visitors has not been as expected because the Chinese tourist market has not recovered, and the Korean tourist market is not as good as the peak period (at the peak time, there were 40 flights/day from South Korea to Da Nang, currently only 25 flights/day).

Although there are some new markets such as India, the Middle East, Indonesia, and the Philippines, it is still not enough.

Mr. Dung, therefore, underlined that local tourism businesses are in need of more companionship and support from the city's leaders, the Department of Tourism, the Tourism Promotion Center, the Tourism Development Fund, etc. in order to mobilise more resources to help tourism businesses overcome difficulties and promote deep into potential markets.

Reporting by THU HA - Translating by M.DUNG