Viet Nam’s government has extended a visa waiver programme benefiting citizens of 5 European countries, just before the existing policy expires at the end of this month.

International tourists go shopping at Ben Thanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City. Tuoi Tre

This is the 2^nd one-year extension Viet Nam has given to the visa-free policy applicable to German, French, British, Italian, and Spanish visitors since its introduction in 2015.

Under the extended programme, people arriving in Viet Nam from these 5 countries won’t have to apply for a visa for travel between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018.

The maximum allowable stay is 15 days per entry, applicable to all kinds of passport and travel purposes.

The extension comes just in time as travel firms had began to worry whether their policies would perpetuate as the June 30 deadline drew near.

The visa-free travel policy has lured more tourists from the 5 European countries to Viet Nam over the last 2 years, according to travel agencies.

In the first 5 months of 2017, Viet Nam welcomed nearly 400,000 visitors from the 5.

However, tourism companies have demanded that the allowable stay per entry be doubled to 30 days in order to attract even more tourists, encourage them to stay longer and return in the future.

(Source: Tuoitrenews)