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Foreign tourists get off a cruise ship that docks in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province in southern Vietnam, January 26, 2023. Photo by Hac Minh
The European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam has urged the Vietnamese government to extend visa waivers to all EU countries to speed up tourism recovery.
“We recommend the Vietnamese government consider granting a three- or six-month visa exemption for upper-class Europeans who want to have a long vacation in Vietnam,” it said in its annual White Book released on Thursday.
Despite Vietnam‘s success in attracting tourists from China and South Korea, there is the danger of its tourism industry becoming too dependent on these markets, it said.
So the government should focus on the European market to reduce dependence, it added.
Vietnam currently exempts the visa requirement for five western European countries, the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
Despite being one of the first Southeast Asian countries to fully reopen, Vietnam only received 3.6 million foreign tourists last year, around 20% of pre-pandemic levels.
This year it targets 8 million arrivals.
Tourism insiders have said a lack of friendly visa policies and tourism promotion campaigns have put Vietnam behind other Southeast Asian countries in the recovery race.
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