Vietnam’s tourism industry tastes success with e-visa pilot scheme

Vietnam’s e-visa (electronic visa) pilot scheme, which was launched in the beginning of 2017, helped in boosting the country’s tourism industry. According to the VNAT (Vietnam National Administration of Tourism), an organisation under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, four months after its implementation over 22,000 tourists from China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, the UK and the US, nationals of countries which do not use biometric passports, have visited the country’s immigration portal to request for e-visas. Out of the 21,000 tourists who received e-visas, 12,000 entered the Southeast Asian country. Security processes were in place at airports and border gates to ensure the passengers’ safety. Vu The Binh, Standing Vice Chairman of the VNAT, was quoted by Vietnam Plus as saying that e-visas issuance has made it convenient for the citizens of 40 foreign countries to visit the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He said that in addition to the visa-waiver policy for nationals of the UK, Germany, Italy, France and Spain, which has been effective since July 2015, has also driven up the number of European tourists visiting this country. According to statistics, total tourist arrivals to Vietnam from these five countries increased by 15.4 percent within a year since the policy was implemented. The first four of 2017 saw the tourist numbers touch 333,000, an increase of 15 percent when compared to the same time last year. Binh said that because of this policy 720,000 tourists arrived in Vietnam from the aforementioned countries in 2015, up from 96,000 tourists in 2014 - earning revenues worth $126 million. If you are looking to travel to Vietnam, get in touch with Y-Axis, a leading immigration consultancy company, to apply for a tourist visa.