In an effort to boost declining tourism numbers, Vietnam will allow international travelers from visa exempt countries to stay longer and is considering expanding the number of nationalities on its waiver list.
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Under the new regulations, tourists from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Japan, Russia and South Korea will be allowed to extend their stay in Vietnam to 30 days as long as they have a valid return ticket, reports Thanh Nien.
Currently, travelers from these countries are only allowed to stay in Vietnam for 15 days and are required to wait at least 30 days to re-enter.
In addition, the government has instructed the Tourism Ministry to come up with a list of new countries that have "high tourism potentials or having strategic partnership with Vietnam" for which visas should be waived.
France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, India and Canada have previously been highlighted as countries that fall into this category.
Though Vietnam earned US$11.76 billion from tourism in 2014, international arrivals have dropped for 11 consecutive months. It seems like the poor performance has spurred tourism officials to push ahead with visa changes in an attempt to reverse the trend.
[Photo via Wikicommons]
