After weeks of speculation, Vietnam is officially scrapping tourist visas for citizens of Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Spain starting July 1.
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According to Thanh Nien, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung signed the directive on Wednesday that allows visitors from the aforementioned countries to stay in Vietnam visa-free for 15-days per entry.
The waivers will be applied for one year as Vietnam seeks to reverse 12 consecutive months of declining international visits.
Currently, citizens from Japan, South Korea, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Belarus, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines enjoy visa-free stays in Vietnam.
The country has seen great success with visa waivers in the past. After eliminating visas for Japan and South Korea in 2004, visitors from these countries increased by 2.4 times and 3.6 times, respectively.
When visa waivers were offered to Russian tourists in 2009, visitors from that country increased nearly eightfold by 2014.
[Photo via The Beautiful Occupation]
