New law, old information
Waiting for the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam to officially take effect on August 15, allowing the extension of the electronic visa (e-visa) period from 30 to 90 days, Ms. Trish Thompson (80 years old, American) decided to book a ticket to Vietnam on August 30. Having continuously traveled between the US and Vietnam since 2005, Ms. Trish is very familiar with applying for an e-visa to Vietnam and also has many close Vietnamese people who regularly update new regulations and policies to serve her travel. However, due to the epidemic, she has only returned to Vietnam since 2019.
Guided to the new link for foreigners to apply for an electronic visa according to the information of the Ministry of Public Security , Ms. Trish was confused when the website still showed that the Vietnam electronic visa is only valid for a maximum of 30 days, single entry. She searched with all her might but could not find the section to register for a 90-day visa, unlimited entry and exit, and no need to apply for a new visa as announced about the new regulations being applied.
New visa policy is not yet ready to attract international tourists to Vietnam.
"The information declaration procedure has also changed a lot compared to before the pandemic. I had to call my relatives in Vietnam to help me complete each item in detail, and ask for guidance wherever I got stuck. I was informed that the new visa policy had been approved by the Vietnamese Government since June and would take effect on August 15, so instead of going in early August as planned, I postponed my schedule to August 30, but unexpectedly, I still couldn't go. Because I had already bought a plane ticket, I had to accept the 30-day single visa and hope that the new policy would be applied next time. The problem is that just yesterday (August 20), a friend of mine in the US was able to apply for a 45-day visa, also on the same website that I used. Because the Vietnamese procedure channel cannot track the application processing, I don't know what step my application is at now, should I re-apply, why is it that the same website address can be used by one person and another no?…”, Mrs. Trish asked a series of questions.
A survey on the website evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn yesterday afternoon (August 22), as reflected by Ms. Trish Thompson, the system still displayed the information "Vietnam e-visa is valid for a maximum of 30 days, single entry". The items for applying for a 90-day multiple visa and the list of citizens of countries that Vietnam unilaterally exempts from visas and is granted a temporary stay of 45 days (previously 15 days) according to the new law have not been updated at all.
Processing e-visa applications for a number of tourist groups preparing to enter Vietnam, the director of a large travel company in Ho Chi Minh City also reflected that the information processing speed of Vietnam's e-visa application website is slow, often inaccessible, and does not "release" an appointment date for visa issuance for customers so that they can proactively plan their itinerary. In addition, because they had anticipated the delay of the policy, in reality, businesses have only announced the new policy, proactively built new, longer tour programs to inform customers, and have not yet implemented the details.
"It has always been like that, from the time the policy is issued until it is applied, it sometimes takes several months to stabilize. The policy was passed in June, effective from August 15, but on the morning of August 15, there was only a conference to guide localities and businesses. So how can we dare to accept customers to apply the new policy right away? Bringing customers in and then causing all kinds of difficulties is very troublesome. The government needs to seriously review the gap between policy and implementation. Right from the time the National Assembly passed the law, the ministries and branches should have prepared decrees and guiding circulars, synchronized with the infrastructure and technology system. Be ready as soon as it is done. We cannot let businesses just tell customers to "go on TV/in the newspaper to ask" like now," this businessman was upset.
The loss is not only the reputation of the business.
Closely following each move to open visa policy, Dr. Luong Hoai Nam, a member of the National Tourism Advisory Board (TAB), commented: The current state of policies and implementation lacking synchronization greatly affects Vietnam's ability to attract tourists. Enterprises have been very proactive in informing partners and customers of new policies to attract more tourists as soon as possible. However, when the law comes into effect but cannot be implemented in reality, enterprises will lose their reputation.
Analyzing the market further, Mr. Luong Hoai Nam commented: The recovery in the number of international visitors, despite great efforts, has only reached about 60% of the pre-pandemic period. Before the pandemic, we had many large markets, bringing in "huge" sources of visitors such as China, Japan, Korea, Russia, France, and the US. Among them, the Chinese market was highly expected but has so far been almost untapped. European visitors are also unlikely to grow strongly due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, economic crisis, inflation, social unrest, etc. Tourism businesses have not yet escaped difficulties, and aviation businesses are struggling even more, suffering heavier losses.
On the other hand, after the Covid-19 pandemic, tourist behavior has changed a lot. Large groups of tourists are no longer popular, instead, there are customers traveling in small groups with family, friends, or traveling alone. For these customers, visa policies are even more important because tourists traveling in groups will have travel agencies take care of the procedures, while individual tourists have to take care of them themselves.
From specific goals, issue appropriate mechanisms and policies to facilitate each component of the tourism industry. If the policy is just like the current practice of asking for and considering issues as they are, businesses will be passive, customers will be passive, and the entire tourism industry will continue to struggle passively as it is now.
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ky, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietravel Group
"For them, the easier the destination is to travel to and the more open the policy is, the more they will prioritize it. Therefore, an open visa policy with quick and simple procedures, which has always been important, is now even more decisive. Visa policy must come into effect as soon as possible, creating opportunities to attract visitors from as many markets as possible," Dr. Luong Hoai Nam emphasized.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietravel Group Nguyen Quoc Ky also expressed regret that the tourism industry continues to miss many opportunities to recover after the pandemic, just because of the delay and lack of consistency in policies. Although it has been open for a year and a half, most businesses still have to rely on themselves in advertising, promoting, and selling products in foreign markets. This work is very expensive, but tourism businesses are almost unable to access capital sources from banks. The largest source of visitors to our country today, South Korea, is almost "left open", no one can control which source of visitors, whether the businesses that bring visitors pay taxes, how much tax they pay to the Vietnamese Government...
Therefore, in addition to urgently promoting the technology system network in sync with the new visa policy, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ky suggested that the Government needs to make a comprehensive assessment of the tourism industry's positioning. In particular, it is necessary to determine the role of the tourism industry in the economic recovery component. KPIs must be set, to determine by what percentage the economy will recover, by what percentage tourism must grow, by what number of visitors, by how many accommodation establishments must be lit up, by how many jobs must be created from tourism...
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