Travel firms want more open visa waiver policy  While the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and travel firms have repeatedly called for extending the visa waiver to attract more foreign travelers, other agencies say it still needs thorough consideration.    Travel firms want more open visa waiver  The number of foreign travelers to Vietnam reached 11.6 million this year, an increase of 28 percent compared with the same period last year. In November alone, Vietnam received 1.2 million foreign travelers. This was the eighth time this year the number of foreign travelers exceeded 1 million. According to the Research Committee for Private Economic Development, the visa waiver policy, and the application of e-visa and e-marketing solutions helped attract more travelers to Vietnam. However, Ngo Minh Duc, a member of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Council, said that the current visa policy is still a barrier to implementation of Vietnam’s plan to turn tourism into a key industry. “The visa waiver policy is not competitive and attractive enough compared with other regional countries. It is now applied to citizens from 23 countries only,” he said. He went on to say that Vietnam only waives visa for a period of 15 days, shorter than the average time foreign travelers stay in Vietnam and shorter than the periods offered by regional countries. Vietnam only waives visa for a period of 15 days, shorter than the average time foreign travelers stay in Vietnam and shorter than the periods offered by regional countries. Tran Trong Kien, also a member of the Tourism Advisory Council, said that while waiting for infrastructure conditions and tourism environment to be improved, extending the visa waiver policy is the quickest way to develop tourism. A senior executive of a travel firm complained that it is difficult to draw up long-term marketing and advertisement plans for inbound tours because the government only makes public the list of countries which can enjoy the visa waiver policy every year. Meanwhile, the announcement is just 1-3 months before the moment of application. The regulation that foreign travelers can only enter Vietnam at least 30 days after the previous exit is also believed to restrict the number of tourists to Vietnam. Replying to complaints, Doan Phuong Lan from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the development of tourism must not rely only on the visa waiver policy. She pointed out that other countries which apply visa waiver policies with ‘openness’ similar to Vietnam’s still can attract high numbers of foreign travelers. According to Lan, of the 23 countries Vietnam offers the visa waiver policy, 13 do not apply the same policy for Vietnamese citizens. “We waive visas for citizens of some European countries, but Vietnamese citizens find it very difficult to get visas to enter their countries,” she said, adding that Vietnam hopes for ‘reciprocity’ in diplomatic relations. Mai Thanh, VNN