HOMEPAGE
Hot Properties
ADB: Vietnam’s 2009 GDP growth to be highest in South East Asia
MGM Grand Ho Tram: Vietnam’s First ‘Las Vegas Style’ Integrated Resort
Nha Trang’s Twin Towers project licenced
Foreign investors still have good opportunities in Vietnam
Sierra Wireless gets a foot in Vietnam’s ICT market
INDOCHINA INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING CO., LTD
HO Add: 62L/36 Nguyên Hồng, Ward 11, Bình Thạnh District, HCMC - Vietnam
Biz Office Add: #48 Road No 11, Quarter 6, Hiệp Binh Chánh Ward, Thủ Đức, HCMC - Vietnam
®Source: http://viipip.com should be clearly quoted for any use of information extracted from our website.
Publication permit No: 60/GP-TTĐT , April 05, 2010.
Vietnam tourism watchdog decries new visa fee for US visitors
Date: 9/8/2016 9:51:21 AM
The five-fold visa fee increase for U.S. visitors to Vietnam has surprised not only Americans, but also the country’s tourism watchdog, which claims to not have been consulted on the decision.
Commencing August 29, American visitors to Vietnam are now charged $135 for a one-year multiple-entry visa, no matter whether they have come for a short holiday or on business.
U.S. tourists previously had to pay $25 for a single-entry 15-day visa, as most holidaymakers did not need to stay in the country for a whole year. Those who arrived via seaports were previously charged $5.
The visa fee decision has come out of the blue, with local travel businesses “only getting the memo when they came to apply for visas for their international clients,” as there was no official document announcing the new policy, according to The Saigon Times Online.
The move has undoubtedly upset travel firms.
“How can we persuade our customers that the visa fee has been hiked when we have no written proof for the increase?” Phan Xuan Anh, chairman of Viet Excursions, a firm specializing in bringing international tourists to Vietnam via cruise ships, told the newswire.
“This latest visa announcement is unbelievable,” James, a U.S. reader, told Tuoi Tre News in an email.
“I have friends that were going to visit here… the new visa would add $480 to the cost of their trip.”
Even the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism was unhappy.
A decision that hurts tourism industry
The administration chief, Nguyen Van Tuan, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Tuesday that the decision was made by the Ministry of Finance and its foreign counterpart, without “consulting opinions.”
Tuan confirmed that the new visa fee is only applicable to the U.S. market, adding that the decision has been made in a problematic way.
“For a decision of this importance, relevant parties must be consulted, and no party is as relevant to this matter as the tourism watchdog,” he said.
The tourism administration chief added that businesses should have been informed and given a certain amount of time to prepare before the change took effect.
“Travel firms usually sell packages three to six months or even a year prior to departure, so an unexpected fee hike with immediate effect like this greatly impacts their business,” he elaborated.
“They were not able to adjust tour prices and had difficulty explaining what happened to their customers.”
Tuan said his administration will call on the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to look into the issue.
“It’s OK to increase visa fees but there should be different fees for visitors with different purposes,” he said.
“Most visitors only stay for a short visit to Vietnam and it is inappropriate to ask everyone to pay for a one-year visa.”
Tuan concluded that the visa fee increase for U.S. visitors will continue to cause trouble for not only travel firms but also the tourism industry as a whole, at a time when “other regional countries already have a visa-free policy with the U.S.”
(Source:Tuổi Trẻ News)
Other news- Vietnam will become a destination for Chinese investors in the future (11/6/2023 1:03:19 PM)
- Thua Thien - Hue: Calling for investment (11/6/2023 1:00:42 PM)
- Hai Phong Planning to establish a series of industrial parks and economic zones (11/6/2023 12:58:13 PM)
- The Fastest Growing Economies In 2024 (11/6/2023 12:56:34 PM)
- Hai Phong reached the target of attracting FDI capital (10/17/2023 5:18:21 PM)
- Long An has 1,215 FDI projects with capital of 10,519 million USD (10/17/2023 8:40:41 AM)
- What do FDI enterprises recommend to the Vietnamese Government? (10/17/2023 8:38:33 AM)
- Vietnams 3 commitments to foreign businesses and investors (10/17/2023 8:35:45 AM)
- Up to now (2023), how much money have Asian tigers invested in Vietnam? (10/17/2023 8:31:59 AM)
- Another semiconductor manufacturer expands in Vietnam (10/17/2023 8:30:44 AM)
- Billions of dollars poured into Vietnamese semiconductor projects (10/17/2023 8:26:09 AM)
- Revealing the reason why Central region continuously invested by giants Foxconn, Goertek... (10/17/2023 8:24:49 AM)
- VIFTA: Vietnam-Israel Boulevard opened (8/28/2023 9:29:44 AM)
- Wistron announced to pour another 24.5 million USD into Vietnam to build a new factory. (8/28/2023 9:28:33 AM)
- Formulate policies to develop the logistics industry (8/28/2023 8:50:54 AM)
NEWS CATALOGUE
- Vietnam will become a destination for Chinese investors in the future
- What do FDI enterprises recommend to the Vietnamese Government?
- Up to now (2023), how much money have Asian tigers invested in Vietnam?
- Another semiconductor manufacturer expands in Vietnam
- Billions of dollars poured into Vietnamese semiconductor projects
