HCM City (VNS/VNA)- From August 15, people with Vietnamese e-visas can enter and exit thecountry any number of times within 90 days, a long-awaited and majoroverhaul of the country’s visa system that is expected to revive tourism andhospitality, according to industry insiders.

On June 24, the National Assembly approved extension of touriste-visas from 30 to 90 days.

Citizens of certain countries for whom Vietnam waives visarequirements can now stay for 45 days instead of the earlier 15.

The extension to 90 days would allow visitors to make long-stayholidays and improve Vietnam’s tourism competitiveness, said Tran TheDung, General Director of Vietluxtour.

A popular tourism circuit for many Europeans is Vietnam-Cambodia-Laos,and they travel for more than 20 days, he said.

With the earlier 15-day single-entry visa, they had to get a newvisa to enter Vietnam again from Cambodia and Laos, making Vietnam’s visapolicy less competitive than that of Thailand and Singapore, he said.

“We have informed our partners abroad about the new visa policy.”

Nguyen Minh Man, marketing and communications director ofTSTtourist, said the extension of e-visas to 90 days is a meaningfuldecision that would help increase tourist flows and attract moreinvestors into Vietnam and shore up the travel industry.

Uyen Nguyen, head of consultancy at Savills Hotels, said: “Theextension of the visa validity to 90 days is encouraging news. It establishes astrong foundation for both leisure and business travellers, allowing them toplan their itineraries to Vietnam without the limitations of entrynumbers."

"With its diverse natural landscapes and cultural background,Vietnam has great potential for destination experiences, ranging fromindigenous to adventurous ones. However, the previous visa policy has been oneof the main constraints during the recovery path of Vietnam’s tourismindustry," she said.

Nevertheless, the tourism industry needs to take proactive stepsto redefine the destination image, upgrade tourism infrastructure and providebetter support to travellers before, during and after their journey, she said.

“We believe that this is a progressive step towards transforming Vietnamfrom an experiential destination to a frequently visited and highlysought-after holiday location.

“However, there is more work to be done in terms of adding newcountries to the visa exemption list and expanding the list of eligiblecountries for e-visas.”

Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh CityDepartment of Tourism, said the extension of e-visas and multiple entrieswould help expand tourist markets, particularly long-haul markets, and attractmore long-stay leisure travellers and cruise ship guests.

Vietnam issues e-visas to citizens of 80 countries andallows visa-free entry for 25 others.

It received more than 5.57 million foreign visitors in the firsthalf of the year, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

Revenues from tourism in the period were worth an estimated 343trillion VND (14.46 billion USD)./.