Vietnam is considering allowing visa-free entry for Indian travelers, following the footsteps of Sri Lanka and Thailand. Nguyn Van Jung, Vietnam’s Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, has proposed short-term visa waivers for key markets like China and India to boost the recovery of the country’s tourism sector.
Currently, nationals from Germany, France, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Denmark, and Finland can travel to Vietnam without a visa. In the first ten months of 2023, Vietnam experienced a significant increase in international visitors, reaching around 10 million, a 4.6-fold rise from 2022. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam used to welcome approximately 170,000 Indian visitors.
Vietnamese destinations such as Phu Quoc Island, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Ha Long Bay, and Hoi An are popular among Indian tourists. Since August of the current year, Vietnam has been issuing e-visas with a validity period of 90 days and allowing multiple entries for individuals from all countries.
If Vietnam proceeds with this plan, it will be the third country, after Sri Lanka and Thailand, to offer visa-free entry for Indians. Thailand’s government recently announced visa-free entry for Indian and Taiwanese tourists for a six-month period from November 10, 2023, to May 10, 2024, to encourage tourism. Sri Lanka has also approved free visas for travelers from seven countries, including India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, and Indonesia, until March 31, 2024, with the aim of attracting more tourists to the island nation. Sri Lanka’s tourism ministry has expressed hopes of increasing tourist arrivals to five million in the coming years.
