Vietnam likely to allow visa-free entry for Indians after Sri Lanka, Thailand: Report

Vietnam may be the next country to allow visa-free entry for Indians for travel. Nguyn Van Jung, Vietnam's Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, called for short-term visa waivers for major markets like China and India to shore up the recovery of the country's  tourism sector, Vietnamese news agency VnExpress reported. Nationals of Germany, France, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Denmark, and Finland can travel in Vietnam without a visa at present. 

In the first ten months of 2023, Vietnam received around 10 million international visitors, a 4.6-fold rise from 2022. Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, Vietnam welcomed around 1,70,000 Indian visitor arrivals.

Destinations such as Phu Quoc Island, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Ha Long Bay and Hoi An are popular among Indian tourists. Beginning from August this year, Vietnam started issuing e-visas for individuals from all countries. These e-visas have a validity period of 90 days and allow multiple entries. 

If this happens, Vietnam will become the third country after Sri Lanka and Thailand to allow visa-free entry for Indians. In October this year, a Thailand government told news agency that the government will allow visa-free entry for tourists from India and Taiwan for a period of six months from November 10 this year to May 10, 2024. 

"We will provide visa-free entry to India and Taiwan because a lot of their people like to travel to Thailand," Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavision was quoted as saying by news agency AFP. Before Thailand, Sri Lanka also approved a proposal to grant free visas to travellers from seven countries for a period of five months till March 31, 2024.

These countries are India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan and Indonesia. The move is aimed at attracting more tourists to the island nation. "We are expecting to increase tourist arrivals to five million over the coming years," the Sri Lankan tourist ministry was quoted as saying by local media outlets. 

Also Read: After Sri Lanka, Thailand announces visa-free entry for Indian tourists from Nov 10

Also Read: Sri Lanka announces free tourist visa scheme for India, China, 5 other countries till March 31, 2024