Infrastructure facilities and services at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City need improving to attract more foreign investors and travelers in the coming time, the municipal Department of Tourism proposed.

The proposal was made at a recent meeting of the municipal People’s Committee with relevant departments and agencies and the Tan Son Nhat International Airport authority to remove bottlenecks and improve passengers’ experience, especially during the upcoming summer travel season.

Many providers of services at the airport said that the deteriorating infrastructure at the airport and obstacles in policies have hindered the improvement of services there.

Vice chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Bui Xuan Cuong said many foreign investors and overseas Vietnamese have complained about the long waiting time to complete immigration procedures or the overcrowded passenger terminal.

“Passengers to Noi Bai [International Airport in Hanoi] find it more convenient to go to the toilet, while they have to queue up at Tan Son Nhat International Airport during peak hours,” Cuong added.

He asked the relevant agencies to review proposals and mobilize resources to improve the service quality at the airport.

Of which, it is needed to better ground services, reduce flight delays and cancelations, arrange more spaces for passengers and effectively regulate the flow of passengers.

According to Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, director of the municipal Department of Tourism, the department had received many international investors’ and travel companies’ complaints about difficulties at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, especially the immigration area.

Therefore, Hoa proposed separate lanes for MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) tourists and business-class passengers.

Tran Quang Lam, director of the municipal Department of Transport, said check-in counters at the airport should accelerate the procedure completion so that passengers do not have to line up for hours.

Lanes for business-class passengers and services for priority customers should be offered.

In addition, the immigration procedure completion process needs improving, while conveyor belts should be regulated in a reasonable manner, he said.

At the meeting, Nguyen Nam Tien, deputy director of Tan Son Nhat International Airport, said it is hard to upgrade the infrastructure at the airport.

For example, fans as well as ventilation and deodorization systems have been installed in restrooms. However, passengers have to still queue up in front of restrooms during rush hours.

He marks only five to six points out of a maximum of 10 points to toilets at Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

“Capital is needed to upgrade [infrastructure and services at the airport]. The airport is willing to invest in equipment to improve passengers’ experience.

“We have installed larger flight information boards to serve passengers,” Tien noted.

Speaking at the meeting, Nguyen Quoc Phuong, deputy general director of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), which manages and operates 22 local airports, said Tan Son Nhat International Airport is operated at a capacity that exceeds its designed capacity.

The airport currently has T1 and T2 passenger terminals with an annual capacity of 28 million passengers but are serving 38 million, even 40 million passengers per year.

The ACV will invest heavily in infrastructure and equipment, such as automated boarding gates and 16 new normal boarding gates.

The investor of an overpass from the domestic passenger terminal to the TCP parking area remains unknown, Phuong added.

At a seminar “Easing visa policies, recovering tourism” held by Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper on Friday, Pham Quoc Hung, deputy head of the Ho Chi Minh City border gate police, said it’s hard to arrange lanes for tourist groups and business-class passengers.

Even when these lanes are made available, it’s hardly probable that procedures will be completed more quickly.

In reality, 40 police officers are working at the immigration area at Tan Son Nhat International Airport around the clock.

The number of passengers passing through the airport increases continuously, by 5 and 16 percent per month on average for passengers entering and getting out of Vietnam, respectively.

As a result, passengers have to queue up to complete immigration procedures.

Hung attributed the issue to downgraded infrastructure and outdated computers, which have been used since 2015, resulting in the slow information processing.

Tan Son Nhat International Airport welcomed nearly 2.3 million international visitors in 2022, accounting for 65.5 percent of the total number of international arrivals to the country.

The airport is always overloaded during peak seasons. Photo: Cong Trung / Tuoi Tre

Visa policies need improving

At the seminar, Duong Anh Duc, vice chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, affirmed that obstacles in visa policies need removing to attract international guests to Vietnam.

The visa waiver period of 15 days is too short and should be extended to 30 days to meet the demand of tourists from far markets, Duc added.

Moreover, multiple-entry visas should be offered. It is also important to issue e-visas.

Dr. Luong Hoai Nam, a member of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board, agreed that relaxing visa policies is an urgent solution to attract foreign travelers, thus helping the tourism and aviation sectors recover.

“The government should consider visa policies as a tool to attract international visitors,” Nam suggested.

Lodging facilities in Da Nang prepare to welcome back Chinese customers

In addition to travel companies, many hotels and resorts in Da Nang City, central Vietnam, have actively worked with their partners in China to prepare for the serving of Chinese guests.

The move was made after the northern neighbor added Vietnam to a list of countries where its tour agencies are allowed to organize group tours, beginning on March 15.

Nguyen Duc Quynh, general director of Furama Resort Danang, said Chinese travel companies have worked with lodging facilities in Da Nang.

In the initial period, Chinese tourists will travel to Vietnam on charter flights. After the number of visitors is stable, air carriers will reopen regular direct air routes between Da Nang and cities in China.

“Besides South Koreans, Chinese tourists will help boost the tourism development in Da Nang and Hoi An as China is a large traditional source market of these two Vietnamese destinations,” Quynh said.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Minh Xoang, director of Hai Van Cat International Travel JSC, which specializes in the Chinese market, said first Chinese tourist groups may enter Da Nang in April or May.

The resumption of air routes is needed, so travel companies are waiting for the move from airlines of the two countries.

According to local enterprises specializing in the Chinese market, there is no obstacles to welcome back Chinese tourists as the central region has been experienced in serving Chinese tourists.

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