The Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism has said it will propose the government revise the international tourist target for this year to 12.5-13 million from the eight million set at the beginning of the year.

Vietnam welcomed 8.8 million international visitors in January-September, exceeding the full-year target of eight million, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Doan Van Viet said at a recent conference to review the performance of the sector in the nine-month period.

The number of domestic tourists totaled 93 million, reaching 93.5 percent of the target, Viet informed.

He said Vietnam’s policies to remove bottlenecks in immigration have boosted the tourism sector’s development.

In particular, the Vietnamese government issued a resolution to grant e-visas to citizens from all countries and territories.

The country allowed extending the validity of e-visas granted to foreigners entering the country to 90 days from no more than 30 days for single entry or multiple entries.

It also lengthen the visa-free stay to 45 days from 15 days for citizens of 13 countries, regardless of passport types or entry purposes, as long as they meet the entry requirements as per Vietnamese laws.

The government had also asked the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism to review and adjust the international traveler target this year to match the reality and spur tourism recovery and development.

The ministry and the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism projected that Vietnam may welcome at least 1.1-1.2 million foreign travelers per month in the rest of the year.

The number of local tourist arrivals is expected to hit 102 million.

Meanwhile, deputy head of the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism Ha Van Sieu said that tourism had yet to recover in a comprehensive manner, even in tourism hubs, due to the Russia-Ukraine military conflict, Chinese travelers’ hesitancy in traveling abroad, and limited tourism promotion programs.

In the last quarter of this year, the tourism sector will focus on effectively adopting the government’s solutions to lure international travelers.

The authority will hold conferences with tourism firms to remove their obstacles to attract foreign tourists, especially in large tourism centers, such as Da Nang, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, and Ha Long.

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