Indian tourists to get visa waivers

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) has proposed exempting Vietnam visa for Indian tourists said MCST Deputy Minister Ho Anh Tuan at a Vietnam-India tourism and aviation cooperation conference in Hanoi on November 29.

At the conference, representatives of 120 travel agents from two countries shared difficulties in sending Indian tourists to Vietnam and vice versa, including the lack of direct flights, high ticket prices, complicated visa procedures, and shortage of information about tourist sites in both countries and special restaurants for Indian vegetarians to Vietnam.

Indian Ambassador to Vietnam, Ms Preeti Saran said during a recent fact-finding tour of Vietnam, the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) deeply impressed by Vietnam’s landscape like Halong Bay and My Son sanctuary.

Opening direct flights between the two countries and simplifying visa granting procedures will help lure more Vietnamese visitors to India and vice versa, the ambassador said.

Leaders from the MCST and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) and Indian Embassy answered questions related to policies and agreed on specific measures to boost bilateral tourism cooperation in the future.

To approach the Indian market, MCST and VNAT have made a plan to promote tourism in India in the 2015-2020 period, focusing on introducing tourism sites and products on posters and manuals, taking part in some international tourism fairs in India, conducting fact-finding tours of India for travel agents and the media, promoting tourism at politic, diplomatic and economic events and inviting Bollywood film makers to the country to make films and clips on Vietnam’s landscape.

MCST Deputy Minister Tuan hoped that Vietnam and India soon sign a tourism cooperation deal and accelerate cultural, economic and tourism exchanges.