Tourism industry fears surge in visa prices

Tourism industry fears surge in visa prices

Tourism companies fear higher fees for visas from January 1 might affect the growth of the tourism industry.

The fee for a single-entry visa rose from US$25 to $45 while multiple-entry visas of one-month, six months and over six months went to $65, $95 and $135 respectively.

Residence cards now cost $80, $100 and $120, depending on their validity of one, two or three years.

Vice President of the Viet Nam Tourism Association Vu The said international tourist arrivals would decrease, which might damage the tourism industry and the economy as a whole, reported online Saigon Economic Times.

Tour company director Nguyen Thi Kim Lan said higher fees would increase tour costs and lower the competitiveness of Viet Nam in comparison to other countries in the region.

In times of economic difficulty, prices were an important factor in deciding destinations for tourists, he said.

This year, the tourism industry aimed to lower prices to attract tourists but the policy would become a barrier to that development, he said.

At a recent meeting of the HCM City Association of Tourism, many tourism companies suggested the visa fee hike to be cancelled, saying that the economic crisis would continue to impact on the tourism industry.

Statistics show international visitors in December last year numbered 614,673- 6.26 per cent lower than the previous month. The figure for the full year reached 6.847 million, a rise of 13.86 per cent over 2011.

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