Saturday, 14 September 2013

Five Mekong Countries Discuss Single Tourist Visa

Hanoi, Sep 11 (Prensa Latina) Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar started talks today to create a single visa that would enable tourists to travel freely across the five countries and boost the tourism industry in the region. Tourism ministers are meeting today in Ho Chi Minh City to discuss this topic as part of the Ninth International Exhibition of Travel Agencies being held from Thursday until Saturday. According to Nguyen Van Tuan, director of the National Administration of Vietnam, the aforementioned countries have expressed their support for the project, and he believes it is just a matter of time before the project becomes policy.

Taking into account the potential benefits of a single visa, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung urged the Ministries of Public Security and Tourism to analyze how a one-visa policy can be implemented, since countries like Vietnam and Myanmar have the most complicated immigration processes.

Those in favor of the single visa appreciate the advantages for travelers to Cambodia or Laos, who can now easily go to other destinations of the great Mekong simply by paying an extra charge.

In 2011, about 77 million tourists visited the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a group of ten countries in the region, to enjoy their rich geographical diversity and exotic features.

Malaysia leads the group with the most visitors, followed by Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Brunei.

source: Prensa Latina

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