At the seminar program on the Policy of visas for Korea and Taiwan (China) as part of the 2025 Tourism and Business event series held on August 23, Mr. Nguyen Viet Anh - Permanent Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association said that Korea and Taiwan (China) are currently destinations attracting Vietnamese tourists.
Through the discussion, Vietnamese enterprises discussed difficulties and concerns in organizing tours, immigration procedures as well as programs to exploit these two markets.
This is also an opportunity to connect businesses with each other, especially in the context of Ho Chi Minh City having just merged with Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau provinces. This contributes to expanding cooperation, not only increasing the number of international visitors to Vietnam but also promoting the number of Vietnamese visitors abroad.
According to Mr. You Sang Byun - Consular visa Department, Consulate General of Korea in Ho Chi Minh City, statistics show that in 2024, there will be about 4.5 million Korean visitors to Vietnam. In the January - July 2025 period alone, this figure will reach about 2.5 million. Among the overseas destinations of Koreans, Vietnam ranks second, after Japan.
On the other hand, in 2024, there will be about 650,000 Vietnamese visitors to Korea. In the first 7 months of 2025, this figure is about 420,000. With this figure, the number of Vietnamese visitors to Korea ranked 4th, only behind China, Japan and the US.
To achieve these achievements, there are great contributions from improving and upgrading cooperation and exchange mechanisms between the two countries along with contributions from tourism businesses.
In particular, the Vietnamese Government's visa relaxation policies have contributed to strongly promoting the number of Korean visitors to Vietnam, such as extending the length of stay for visitors exempted from visas or extending the length of stay for visitors entering the country via electronic visa. At the same time, there are improvements in tourism infrastructure and services.
On the other hand, the Korean Government and the Korean Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City have implemented many policies to facilitate Vietnamese visitors such as exempting fees for electronic union visas, shortening preparation documents...
"I hope that in the future, Vietnamese people can enter Korea without a visa" - Mr. You Sang Byun emphasized.
A representative of Southeast Asia Tourism Company questioned whether the Korean visa approval process will be applied fairly among travel agencies.
Regarding this issue, Mr. You Sang Byun said that visa approval is done completely fairly, applying to all individuals and travel companies. The unit reviews the documents based on the actual content, authenticity and suitability of the customer's documents.
Therefore, when registering for a visa, the most important thing is that businesses and individuals need to prepare a complete dossier, in accordance with actual regulations and conditions.
Mr. system Chou - Chief Representative of the Taiwan Tourism Administration (China) in Vietnam, said that Quan Hong visa (visa delegation) is issued through designated travel companies. This is a fee-free visa, not requiring financial proof, creating great convenience for travel businesses in organizing tours.
For individual tours, only companies on the designated list are allowed to apply. Every year in March and September, the Taiwan Tourism Administration (China) will open a review of documents.
Information from Taiwan (China), this year the number of customers going on individual tours has decreased, but group tours under the company's employees' rewards have increased by 3 times compared to 2024. This is both a potential market for travel companies to exploit and an advantage to help businesses have the opportunity to be on the designation list of Taiwan (China).
