More European tourists visit Vietnam after visa waiver: data

The number of Italian arrivals to the Southeast Asian country in October jumped 22.3 percent from the same period last year, according to the latest data by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam.

Tourist numbers from Germany and Spain also posted strong year-on-year growth of 20.3 percent and 19.1 percent, respectively.

The respective increases from the French and UK markets were 8.2 percent and 8.4 percent, according to the General Statistics Office.

Vietnam began scrapping visa requirements for citizens of these European countries on July 1 in a bid to revitalize its falling tourist arrival numbers, and the move has proven to work.

The visa-free travel policy, valid for one year from effective date, effectively allows German, French, British, Italian, and Spanish visitors a free 15-day visa for each entry.

The visa waiver has enabled Vietnam to lure back more visitors, after its international tourist numbers dropped for13 months in a row from May 2014.

With October seen as the beginning of the high season, Vietnam received 649,000 international tourists in the month, up 16.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

But the country has yet to have the last laugh as tourist arrivals in the ten-month period were still lower than a year earlier.

More than 6.33 million international visitors have toured the country in the first ten months of this year, down 4.1 percent from the same period in 2014, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

Local tour organizers, however, are upbeat about better results in the remaining months of the year, and the visa-free policy for those five European countries is believed to continue to be a lifesaver.