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South Korea entry visa is now free for Vietnamese tourists from Ho Chi Minh City flying direct to Korea’s Jeju Island, tourist officials announced Monday in the city.

Mr. La Quoc Khanh, vice director of the city Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Mr. Oh Chang-Hyeon, marketing director of the Jeju Tourism Organization, gave an information session Monday night to announce their cooperation result right after their working sitting in the day time.

Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism vice director La Quoc Khanh (R) and Jeju Tourism Organization marketing director Oh Chang-Hyeon shake hand during their information session in HCMC Oct. 17, 2011 (Photo: Tuong Thuy)

Two chartered flights per week on Tuesdays and Saturdays contracted by Korea-based company Asia World Travel now link the two destinations, with visa free for Vietnamese tourists, said Mr. Oh Chang-Hyeon.

The chartered flights, which started over the weekend, are already fully booked for the HCM City-Jeju direction until December, said Mr. Vo Binh, Vietnam branch manager of Asia World Travel. Boeing aircraft with more than 140 seats are used for the chartered flights, he said.

A round trip package tour to Jeju now costs about US$600-620 depending on two or three nights, and on tour operators, he added.

Mr. Oh Chang-Hyeon is leading a Jeju tourism promotion mission visiting Vietnam on Oct. 14-18 to sound out more opportunities. Besides Ho Chi Minh City, they have come to the Mekong Delta in the south. They have also met with representatives of Vietnamese tour operators.

Mr. Khanh, vice director of the HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the two sides have agreed on some other activities to be conducted to lure more Korean tourists to the city and more Vietnamese visitors to Korea, especially Jeju Island.

About 10 Korean journalists joined the Jeju mission to make reporting and shooting on Vietnam, said James Shin from the Jeju Tourism Organization.

In May this year, the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in cooperation with the Korean Cultural Centre in Vietnam launched a website for online votes for Ha Long Bay of Vietnam and Jeju Island to become one of the seven new World Natural Wonders.

Website www.jeju-halong.com is in three languages – Vietnamese, Korean and English – so that people in the two countries and others can easily vote for the two UNESCO-recognized natural heritage sites.

Switzerland-based organization New7Wonders is scheduled to announce the result of global voting for the seven new World Natural Wonders on November 11, 2011.

Source: http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn

The government plans to allow foreigners visiting the country aboard cruises to disembark here without a visa for short stays as part of efforts to attract foreign tourists.

The Justice Ministry on Friday announced its proposal to ease the visa rule for foreigners arriving in Korea on cruise ships.

The ministry also inserted a clause in the revised bill to help long-term foreign residents adapt to life in Korea and settle down here.

The “tour landing permit” system will allow foreign cruise tourists to disembark in Korea and stay for up to three days without a visa, if the shipping company or the ship’s captain applies for and receives the permit beforehand, officials said.

The current rule does not allow foreign cruise line tourists into Korean ports, even if they choose to stay onboard, unless they are given visas.

According to the proposed bill, cruises selected through a presidential decree will allow foreigners to disembark visa-free for up to three days.

The bill is expected to attract Chinese tourists, among others, addressing complaints that many had about the tedious visa application process.

“Our cruise runs from China to Busan, so the majority of our customers are Chinese, but visas for entering Korea causes a lot of woes, as the application is a time-consuming and complicated process,” said Lisa Yun, at Royal Caribbean Cruise.

Royal Caribbean alone ran roughly 55,000 tourists from China to Busan in 2010.

“It will be a huge help for us to expand in the Chinese market,” said Yun, who heads the marketing team in Korea.

According to data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Chinese tourists accounted for more than 20 percent of the total tourism market in 2010, with over 1.8 million people, a near 40 percent increase from the year before. The majority of those chose cruises to visit the country.

Market reports have shown that the international cruise market has grown 10 percent annually from 8.5 million in 1999 to 17.5 million in 2009.

Since 2005, when 10 international cruise liner routes started servicing here, Korea has seen a yearly average increase of 53 percent in the number of cruise ships up until 2010. Between 2009 and 2010, the industry saw an increase of some 126 percent in cruise tourists, from 77,000 to 174,000.

“The ministry has considered the international boom in the cruise tourism market, and has decided to aggressively push for the permit system for disembarking tourists to tap into the market and attract foreigners,” said a ministry official.

The Korea Tourism Organization is also looking to promote Korea, hoping to attract 200 more lines and 300,000 more tourists by 2013.

According to survey results by the KTO in 2010, over 36 percent of cruise line tourists choose lines based on the ship’s port of call.

The bill also includes a new clause to lay a legal foundation for Korea Immigration & Integration Program. The program provides long-term foreign residents with the necessary information and counseling service to ease their integration into society. Under the clause, the Justice Ministry will be able to implement various integration programs for foreigners staying in Korea.

Source: Korea Herald

Tourists enter Phu Quoc Island by cruise-ships can enjoy 15 day Vietnam visa-free stay. See details at: http://www.vietnam-visa.com/blog/special-vietnam-visa-regulations-for-those-who-travel-to-phu-quoc-island/.

Visitors from Southeast and Southwest Asia to Korea will face fewer visa restrictions from next month.

The Ministry of Justice said Tuesday that travel restrictions will be loosened on visitors from eleven countries including Myanmar, Indonesia and Vietnam, when they apply for a tourist visa to Korea.
Visitors from those countries that are eligible will now be able to apply for multiple visas allowing them to stay longer as well as double visas giving them permission to enter the country more than once in a 6 month period.
The ministry says the introduction of a similar visa system for Chinese visitors last year brought in many more tourists and the government hopes this move will lead to a boost in the number of visitors from other parts of Asia.

Source: Arirang

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