The Tourism Law was approved by the National Assembly on June 11, 2005 and will take effect on January 1, 2006. At the present, the Vietnam National Tourism Administration is co-operating with authorised agencies to gather inputs and comments from enterprises for seven draft decrees, which provide guidelines on the implementation of the Tourism Law. One of the activities was a recent seminar organised by the Vietnam National Tourism Administration and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), which gathered inputs and comments to two draft decrees on tourism residence, and travel, tourist transportation and tour guiding.
Talking about the Tourism Law, Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, deputy head of the Legal Department of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said that when the law was drafted, the drafting board got preferences from foreign countries’ tourism laws and received advice from many Vietnamese and foreign experts. The law, which will replace the 1999 Tourism Ordinance, is suitable with the international standards and has received much support from organisations and travel agencies.
Regarding the regulations of decrees on tourism residence and travel, tourist transportation and tour guiding, much attention was put on deposits. A deputy director of the Hanoi-based Vietnam Tourism Company asked about the interest rate depositing enterprises should enjoy. She said that enterprises had to pay up to 1.5 per cent on interest of their loans but they were not paid with deposit interest. She said that the drafting board should consider carefully before stipulating deposits for international travel agencies as it was not easy for enterprises, especially new ones, to deposit up to VND 500 million. Also regarding this issue, a lecturer from the Tourism Faculty of the National Economics University said that there shouldn’t be any distinction between deposits, inbound (VND 250 million) and outbound (VND 500 million) in the decree.
Regarding insurance for tourists travelling abroad, the deputy director of the Vietnam Tourism Company in Hanoi, said that for tourists who travelled to nearby countries, such as ASEAN countries and China, should be encouraged to pay insurance instead of being forced to pay. Talking about the issue, Vu The Binh from the Legal Department of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, told the seminar about the landscape of Vietnamese tourists’ visits to foreign countries. He said that low cost tours should not be encouraged. Therefore, insurance payment aimed to improve the quality of tours.
Talking about the opening of branches of foreign travel agencies in Vietnam, Binh said that they should not unnecessarily open many branches. He went on to say that to improve the responsibility of travel agencies and their leaders, there should be conditions for the establishment of branches in Vietnam.
All the inputs and comments will be considered by the drafting board before any amendment is made, so the decree will really benefit enterprises. Concluding the seminar, Pham Thi Thu Hang, director of the SSME PC of VCCI, said that to improve the quality of the gathering of enterprises’ inputs and comments, VCCI would send contents of the drafts to enterprises, so enterprises would have more time to study before contributing their inputs and comments at seminars.
Nguyen Thoa
Vietnamese
