South Korea has just announced an extension of the pilot program for the expanded issuance of group travel visas for citizens of three Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, for an additional two years.
Cherry blossom season in Busan, Korea. Photo: Dang Huy
On June 27, the Ministry of Justice of South Korea announced a two-year extension of the pilot program for the expanded issuance of group travel visas for citizens of three Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
This program was initially implemented as a pilot in June of last year to attract tourists from these three countries. According to the program, the criteria for issuing group visas, initially restricted to “corporate incentive tour groups and groups of over five people on educational tours,” have been changed to include “regular tour groups of over three people.”
The group travel visa is a simplified visa with streamlined documentation and review procedures. Thanks to this regulation, the number of group tourists entering South Korea from Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia doubled from 23,700 at the beginning of 2023 to 47,400 by the end of that year. In the first five months of 2024, the number of group tourists from these three countries entering South Korea reached 56,400, maintaining an upward trend.
According to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), Vietnam was the largest source of international tourists from Southeast Asia to South Korea in 2023 and the first four months of 2024. During the first four months of 2024, South Korea welcomed over 167,000 Vietnamese tourists, an increase of over 32% compared to the same period last year and a recovery to 97% of the same period in 2019.
At the same time, South Korea was also the top source of international tourists to Vietnam. In April 2024 alone, over 846,400 South Korean tourists visited Vietnam, accounting for 31% of the more than 2.7 million South Korean tourists traveling to Southeast Asian countries.
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