Single visa for South East Asia boosted by Thai chairmanship
Single visa for South East Asia boosted by Thai chairmanship
Thailand
and the Philippines are to join together to push for the much
anticipated single visa covering the 10 member countries of the
Association of South-East Asian Nations which they believe will boost
tourism in the zone.
In 2007 almost 30 million tourists from
outside Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos,
Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines and Thailand, visited the
area and there has been plans for years to offer a single visa that
would allow people to visit more than one without separate
documentation.
The two lead countries have now confirmed that
they will jointly push for the common visa when Bangkok assumes the
ASEAN chairmanship in July. As Thailand is the acknowledged leader in
tourism in the area it is anticipated holding the chairmanship will
give the issue extra clout.
The move will not only boost holiday
lettings but attract more property investment too, according to the
industry. There has been talk of having a single zone visa for years
but it has been difficult to get all 10 nations to agree.
'A
common visa will give property investors the opportunity to pick a base
within the zone and then use it to travel to other countries in the
region, says property consultants David Stanley Redfern.
But
others are more sceptical. 'I think it is a case of believing it when
it actually happens. It will mean Burma agreeing to let travellers in
with visas issued by other authorities and even the most optimistic
must realise this is a long way off if recent events surrounding relief
aid show,' said Bridie Chalmers of Travel Counselling in London.