The French Embassy in Vietnam and six local tour operators have signed agreements facilitating visa application for the companies’ customers travelling to France.

The signing in Hanoi on April 15 was witnessed by France’s Minister of State in charge of Foreign Trade, Tourism and French Nationals abroad, Matthias Fekl.

The agreements, a result of France’s efforts to attract Vietnamese tourists, will help simplify the process of issuing visas and create favourable conditions for Vietnamese tourists to visit France, as well as address the increase of visa applications for entry into the European country.

They will allow prioritised appointments for groups of applicants, simplify required documents and shorten procedures for visitors who have previously entered Europe and several other countries.

The decision was made to address the sharp increase of tourists from Vietnam to France. As many as 24,269 visas were issued in 2014, a 28.7 percent year-on-year rise, including nearly 11,000 travel visas, up 62 percent from the previous year.

The six local tour operators signing the partnership agreements with the French Embassy in Hanoi include Hanoi Red Tour, Naci Travel, Hanoi Iso Tours, Hanoi Tourist, South Pacific Travel and Vietfoot Travel.

There have been no alterations to visa issuing procedures for other cases.-VNA