In November last year, cross-border self-driving tours between Dongxing in China and Mong Cai in Vietnam became routine, but only groups with 5 to 20 vehicles were eligible to apply. Starting in April this year, the scope of travel agencies allowed to operate self-driving tour services expanded from the original 20 agencies in Dongxing to 100 licensed agencies across Guangxi that have outbound or border tourism qualifications; the number of cars per group crossing the border has also been reduced from a minimum of 5 to just 1.
According to the Dongxing City Tourism Bureau, since the launch of routine cross-border self-driving tours between Dongxing in China and Mong Cai in Vietnam on November 9 last year, a total of 130 vehicles from both China and Vietnam have participated in such tours, with most coming from China to Vietnam.
Mr. Tang, head of the Travel Agency Branch of the Dongxing City Tourism Association, said that over 100 vehicles have crossed the border for self-driving tours in the past half year, and this figure indicates that the market appeal of this tourism product is relatively weak.
Nowadays, self-driving tours are very popular, and the prospects for cross-border self-driving are promising. But the reality is that tourists who drive thousands of kilometers from other provinces aren’t likely to go through a series of procedures just to visit Mong Cai within a 15-kilometer radius. It’s hoped that the tourism authorities will lower the requirements for travel agencies and group formation, and ease the threshold for crossing the border—this would certainly be a significant boost.
A person in charge at the Dongxing City Tourism Bureau office stated that Vietnam proposed to China in March to lower the threshold for cross-border self-driving tours. Various departments in China have taken this very seriously, and starting in April, measures such as allowing groups of just one car and expanding the number of qualified agencies from 20 to 100 are all gradual improvements addressing current issues.
The official also mentioned that China and Vietnam will hold another meeting, during which they will discuss the expansion of routes—for example, extending the Chinese route to Guilin and the Vietnamese route to Ha Long. Cross-border self-driving tours involve many departments, and it has not been easy to open these routes and lower the barriers. The next step is for tourism authorities to report the consensus reached by both sides to higher levels, then sign relevant agreements with Vietnam to further enrich the cross-border self-driving routes and enhance their market appeal.