Foreign travellers in Hoi An city (Photo: VNA)
Japan is the third largest source of tourists to Vietnam, after China and the Republic of Korea.
Last year, Vietnam welcomed over 826,000 Japanese visitors, up 3.6 percent from 2017. The seven-month figure rose by 12.9 percent thanks to attractive destinations such as Ho Chi Minh city, Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh, Hue - Da Nang - Hoi An, Nha Trang, and the Mekong Delta.
Over the past years, Vietnam has attended the annual Japan Association of Travel Agents’ Tourism Expo Japan in September in Tokyo, the world’s largest of its kind held by the Japan National Tourism Organization.
Besides, tourism authorities have also held Vietnam festival in Japan to introduce handicrafts, traditional long dress and water puppetry.
In the near future, they will target Japanese elderly, high-spending tourists and students via resort and heritage tours in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh city, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue and Phu Quoc.
Vietnam also expects to welcome 1 million Japanese visitors by 2020.
In 2018, nearly 390,000 Vietnamese people traveled to Japan, which is forecast to increase due to high demand for studies and labor in the country./.