“Fly Vietnam Airlines – Rediscovery”, carrier luring Japanese tourists

The event formed part of the corporation’s promotion campaign in Japan after the two countries reopened their doors to foreign visitors. It drew the participation of representatives from more than 50 travel and aviation firms in Japan.

In his remarks, Ambassador Vu Hong Nam lauded the Japanese government’s efforts to gradually lift travel restrictions and relax COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

The diplomat expressed his hope that exchanges and travel between the two countries will be restored and return to normal as the pandemic was brought under control.

Truong Tran Ngoc Hung, Deputy Director of the Marketing and Sales Department of Vietnam Airlines, stressed that thanks to its vaccination campaign, Vietnam had controlled the pandemic and officially reopened its borders on March 15, while resuming visa exemptions for citizens from 13 countries, including Japan.

The country also scrapped health declarations for all international arrivals from April 27, and the COVID-19 testing requirement from May 15.

Japan has also waived the testing requirement and quarantine for triple-vaccinated visitors from Vietnam, and planned to conditionally open up to foreign tourists from June 10, Hung added.

These are opportunities for the aviation sector as the Vietnamese and Japanese markets quickly recover and create growth breakthroughs, he noted.

Many Japanese participants at the workshop commended the Vietnamese government’s decision to open door to foreign arrivals.

Wafa Dajany Naheel, Vice Chairwoman of All Nippon Airways (ANA), said thanks to the decision, the Vietnamese tourism sector will quickly recover after the pandemic.

ANA resumed regular commercial flights to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in February 2022, she said.

Ambassador Nam told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) on the sidelines of the workshop that since the reopening two months ago, Vietnam has seen strong growth in the number of international visitors.

He cited statistics from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism showing the country welcomed more than 170,000 foreign tourists in May, up 70 percent year-on-year.

In the first five months of this year, the number exceeded 365,000, more than 4.5 times higher than the figure recorded in the first half of last year, which, the ambassador said, demonstrates that Vietnam remains attractive to foreign holidaymakers.

Ngo Sy Anh, director of Vietnam Airlines’ representative office in Japan, said Vietnam Airlines has resumed eight direct routes between Hanoi and HCM City and Japan’s Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka cities.

The national flag carrier plans to restore the Tokyo – Da Nang and Haneda – Hanoi routes from July, raising the total weekly flights between the two countries to 35, he said, adding that the frequency will be increased and expected to return to normal by March 2023.

Masahiko Inada, General Manager of the Outbound Travel Promotion Division of the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), held that Vietnam will be a destination for many Japanese tourists in the future.

Vietnam Airlines said it conducted 8,385 flights between Vietnam and Japan in 2019, serving 1.6 million passengers./.