Vietnam plans to lure Japanese tourists back

Japanese visitors in Vietnam.

By July, tourism companies in both Vietnam and Japan are offering attractive promotional programs, aimed to lure more Japanese visitors back to Vietnam.

According to APEX Tourism Company, the numbers of Japanese visitors that had seen a sharp decline after the twin disasters are now showing signs of increasing in August.

Japan is a vital market for Vietnamese tourism with over 442,000 Japanese visitors arriving last year. The number of Japanese visitors to Vietnam this year is expected to increase by 15 to 20 per cent compared to last year.

According to a report of the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, despite the earthquake and tsunami disasters, Japanese visitors to HCMC in the first six months of this year increased 19 per cent year-on-year.

The recent calamity in Japan resulted in a 40 per cent drop in the number of Japanese visitors to Vietnam, compared to the same period last year.

Vietnam’s international travel agencies forecast that the Japanese market would soon recover and it still remains a potentially strong tourist destination. World tourism experts have predicted that the Japanese market would recover completely by the third quarter of this year.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said they were taking concerted measures to revive the influx of Japanese tourists back into Vietnam.

On the other hand, Japanese tourism companies also plan to take Vietnamese visitors to Japan after temporarily cancelling tours to Japan after the disasters.

Japanese companies have launched attractive promotional programs for Vietnamese visitors to Japan.

A representative of Fiditour Company revealed that a package tour from Ho Chi Minh City to Japan has decreased to VND8 million per tour compared with earlier rates.