The tourism promotion program was co-hosted by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Vietnam Airlines (VNA); and the relevant agencies.

Artists deliver a traditional Vietnamese musical performance at a program to promote Vietnam’s tourism on September 10 in Japan. (Photo: VNA).

VNAT, the ministry’s International Cooperation Department and Japanese tourism officials launched a workshop to introduce the most outstanding tourism features of Vietnam to the Japanese people and tour operators.

Meanwhile, the national flag carrier at the event promoted its air routes and special policies that are expected to accelerate the growth of tourism between the two nations. VNA also organized a lucky draw, offering air tickets to Vietnam as prizes.

The Vietnamese delegation also joined a Vietnamese Festival held by Kanagawa Prefecture. This annual cultural and tourism exchange event attracts many Vietnamese firms from various sectors and the Japanese people.

VNAT, at the festival, promoted local tourism and aviation products. The delegation joined a similar festival in Sapporo on September 13.

Ngo Hoai Chung, deputy head of VNAT, said that he expected the Japanese would be inspired to arrange trips to Vietnam following the carrier’s presentations on Vietnamese culture, its natural landscape and the locals.

Through the program, the carrier hopes that its products and services will reach more Japanese people and that VNA will be their first choice of transport when they plan to visit Vietnam, said Le Hong Ha, VNA vice general director.

Ha added that VNA is serving the largest number of air passengers between the two countries. It currently uses a modern fleet of wide-body Boeing 787s and Airbus A350s for flights to Japan.

Japan is one of the source tourism markets of Vietnam. Japanese tourists have a special impression of Vietnam’s traditional culture, landscape, historical heritage, local cuisine and so on.

As of last year, the country welcomed nearly 830,000 Japanese tourists, up 3.6% against the number seen in 2017. This year up to date, the number of Japanese visitors to Vietnam has amounted to 620,000 arrivals, marking a 13%-year-on-year increase.

Cre: Le Anh – The Saigon Times

Nguyen Xuan Nghia – COMM