Official says tourism promotions in Japan will pay off

Vietnam’s tourism industry is expected to see a strong recovery in arrivals from Japan in the rest of the years and the following years given numerous publicity programs being held in the Land of the Rising Sun, said a senior tourism official.
Nguyen Manh Cuong, deputy head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, told the Daily on Tuesday that with promotion activities launched in recent times, Vietnam is seeing a good chance to further develop the Japanese market. Arrivals from Japan have been falling in the past one year due to the global economic downturn.
Cuong, who returned to Vietnam on Monday after joining a string of tourism promotion activities in Japan, said that Japanese partners in meetings with local tourism representatives had showed an interest in Vietnam.
“It’s time for expectations as Vietnam is organizing many activities to promote its destination. The Japan Association of Travel Agents has also been lending a helping hand in marketing and business exchanges between the two sides,” he said.
Cuong went to Japan for a promotion program there from September 12 to 18 in three cities of Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo. The program, which included meetings between tourism entrepreneurs and officials of the two countries, was organized by Vietnam’s national tourism department, Vietnam Airlines and the central city of Danang.
Other promotion activities in Japan last week also included the Xin chao Vietnam festival on September 19 and 20 in the capital city of Tokyo, and the participation by Vietnam’s tourism agencies in the JATA World Travel Fair in Tokyo on September 18-20.
“It’s one of the biggest programs in Japan since 2003. Some Japanese travel agents even are optimistic that the number of Japanese tourists to Vietnam next year could be the same with that in the successful year of 2007,” Cuong said.
The number of Japanese tourists to Vietnam reached nearly 420,000 in 2007, but the number tumbled to 393,000 in 2008, and only 228,000 during the first eight months of this year, down 11.4% compared to the same period of 2008.
He said that during the trips, partners also showed special interest in popular destinations in the central region such as Hoi An and My Son in Quang Nam province, which will be further facilitated when new air service is launched between Japan and the central region.
“Vietnam Airlines will open new flights from the central region to Japan. It’s also a good change to develop the market,” Cuong said.
So far, more than 40 representatives of Japanese travel and transportation agents have made a trip to survey attractions in Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Hue, Danang, Quang Nam and HCMC between September 8 and 12.
Nguyen Van Tran, general director of APEX-Vietnam Co. Ltd. as the trip organizer, said that the company had received good feedback from those joining the trip.
“Partners have seen Vietnam as safe destination for their tourists. Some travel agents said that they would send guests in the coming time,” he told the Daily. APEX is a major tourism company catering to Japanese guests, welcoming around 86,000 guests in 2007.