Determined to expand the Japanese tourist market

Japan is one of the key markets for Vietnamese tourism . However, due to the lack of direct flights, the number of visitors from the land of cherry blossoms to Khanh Hoa is still quite modest. Implementing the orientation of diversifying the international tourist market, Khanh Hoa tourism industry is making efforts to promote and attract Japanese visitors.

Key market of Vietnam tourism

Japan has always been a key tourist market for Vietnam tourism. According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), in the period 2015 - 2019, the number of Japanese visitors to Vietnam increased by 1.4 times (from 671,000 visitors in 2015 to 952,000 visitors in 2019). The Covid-19 epidemic not only stopped the growth momentum but also caused a sharp decline in the number of Japanese visitors (in 2022, Vietnam only welcomed 128,764 Japanese visitors). However, with promotional efforts, since the beginning of 2023, the exploitation of the Japanese tourist market by the Vietnam tourism industry has improved significantly. In the first 10 months of 2023, Vietnam welcomed more than 468,700 Japanese visitors, an increase of 290% over the same period in 2022. Currently, Japan is among the top 5 countries with the largest number of visitors to Vietnam tourism, after Korea, China, Taiwan (China), and the US. Unfortunately, in that upswing, the number of Japanese visitors to Khanh Hoa is not much. Statistics from the Department of Tourism show that in the first 10 months of 2023, Khanh Hoa only welcomed nearly 9,000 Japanese tourists.

Japanese tourists love to explore the culture and life of Vietnamese people.

According to the Department of Tourism, before 2015, Japan was one of the province's important international tourist markets with an average of more than 22,000 visitors per year and remained stable for a long time. However, from 2016 to now, the number of Japanese visitors to the land of Agarwood has decreased. In the period of 2018 - 2019, although the provincial tourism industry has implemented many activities to promote, advertise, and connect tourism cooperation with partners in Japan, it has not yet achieved the expected results. “To attract Japanese tourists, the provincial tourism sector has invited famtrip delegations of Japanese travel agencies to survey and learn about Khanh Hoa tourism products; organized a tourism cooperation promotion program between Khanh Hoa tourism sector and Japanese partners in Tokyo; met and connected with the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) and Japanese tourism businesses at the Japan-South Central Provinces Cooperation Promotion Conference... However, the lack of direct flights, coupled with the Covid-19 pandemic, has caused international tourism activities to stagnate for a long time, making it even more difficult to exploit the already difficult Japanese tourist market,” said Mr. Cung Quynh Anh - Deputy Director of the Department of Tourism.

Towards opening direct flights

According to tourism experts, many Japanese people have returned to travel, and Vietnam is a favorite destination for Japanese tourists. Japanese tourists prefer cultural experiences, world heritage sites, and resorts. With its strengths in beach tourism, the province can attract visitors from the land of cherry blossoms if it promotes advertising and has direct flights from major cities in Japan to Khanh Hoa. Accordingly, the provincial tourism industry is promoting advertising; calling on businesses to build tourism products suitable to the tastes of Japanese tourists. To address the weakness of flight routes, at the end of October, Mr. Le Huu Hoang - Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee worked with leaders of Vietjet Air on opening direct flights from major cities in Japan to Khanh Hoa.

In particular, the province organized a working delegation to promote investment and tourism in Japan from November 5 to 11. Accordingly, on November 8, in Hiroshima province (Japan), the Provincial People's Committee held a Conference on Investment and Tourism Promotion of Khanh Hoa in Japan. In which, the provincial leaders introduced to Japanese enterprises the strengths of Khanh Hoa tourism, one of the famous tourist destinations in Vietnam and Asia with beautiful beaches, rich cuisine, unique traditional culture and arts, synchronously invested tourism infrastructure... very suitable for the needs of Japanese visitors. Speaking at the conference, comrade Nguyen Hai Ninh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee emphasized that Khanh Hoa is a locality with outstanding strengths in the field of tourism, so it wishes to establish charter flights, moving towards opening commercial flights from Japan to Khanh Hoa. Within the framework of the conference, Vietravel signed two memorandums of understanding with Japanese partners (Hiroshima Convention and Visitors Bureau and Showa Travel) on cooperation in the tourism sector to bring Japanese tourists to Khanh Hoa and vice versa. The Department of Tourism is also coordinating with the Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa Tourism Association to plan to invite famtrip groups of Japanese travel agencies to survey Khanh Hoa tourism in the near future.

XUAN THANH

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