Around 10,000 Vietnamese come to Japan a month and many of them are tourists, said Saigon Times daily on October 29.
Some 130 representatives from 45 local travel agencies and 30 hotels
and travel firms from Japan gathered at a seminar held at the
Pullman Saigon Centre last week to discuss how to cooperate to cash in
on the surging number of Vietnamese visitors to the northeast Asian
country.
An executive of a local travel agency told the Daily
before the seminar that Japan tours had been selling well in recent
times thanks to reduced prices and that his company now arranged regular
trips for Vietnamese to visit Japan rather than seasonal tours in
previous years.
“The number of Vietnamese visitors to Japan
will soar when visa procedures are simplified. Therefore, we have to
find new partners to help design new tours and lower prices,” he said.
As scheduled, the Consulate General of Japan in HCMC will next
month announce information about criteria for the travel firms subject
to lax visa procedures when they organise package trips for Vietnamese
travelers to Japan .
According to the Japan Tourism Agency,
more than 84,000 Vietnamese came to Japan last year, up 53.1%
compared to the previous year. In January-August this year, the number
soared 50% year-on-year to 80,100.
The agency expected the
number of Vietnamese tourists will grow higher thanks to favourable
conditions in travelling, strong partnerships between companies of the
two nations to offer more tours at lower prices, and Japan’s aid in
promoting destinations in that country.
Next month, Japan
will simplify the application procedure for single-entry tourist visa
for Indonesians, Filipinos and Vietnamese in package tours arranged by
accredited travel agencies.
According to local travel firms,
the loosened visa requirements will lead tour prices to Japan to
fall sharply as this enables them to book air tickets and hotel rooms
earlier to enjoy bigger discounts.-VNA