Vietnam wants to attract more Japanese travelers

In 2017, Vietnam received more than 800,000 Japanese travelers, an increase of 7 percent over the year before. 

In recent years, 4.9 million Japanese have visited Asian countries each year, and Vietnam is the second biggest choice for travelers, just after Thailand.

Japan also attracts a high number of Vietnamese travelers. In 2016, the number of Vietnamese travelers to Tokyo surged by 26 percent over 2015 to 240,000. In 2017, about 300,000 Vietnamese traveled there.

Statistics show the steady rise in number of Japanese travelers to Vietnam, from 647,000 in 2014 to 671,000 in 2015 (up by 3.6 percent), 740,000 in 2016 (up by 10.3 percent) and to 800,000 in 2017 (up by 7 percent). 

In the first eight months of the year, Vietnam received 465,000 Japanese travelers. 

According to the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), there are three groups of Japanese travelers that Vietnam needs to pay attention to – family travelers, middle-aged tourists and F1-F2 generations.

Of these, middle-aged travelers are important as they have high income and time to travel. 

Family  travelers promise great potential as they now tend to travel abroad. Young travelers of F1-F2 generations don’t book luxury tours, but they could help promote destinations.

Vietnam once received a wave of Japanese travelers in 2000. At that time, Vietnam, in Japanese eyes, was a new, unfamiliar and safe destination. Japanese like Vietnam’s ao dai (traditional long dress) and Vietnamese cuisine. 

The two governments also encouraged their citizens to go to other countries to travel and study, thus increasing the number of travelers rapidly.

However, many Japanese travelers, after coming to Vietnam to satisfy their curiosity about the new destination, did not return.

HCMC–Mekong Delta, Da Nang, Hue-Hoi An and Hoi An-Ha Long are the favorite routes for Japanese travelers, but tours to the localities have not been renewed. Ha Long Bay is wonderful, but it is little known to travelers because of the lack of effective ad campaigns.

However, Vietnam has realized the problems and has been making every effort to lure Japanese travelers to Vietnam. VNAT has run many  tourism promotion programs, airlines have opened new air routes, and travel firms have designed new tours. 

In September 2018, VNAT and some local tourism promotion agencies plan to organize roadshows to advertise Vietnam’s tourism in four cities - Sapporo, Kanagawa, Fukuoka and Osaka.

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