Number of Vietnamese visiting Japan soars
(VOV) - Drops in tour prices, simpler visas and more direct flights have boosted the appeal of Japan among Vietnamese tourists seeking an overseas holiday break, Vietnam’s tour agents have reported.
Bookings have skyrocketed in the first months of the year, mainly due to the fall in the yen according to one tour agent who said currently a six-day and five night tour to Japan cost only US$1,375-1,604 (VND30-35 million).
The news came as a report by the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) suggested Vietnam is now Japan’s third largest inbound tourist market just behind China and Hong Kong (China).
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More than 13,000 tourists from Vietnam visited Japan in just the month of June alone, a sharp rise of roughly 52.7% compared with June last year, according to JNTO.
For the six month period January-June 2015 JNTO reported tourism spiked 59.3% to 94,300 visitors by far outpacing the 124,266 visitors for the whole of 2014.
Visitors from Vietnam have also been drawn by the lower taxes on Japanese goods.
A JNTO representative added that many Japanese localities such as Kanagawa, Niigata, Gifu and Ibaraki prefectures are the preferred destinations by Vietnamese visitors.