At the event, Katahara shared that Kagawa Prefecture attracts a large number of international tourists annually and the local council plans to operate 37 weekly flights to various international destinations, including Vietnam by this summer.

He hoped the meeting would open up opportunities for extensive tourism cooperation between Kagawa and Vietnamese localities, thereby fostering business connections, promotional activities, and two-way tourist exchanges.

For his part, Sieu also introduced Vietnam’s beautiful landscapes and outstanding tourism products.

He stressed that Vietnam always considers Japan to be an important tourist market. In 2024, Vietnam welcomed nearly 18 million international visitors, including more than 700,000 Japanese tourists. Meanwhile, last year witnessed 630,000 Vietnamese tourists visit Japan.

Sieu expressed his belief that Vietnam’s recent visa exemption policy for another three years for citizens of 12 countries, including Japan, along with several direct flights between the two countries, would create favourable conditions to attract Vietnamese and Japanese tourists.

He also suggested that Kagawa Prefecture continue to consider opening direct flights to some tourist cities in Vietnam. At the same time, it is necessary to introduce images of both sides at the airports and promote multi-dimensional tourism, he concluded.

HCM City eyes to expand tourism cooperation with Japanese prefecture

Following their successes in cooperation over the past five decades, Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City, and Japan need to immediately implement cooperation projects to mark the first year of the next 50-year period of cooperation, said Phan Van Mai, chairman of the municipal People’s Committee.