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