Japan welcomed 21,800 Vietnamese visitors during the first two months of 2015, an annual surge of 54.3 percent, revealed the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) on March 18.

The number of Vietnamese tourists ranked 13 th among international arrivals to Japan, but the third in terms of growth rate, after China and the Philippines, with 99.2 percent and 71.7 percent, respectively.

Foreign arrivals to Japan hit 1.39 million in February, up 57.6 percent annually, owing to the easing Japan-China tension and the Lunar New Year holiday.

The figure was the highest of the last 4 months, having remained above 1 million for 12 consecutive months.

Yen devaluation and increasing numbers of international flights to Haneda Airport since March last year are also contributing factors to the nation’s tourism industry spike.

Last year, the highest number of visitors came from China with 359,100 million tourists, a 2.6-fold increase from 2013 and overtaking the Republic of Korea.-VNA