Scene at the discussion between Can Tho authorities and representatives from Japan National Tourism Organization's Vietnam office (Photo: plo.vn)Can Tho (VNA) – The Mekong Delta city of CanTho wants to establish a strategic partnership with the Japan National TourismOrganization (JNTO)’s Vietnam office to attract more Japanese tourists to thecity, said an official of the city.
Vice Chairman of the Can Tho People’s Committee Truong HoaiNam made the proposal during a working session with Takahashi Ayumi, head of theJNTO’s Vietnam office, on September 9.
Nam said while Can Tho is a socio-economic hub of the MekongDelta region, the number of tourists visiting the city is low compared to otherlocalities in the region. Therefore, the city wants to cooperate with otherpartners to give a boost to the tourism sector.
The official also noted that the number of Japanese touristsvisiting the Mekong Delta, including Can Tho, has to date increased nearly 10percent from last year. He attributed the outcome to effective collaboration topromote tourism and tourist exchanges between the sides.
For his part, Takahashi Ayumi said Vietnam-Japan politicalrelationship is at its best ever since it was established in 1973, thus openingup cooperation opportunities across multiple fields, including tourism.
He unveiled that JNTO Vietnam has planned a number ofpromotion events to introduce the Japanese tourism market to Vietnamese while helpingVietnam promote tourism in Japan.
The agency will also work with the Japanese Embassy inVienam to organize more international cultural events, and lobby for easing Japan’svisa policy for Vietnamese tourists, among others.
Takahashi asked the Can Tho authorities to consider openingmore air routes from Can Tho to Japanese major cities to facilitate travelbetween the sides.
According to JNTO’s statistics, Vietnamese visitors to Japansaw strong growth in the past 5 years. In the first 6 months of 2017, over234,000 Vietnamese travelled to Japan, up 28 percent compared to the sameperiod last year. Vietnamese were also among top spenders in Japan with anaverage spending of 237,000 JPY ( 2,166 USD) per person per trip.-VNA
VNA
