Nguyen Duong Binh, deputy general director of Vietjet Air, said that since 2014 the airline has teamed up with a number of tourism firms to operate flights to ten Japanese cities. These flights have got positive responses and Vietjet now regards Japan as a key market to open daily service.

The flights from Hanoi and HCMC to Osaka will be launched on November 8 and December 14, respectively, while service between Hanoi and Tokyo will be opened on January 11, 2019.

He said the airline is willing to arrange separate flights to carry large Japanese parties of tourists, such as those with some 200 people.

Experts from the ASEAN Promotion Center on Trade, Investment and Tourism (ASEAN-Japan Center) and the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) said Vietnam is a favored destination among Japanese tourists. However, the local tourism sector should pay special attention to working out marketing strategies, creating specific products for each customer segment, improving the quality of services, as well as forging close relationships with Japanese partners.

Hideaki Murai, deputy head of the Outbound Travel Promotion Division at JATA, named three main segments – family tourists, middle-aged tourists, and tourists belonging to F1-F2 generations.

Among these, the segment of middle-aged tourists is vital, as they have high incomes and time to travel, while family tourists have great potential, as they seek increasing demand for overseas travel. The final segment could create powerful promotional  opportunities for their destinations.

Data from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam shows that, as of August, more than 545,000 Japanese tourists had come to Vietnam in 2018, up 5.3% from a year earlier.