Growth in visitor numbers
According to Ha Van Sieu, Deputy Director of the Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT), tourism cooperation between Viet Nam and Japan has consistently been among the highlights of bilateral relations, helping to strengthen people-to-people exchanges, foster mutual understanding, and make a positive contribution to the socio-economic development of both countries.
Sieu said that tourism cooperation between Viet Nam and Japan has achieved many encouraging results over the years, thanks to the close cooperation between the VNAT, the Japan Tourism Agency, the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO), local authorities, and the business communities of both countries.
In 2025, Viet Nam welcomed more than 814,000 Japanese visitors. In the first six months of 2026, the country received over 441,000 Japanese visitors, an increase of more than 10% compared with the same period last year.
Conversely, nearly 679,000 Vietnamese visitors travelled to Japan in 2025, surpassing the target set by Japan. In the first six months of 2026, the number of Vietnamese visitors to Japan reached 396,000. These results indicate that the goal of achieving two million two-way visitor exchanges between the two countries is gradually approaching reality.
According to Japanese Ambassador to Viet Nam Ito Naoki, tourism is one of the key sectors contributing to stronger people-to-people exchanges and enhanced cooperation between Viet Nam and Japan, with the two countries having set a target of increasing two-way visitor exchanges to two million.
To help realise this goal, the Japanese Embassy in Viet Nam has been working closely with the JNTO and VNAT to organise a wide range of tourism promotion and exchange activities.
Alongside the growth in visitor numbers, tourism cooperation between Viet Nam and Japan has continued to expand and deepen through cooperation mechanisms, memoranda of understanding, joint promotional programmes, and human resource training initiatives.
The tourism sectors of both countries are also strengthening cooperation in digital transformation and sustainable tourism development.
At the same time, the exchange of tourism market information has enabled both sides to keep abreast of emerging trends, visitor demands, and travel preferences.
Direct business networking has also created opportunities for travel companies, airlines, hotels, destination management authorities, and localities to identify partners and develop new tourism products and travel programmes that are more diverse and better tailored to the needs of visitors from both countries.
Expanding air links and leveraging local strengths to attract visitors
Ambassador Ito Naoki emphasised that aviation connectivity plays a vital role in promoting tourism exchanges between Viet Nam and Japan. In recent years, Vietnamese airlines have increased the frequency of flights on several routes between the two countries and launched new services, making two-way travel more convenient.
The continued maintenance and expansion of direct flights between cities in both countries, together with favourable visa policies, have facilitated tourism, trade, and investment exchanges, thereby further strengthening bilateral cooperation.
Discussing the strengths of Japan’s tourism industry, Matsumoto Fumi, Chief Representative of the JNTO in Viet Nam, said that Japan offers many distinctive attractions, ranging from its four-season natural scenery, landscapes, culture, cuisine, history, and traditions to the diverse cultures and lifestyles found across its different regions. Importantly, Japan always has something new to offer, even for travellers who have visited the country many times before.
To fully capitalise on these advantages, travel companies play a crucial role in designing and promoting tourism products that meet the increasingly diverse needs of Vietnamese travellers.
Beyond well-known destinations such as Tokyo, Mount Fuji, Kyoto, and Osaka, demand is growing for new destinations and travel experiences that showcase Japan’s unique identity while catering to individual interests.
The JNTO official said the Vietnamese market for travel to Japan continues to grow strongly. This momentum reflects the joint efforts and close cooperation of tourism authorities, organisations, and businesses in both countries.
The JNTO said it will continue working with Vietnamese partners to intensify tourism promotion, further expand the Vietnamese market, and encourage more visitors to travel to a wider range of regions across Japan.
For its part, the VNAT will continue working closely with the business community and Japanese partners to implement joint tourism promotion programmes.
At the same time, it will cooperate on market research, promote digital transformation, encourage the launch of additional air routes, and strengthen the promotion of destinations, tourism products, and tourism service chains of both countries across media platforms.
