Working delegation of Kobe City, Japan (Photo: TITC)

At the meeting, Mr. Izushi Naofumi - Kobe Tourism Bureau stated, currently, there are about 8,000 Vietnamese people living in Kobe, the 4th largest in Japan. Therefore, it is expected that in 2025, the Kobe Airport will be upgraded into an international airport with regular flights from Asian countries, including Vietnam.

Introducing shortly about Kobe, Mr. Izushi said, the city has an outstanding advantage between the sea on one side and the mountains on the other, which is a favourable condition to promote tourists to visit and experience various types of tourism. The products that provide the city's reputation are Kobe beef with a process of care, processing and production under extremely strict conditions; famous hot mineral spring bath service in Japan; Kobe is also the largest wine producer in the country…

Mr. Izushi Naofumi wishes to share a number of solutions with VNAT about promoting exchanges, increasing international flights between Vietnam and Kobe, attracting tourists and tours of the two countries.

VNAT’s Vice Chairman Ha Van Sieu discussing at the meeting (Photo: TITC)

VNAT’s Vice Chairman Ha Van Sieu highly appreciates programmes to promote and stimulate tourism in Japan in general, and Kobe City in particular, especially post the Covid-19 pandemic. In the period of the new normal, the whole world is making efforts to restore socio-economic, tourism, as well as strengthen international exchanges and cooperation. Airlines are restoring old routes, operating new routes to create new opportunities for new destinations.

In 2019, Japanese visitors to Vietnam reached nearly 1 million arrivals, nearly double that of Vietnamese visitors to Japan. Post the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of Vietnamese tourists to Japan tends to increase sharply. In the first 7 months of 2023, Japan welcomed nearly 300,000 Vietnamese tourist arrivals and Vietnam also welcomed the same number of Japanese tourists in the opposite direction.

Overview of the meeting (Photo: TITC)

Regarding the field of tourism cooperation between the two countries, VNAT’s Vice Chairman Ha Van Sieu stated, Vietnam and Japan have signed many bilateral tourism cooperation documents; organised and attended the meeting of the Tourism Cooperation Committee of the two countries, this was an opportunity for the two sides to exchange and share tourism experiences. VNAT’s Vice Chairman Ha Van Sieu suggested that Kobe City will research and participate in tourism cooperation programmes between Vietnam and Japan. Besides, opening a booth introducing Kobe City at the International Tourism Fairs in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City every year. At these tourism fairs, the city can deploy programmes to introduce and stimulate tourism, survey flight routes as well as tourism products for tourism businesses and airlines of the two countries to connect, and set up a suitable travel programme. In addition, the city should coordinate with the Japanese representative agency in Vietnam to organise seminars on Kobe tourism to promote preferential policies, special products, and attractive tourism programmes to draw more investors and tourism businesses’ attention.

Accordingly, in 2025, Japan will host the World Expo in Osaka. With its geographical location near Osaka, Kobe should take advantage of this to promote tourism. Tourism should be associated with famous local products, especially Kobe beef.

Leaders and delegations of both sides taking souvenir photo (Photo: TITC)

VNAT will coordinate with relevant agencies to promote national airlines to operate round-trip routes between Vietnam and Kobe and promote information on airline and tourism. VNAT’s Vice Chairman Ha Van Sieu stressed, Kobe City in particular and Japan in general is an attractive destination with values of nature, culture, history and hospitable people. Tourism promotion programmes, international direct flights will certainly be an opportunity for businesses of the two countries to cooperate to increase visitor exchange between Vietnam and Japan.

Tourism Information Technology Center