Ho Chi Minh City eyes direct flights to Yokohama

Ho Chi Minh City and Japan’s Yokohama are working to establish a direct air link that serves the increase number of business travellers.

The expected flights will add to already operating Vietnam Airlines direct flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka.

“At Tan Son Nhat Airport, the busiest international routes are flights to Japanese cities. The Ho Chi Minh City/Yokohama route would make it easier for more Japanese investors to come to Vietnam,” said Ho Chi Minh City chairman Le Hoang Quan at Japanese Investors Day in the southern hub on February 14.

He explained that the city attached great importance to Japanese investors in its efforts to attract foreign direct investment, and that is why he joined the event – to listen to Japanese investors.

Quan added that 25 Japanese companies already registered as tenants in the Vie-Pan Techno Park in Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park in Nha Be district. Work started on February 17 on the $31 million project, designed for Japanese support industry firms and the first of its kind in the city. The project is a prime example of Ho Chi Minh City’s efforts to create a dedicated zone for Japanese hi-tech small and medium-sized enterprises.

Ho Chi Minh City is making efforts to develop support industries as recommended by the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO).

Yasuzumi Hirotaka, head of JETRO in the south, said his office was working closely with partners towards that end. He stressed that Vietnam needs to accelerate support industry development as the pace is still slow.

HCM City to introduce river tourism in Singapore

HCMC will attend the Singapore Yacht Show 2014 for the first time in April to promote its river tourism which is expected to become a major tourism product of the city.

Enterprises and the tourism promotion agency in HCMC will attend the annual show in Singapore from April 8-13 to establish relations with partners as well as introducing the city’s river tourism, said Nguyen Bao Anh, deputy director of the HCMC Tourism Promotion Center.

“The city is improving the product and thus needs to promote it both overseas and locally,” he said.

HCMC has almost finished handing over the site of Bach Dang Wharf in District 1 to Saigontourist Holding Company to make it a terminal for tourist boats. The city has also released a list of wharfs, piers and stations in districts 1, 8, 9, Cu Chi and Can Gio to call for investment.

Before infrastructure facilities and services for the new product are completed, river tours departing from Bach Dang Wharf to Binh Quoi, District 8 and Long An have been offered to tourists.

According to Anh, together with the show in Singapore, HCMC is preparing for a tourism promotion roadshow to be organized in Japan in April. This time HCMC will not promote tourism individually but with Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.

This year the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will coordinate with Japanese partners to hold a tourism forum which will have the participation of around 40 Japanese enterprises who are interested in the Vietnamese market.

The number of Japanese tourists coming to HCMC was over 345,000 last year, up 10%, and is expected to rise to half a million in 2015.

Phu Yen promotes tourism via seafood festival

Phu Yen Province will organize the Seafood Festival 2014 late next month, which is touted as a channel for the province to promote its tourism.

According to the festival’s organizers, the average income of people in Phu Yen Province was quite low with only VND27 million per year. Therefore, the provincial government expects that the festival can boost tourism development.

Though Phu Yen Province has many tourist attractions such as O Loan Lagoon, Da Dia Reef, Da Bia Mountain, Xuan Dai Bay, Cu Mong Lagoon, Triem Duc hot spring, and traditional craft villages as well as many recognized historical sites, the number of tourist arrivals is still small.

According to the provincial government at the press briefing held on Sunday, the Seafood Festival 2013 is scheduled for March 28-April 2.

Phu Yen Province is known for its biggest fleet of tuna fishing boats and 29,000 lobster cages. Its total seafood volume reaches 60,000 tons each year.

Japan targets 200,000 Vietnamese tourists each year

Japan is offering many policies such as free consumption tax on many products, simplified visa procedures and assistance for businesses in exploring the market, with an aim to attract around 200,000 Vietnamese tourists every year.

Chitose Maeda, director in charge of city sales of the Tourism Division, Tokyo Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs, said at the tourism promotion meeting held in Hanoi last week that Japan had not paid enough attention to the industry.

However, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has now offered many policies to promote tourism growth as it can spur development of many other industries, she added.

As a result, the number of tourists coming to Japan is rising rapidly, with over ten million tourists recorded last year.

Besides, the Japanese government has loosened the visa policy since last July, and as such there has been a strong increase in arrivals from Vietnam. Around 90,000 Vietnamese tourists traveled to Japan last year, up 150% year on year.

“Although the free visa policy has not been offered to Vietnamese people, application for visa to Japan has been simpler. Moreover, Tokyo will have two working sessions with the government each year to further simplify the visa procedures,” said Maeda.

Japan has also expanded the tax-free mechanism for foreign tourists. There will be more products enjoying tax-free in the coming time, which can help attract foreign tourists to visit Japan and do shopping.