Ho Chi Minh City loses charm

HO CHI MINH CITY Japanese tourism representatives say Ho Chi Minh City has lost much of its charm and this will cut repeat travel from Japan.
Japan Association of Travel Agents deputy head for the outbound sector, Tadashi Yamaguchi, told local media that few Japanese book a second trip to Ho Chi Minh City.
“Prices need considerable reductions and there should be more packages and cooperation with beach resorts to create mulit-destination packages to draw new visitors,” he advised.
“While the city remains Vietnam’s top attraction for Japanese visitors, it lacks diverse tourism products, ” he warned.
He recommended that the city work with resorts in the south-central town of Phan Thiet, destinations in the Mekong Delta and popular islands like Phu Quoc or Con Dao to add diversity to packages.
In addition, the city should cooperate with the central region, which will soon draw more Japanese thanks to the increase in flights between Danang and Japan.
“The tourism industry should focus its strategies on Japan’s elderly and female travellers, who make up the bulk of arrivals,” he said.
Around 3 million elderly Japanese and 4.8 million Japanese women travelled overseas last year, he said, adding that the figure is rising, especially among women between 20 and 40.
Tourism and Exchange Division of Asean-Japan Centre director, Dananjaya Axioma, was quoted as saying that many Vietnamese firms have assumed that Japanese tourists love shopping, but they in fact prefer sightseeing and visiting historical sites.

sourced:ttrweekly.com