HCM City's tourism industry looks at Northeast Asia, including Japan, as a key market for promotional programmes. — Photo nld.vn

HCM CITY (VNS) — HCM City's tourism industry looks at Northeast Asia, including Japan, as a key market for promotional programmes, tourism officials have said.

Japan has been among the top 10 sources of visitors to the city for the last three years, La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of the HCM City Tourism Department, said.

The number of Vietnamese visitors to Japan has also grown strongly over the last few years, he told a meeting on tourism exchanges held by HCM City and Japan's Kansai region on Friday.

The event attracted tourism officials from both places and more than 50 leading travel agents from Kansai.

It also featured an exhibition of tourism products in HCM City and its neighbouring provinces.

HCM City is expected to welcome more than 4.6 million international tourists, accounting for 56 per cent of the country's total international arrivals, Khanh said.

The number of Vietnamese arrivals in Kansai is expected to reach 180,000 this year, Toshizo Ido, president of the Union of Kansai Governments, said.

Last year the number had doubled to 130,000, he said.

Kansai, Japan's second largest regional economy after Tokyo, includes a number of historic sites like Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Hyogo, Shiga, Wakayama, Tokushima, and Tottori. —VNS