Published:  00:00 Thursday - June 24, 2010

A Vietnamese tourism and culture festival has been held in Tokyo on June 23-24 by the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in coordination with the Vietnamese embassy in Japan.

The event aims to introduce Vietnamese cultural tradition and tourism potential.

Hiroshi Sawabe, Director of the 20 Million Travellers Promotions Office, said Vietnam is one of the most attractive tourist markets for Japanese people.

In the first five months this year, the number of Japanese tourists to Vietnam increased by 15.4 percent against the same period last year and it is expected that 44 thousand Japanese tourists will visit the country by the end of this year, the highest figure ever recorded in recent times.

Kubota, Director of the Vietnamese Economic Research Institute in Japan, confirmed that with its interesting culture, beautiful landscapes and friendly people, Vietnam’s tourism industry has a lot potential for the future.

However, he added that Vietnam needs to improve its infrastructure to attract more tourists.

Here are some photos: