Vietnam is planning to open a representative office in Tokyo, Japan late this year or early next year to facilitate its tourism marketing activities and step up cooperation between travel firms of the two nations.

The plan is aimed at helping ratchet up Japanese tourist arrivals in Vietnam from half a million last year to one million by 2015.

Hoang Thi Diep, deputy head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), said this would be the first overseas representative office of Vietnam’s tourism authority.

A memorandum of understanding between Vietnam and Japan on the opening of the office can be signed next month during the Festival Hue 2012, Diep said, adding local travel firms and their Japanese partners were looking forward to the launch of the office.

“Japan has set up a committee to promote the opening of the office. The cost of the office’s establishment and management is huge for Vietnam, at around VND1 billion which is partly sourced from Vietnam’s tourism promotion budget and the rest from Japanese partners,” Diep told the Daily on Monday.

Japan has always been among the top five markets for Vietnam’s tourism sector with nearly 482,000 Japanese coming to Vietnam last year, up 8.9% from the previous year, although it was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami in March last year.

The first two months of the year saw nearly 110,000 Japanese visiting Vietnam, up 16.9% year-on-year.

VNAT has drawn up a scheme with various specific activities intended to attract one million Japanese visitors, including the inauguration of the representative office. When the office is in place, marketing and advertising projects on television and in newspapers and direct interactions with customers will be conducted in a more regular basis.

The goal of attracting one million Japanese tourists by 2015 is deemed as ambitious but given available air links, efforts of travel firms in both countries and the appeal of Vietnam as a favorite destination of Japanese tourists, the target would be achievable.

Vietnam Airlines alone has 46 weekly flights between the two countries, Diep said.