Government Wants 20 Million Foreign Tourists In 2020

[IkemenTommy]

Speak for yourself Tommy.....

I regularly make my public contributions.

[Mulboyne]

Mainichi: Land minister promises shake-up of tourism industry
The Japan Tourism Agency's goal of increasing foreign travellers to Japan to 20 million by 2020 is too modest, said Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Seiji Maehara. At a press conference on Thursday, the first anniversary of the agency's inauguration, Maehara denounced the agency's target as "lukewarm" and pledged to set a new one, with the aim of to making tourism the nation's core growth industry. Although the number of foreign travelers to Japan jumped from 5.21 in 2003 to 8.35 million in 2008, the number is expected to dwindle to the 6 million mark in 2009. "While cities like Paris and Rome are visited by 60 to 70 million people a year, the number of foreign travelers to Japan, which is blessed with many tourist attractions, is disappointing," said the minister. Maehara said an existing council on tourism will be reorganized for a first meeting by the end of the month, which will review tourism policies in cooperation with other ministries and agencies.

[leitmotiv]

Mainichi: Land minister promises shake-up of tourism industry
The Japan Tourism Agency's goal of increasing foreign travellers to Japan to 20 million by 2020 is too modest, said Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Seiji Maehara. At a press conference on Thursday, the first anniversary of the agency's inauguration, Maehara denounced the agency's target as "lukewarm" and pledged to set a new one, with the aim of to making tourism the nation's core growth industry. Although the number of foreign travelers to Japan jumped from 5.21 in 2003 to 8.35 million in 2008, the number is expected to dwindle to the 6 million mark in 2009. "While cities like Paris and Rome are visited by 60 to 70 million people a year, the number of foreign travelers to Japan, which is blessed with many tourist attractions, is disappointing," said the minister. Maehara said an existing council on tourism will be reorganized for a first meeting by the end of the month, which will review tourism policies in cooperation with other ministries and agencies.

Ha! So will stated policies like this (even if they are unrealistic) tend to increase or decrease future Japan child abduction dillemmas and embarrasment for Japan? I imagine no communication or vision whatsoever between Ministry in charge of considering Hague Convention and Tourism Minister. Ironic timing for this press statement.

[Cyka UchuuJin]

Mainichi: Land minister promises shake-up of tourism industry
The Japan Tourism Agency's goal of increasing foreign travellers to Japan to 20 million by 2020 is too modest, said Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Seiji Maehara. At a press conference on Thursday, the first anniversary of the agency's inauguration, Maehara denounced the agency's target as "lukewarm" and pledged to set a new one, with the aim of to making tourism the nation's core growth industry. Although the number of foreign travelers to Japan jumped from 5.21 in 2003 to 8.35 million in 2008, the number is expected to dwindle to the 6 million mark in 2009. "While cities like Paris and Rome are visited by 60 to 70 million people a year, the number of foreign travelers to Japan, which is blessed with many tourist attractions, is disappointing," said the minister. Maehara said an existing council on tourism will be reorganized for a first meeting by the end of the month, which will review tourism policies in cooperation with other ministries and agencies.

'blessed with many tourist attractions'??? more like 'able to make exactly copies of tourist attractions found in any other country'.

[Doctor Stop]

'blessed with many tourist attractions'??? more like 'able to make exactly copies of tourist attractions found in any other country'.

But Japan has four seasons.

[Greji]

But Japan has four seasons.

[Cyka UchuuJin]

But Japan has four seasons.

win! add a few more
to that!

[DrP]

I'm sure this will succeed like the Japan 2016 effort. FAIL !

[Mulboyne]

The DPJ has announced a change to the original plan. Instead of 20 million visitors by 2020, the target is now 20 million by 2016.

[FG Lurker]

The DPJ has announced a change to the original plan. Instead of 20 million visitors by 2020, the target is now 20 million by 2016.

Well, I guess they are at least consistently living in la-la land...

[IkemenTommy]

The DPJ has announced a change to the original plan. Instead of 20 million visitors by 2020, the target is now 20 million by 2016.

And exactly how?

[Greji]

The DPJ has announced a change to the original plan. Instead of 20 million visitors by 2020, the target is now 20 million by 2016.

Are they all to be abducted as usual, or have they got another plan?

[IkemenTommy]

Are they all to be abducted as usual, or have they got another plan?

I think DPJ will start letting more Nigerians enter into Japan with looser visa requirements and let them roam Roppongi even more.

Hell, they'll let those Nigerians have voting rights too!

[Greji]

I think DPJ will start letting more Nigerians enter into Japan with looser visa requirements and let them roam Roppongi even more.

"Looser?" You gotta be ralphing me. Of the 350 some odd Nigerians working the corners in Roppongi, there probably ain't more than one visa between the whole crowd and you talking about "looser?"

[FG Lurker]

[Doctor Stop]

Barring this I don't see how the hell they can even dream of hitting 20mil tourists by 2016.

But, Japan has four seasons.

[Mulboyne]

For good measure, the DPJ has set an additional target of 25 million by 2019. (Japanese) The 2009 budget for the new Tourist Agency was 6.3 billion yen and this will now be raised to 25.7 billion yen versus the Agency's own provision claim for only 7.2 billion. There's talk of TV commercials in Korea and China along with the development of structures to make tourism an important pillar of the economy.

[Mike Oxlong]

But, Japan has four seasons.

AND pachislo...

[eddie]

new motto, 'come to japan then LEAVE.'

[BigInJapan]

USJ, Osaka ------------ Odaiba, Tokyo -------------- Huis Ten Bosch, Nagasaki ------- Eiffel, I mean Tokyo Tower

[Greji]

USJ, Osaka ------------ Odaiba, Tokyo -------------- Huis Ten Bosch, Nagasaki ------- Eiffel, I mean Tokyo Tower

You forgot number five!

[Mulboyne]

Japan Times: Japan may make it easier for Chinese tourists to get visas

Tourism minister Seiji Maehara said Sunday the government will consider granting tourist visas to more individual travelers from China by easing requirements that have been viewed as a barrier to people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. Maehara said during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Shao Qiwei, that he wants to "ease visa requirements further," mirroring Japan's interest in boosting the number of Chinese visitors. The number of Chinese tourists to Japan surpassed 1 million for the first time last year. Japan first granted tourist visas to Chinese nationals for group trips in 2000, expanded the measure to cover trips by wealthy Chinese families in 2008 and then extended visas to individual Chinese travelers last July. In an attempt to prevent illegal overstays, however, issuing a tourist visa to individual Chinese travellers is currently limited to people with an annual income at least 250,000 Chinese yuan, or about 3.5 million yen.

Only travel agencies designated by the Japanese government are allowed to file for visas for Chinese. The agencies are required to confirm that the travellers have returned to China and report this to the Japanese authorities. Shao notified Maehara of a trial plan to allow Chinese nationals to go on sightseeing trips to Japan through local bureaus of Japanese travel agencies. He said China will soon begin selecting the Japanese companies based on their credibility, track records and management capabilities. "I think Japanese travel agencies can provide fine-tuned services and hospitality and it will help to increase the number of tourists to Japan dramatically," Maehara said while welcoming the plan. Maehara and Shao met ahead of a meeting in Nagoya of the tourism ministers of Japan, China and South Korea.

[james]

saw this ad while browsing the globe and mail today:

[Mulboyne]

I was keeping tab in this thread of recent visitor numbers. I thought we must be getting on for more than a year since the declines started but it looks like a missed a number. The September number is 530,000 which is down 16% from the previous year and makes for the fourteenth month of declines.

Once you get beyond a twelve month period, you are starting make comparisons with periods which already experienced a decline, so you might expect the pace of decline to moderate. September 2008 saw a year-on-year decline of 6.9% which seemed big at the time but we went on to see declines of 40% a few months later. October 2008 was also a modest decline of 5.9% so it's possible that we'll see a decline in this year's October numbers too. Perhaps the one to watch, then is November. In 2008, November saw a decline of 19.3%, so a further decline in 2009 would be bad news.

Until this declining trend reverses, the government can't accurately estimate what base level of visitors Japan can attract these days while the world economy remains shaky and the yen strong. If it turns out to be about just over half a million a month, then we are looking at a calendar year total of only 6-7 million. That would be the starting point for the government to reach their target of 20 million by 2016 and and 25 million by 2020.

EDIT: You can see the raw data from the Tourism Agency here (PDF). The main numbers are labelled in English. Within the overall declining, mainly the result of a 33% fall in Korean visitors, Chinese visitors rose 5.2%.

[Mulboyne]

Apparently, the revised visitor target is not just 20 million by 2016 and 25 million by 2020, the DPJ has also indicated it would like to press on for 30 million by 2022.

[IkemenTommy]

A little overly optimistic figures there. If the yen continues to strengthen over other currencies, I would expect to see the continuing decrease of foreigners visiting Japan.. not that I want any more tourists anyway.

[Mulboyne]

The October number came in at 655,400, down 11.3% from a year before. That makes 15 consecutive months of decline. Korean & Taiwanese visitors registered a 30.6% and 22.5% decline respectively. However, visitors from China were up 22.5%.

[FG Lurker]

The October number came in at 655,400, down 11.3% from a year before. That makes 15 consecutive months of decline. Korean & Taiwanese visitors registered a 30.6% and 22.5% decline respectively. However, visitors from China were up 22.5%.

I think it would be more interesting if the gov't included length of stay for visitors. There are large numbers of Chinese who take ferries to Kobe for weekend shopping trips, for example (some of them don't even overnight here from what I can tell). That doesn't really have the same tourism value as someone who arrives and spends a week or two traveling through the country.

[FG Lurker]

Japan May Relax Chinese Visitor Visa Rules to Boost Tourism
Bloomberg.com, November 30, 2009

Japan may relax visa regulations for Chinese travelers to help boost mainland visitor numbers ninefold as the nation's tourism industry seeks to ease its reliance on a shrinking domestic population.

The country plans to attract 9 million Chinese visitors in 2019, Yoshiaki Hompo, the head of the Japan Tourism Agency, said in an interview yesterday in Tokyo. He declined to elaborate on what visa changes were being discussed.

"We are trying to relax the stringent policies taken by our government," Hompo said. Visa regulations for other Asian nations may also be liberalized, he said.

[...]

Overall visitor numbers may fall about 20 percent this year because of the global recession and the yen's rise to a 14-year high against the dollar, Hompo said.

[...]

Japan has predicted its population will fall 25 percent from 2005 to 95.2 million by 2050 because people are marrying later in life and having fewer children.

(Full Story)

I guess we're starting to see how the government plans to attract more people to the country...

(I'm really not sure what that last sentence has to do with the rest of the article though!)

[Mulboyne]

I guess we're starting to see how the government plans to attract more people to the country...

Maehara spoke about this last month but no specific numbers were mentioned. The new target for 2020 is 25 million visitors so 9 million Chinese by 2019 would still leave them short unless around a quarter of the population of South Korea also makes a trip.