Making Japan a tourism-oriented country
Almasalla Travel News -Increasing the number of foreign visitors and turning this into economic growth – the goal of making Japan a tourism-oriented nation – will require combined efforts by the public and private sectors.
The government is pouring considerable effort into making Japan a tourism magnet. A ministerial conference chaired by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been established for that purpose. The government plans to study comprehensive tourism policies that cross ministerial borders, and formulate an action programme by this summer.
If more tourists and businesspeople visit Japan, it will invigorate consumption and create jobs, thereby promoting the development of regions as tourist spots. We fully support the government’s initiative of realising a tourism-oriented country.
But we must point out that the government has failed to achieve adequate results despite implementing various programmes, including the "Visit Japan" campaign, since 2003.
Sustained by the overseas travel boom among middle-class people in Asian nations with spectacular economic growth, 8.37 million foreigners visited Japan in 2012. This figure has almost recovered the level recorded before the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, and is 60 per cent higher than the number of visitors in 2003.
Nevertheless, it is a far cry from the target of 18 million visitors the government hoped to reach by 2016.
Japan ranked 39th in the world as a destination for foreign visitors in 2011, trailing far behind China (third), Malaysia (ninth), Thailand (15th) and South Korea (25th). Although the earthquake and tsunami disaster must be factored into the equation, the figures are sobering.
Japan’s main Asian rivals are pulling out all the stops to lure foreign visitors because tourism is a component of a strategy to enhance national image.
Tourism encompasses a wide range of fields, including transportation, accommodation, food services and distribution. Government ministries and agencies need to put aside their turf battles, revamp promotion project content and step up cooperation with the private sector. The Tourism Agency must be more active in leading the formation of such a strategy.
Japan is famous for its hospitality and is blessed with many treasures such as the natural beauty of its four seasons. However, these have yet to be reflected fully in a strategy to attract tourists. Providing experiences that incorporate traditional local values and tap private-sector wisdom would be more effective than safe tourism campaigns.
In recent years, more foreign visitors have been travelling individually, rather than in groups. Collecting information through personal computers or mobile phones has become common practice.
The tourism industry must improve its capability to disseminate information on expenses, facilities and services, and increase the number of places where Internet service is accessible free of charge, thereby improving the environment for foreign tourists to travel easily and comfortably.
Inviting international conferences that have huge knock-on effects and promoting medical tourism for people who want to receive health checkups and treatments are also promising ways to invigorate the tourism industry.
Tourism creates opportunities for encounters that transcend national and regional borders. It can enhance Japan as a nation and is an important barometer of the degree of globalisation in Japanese society.
Source : ANN
