travel

S Korea sent the most foreign visitors to Japan in 2013

4 Comments
By Krista Rogers

In 2013, a grand total of 10,363,904 foreign tourists visited Japan. That number surpasses the goal of the Visit Japan Campaign, which began in 2003 with a goal to increase the number of overseas visitors to 10 million.

The Japanese language version of popular travel planning and information website TripAdvisor was quite excited by this news, and recently produced their own visual graphic detailing some fun facts about foreign tourists in the Land of the Rising Sun during 2013. Can you guess which country most of the visitors came from, or which country had the highest percentage jump in visitors? How about the most popular tourist destinations for foreigners traveling in Japan?

TripAdvisor drew on statistics provided by the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA), the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and numbers from their own website to design the visual graphic.

Countries Ranking (2013)

  1. South Korea: 2,456,165 visitors

  2. Taiwan: 2,210,821 visitors

  3. People’s Republic of China: 1,314,432 visitors

  4. United States of America: 799,280 visitors

  5. Hong Kong: 745,881 visitors

Countries with the Highest Percentage Increase in Visits (2013)

  1. Thailand: 74%

  2. Hong Kong: 54.9%

  3. Vietnam: 53.1%

  4. Taiwan: 50.8%

  5. Malaysia: 35.6%

The reason for such a large increase in tourists from Thailand? Relaxed visa policies have made it easier to come.

Most Popular Places for Foreign Tourists to Visit (2013)

  1. Peace Memorial Museum, Hiroshima

  2. Fushimi Inari-Taisha, Kyoto

  3. Todaiji, Nara

  4. Itsukushima Shrine (Miyajima), Hiroshima

  5. Kinkakuji, Kyoto

Most Popular Hotels among Foreign Tourists (2013)

  1. Park Hyatt Tokyo, Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo

  2. Kyoto Cuisine and Ryokan Shiraume, Kyoto

  3. Hotel Mume, Kyoto

  4. Family Inn Saiko, Toshima Ward, Tokyo

  5. Four Seasons Hotel at Marunouchi, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo

Probability of Returning to Japan (2013)

I’ll definitely come back: 57.8%

I’d like to come back: 34.9%

I might come back: 4.3%

I don’t want to come back: 3%

Finally, the graphic ends with the message, “Let’s aim for 20 million foreign visitors in 2020!” 20 million people is a lofty goal, but with the 2020 Olympics scheduled for Tokyo, anything is possible.

Sources/Top image: TripAdvisor via NicoNico News

Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Japan’s 20 best free sightseeing spots -- Top Five Worst Places to Visit in Japan -- TripAdvisor Ranks Top 20 Japanese Travel Destinations For Foreign Visitors, Hiroshima Edges Kyoto For Top Spot

© RocketNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.


4 Comments
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Ive been twice so far and am planning a return next year, unfortunately Japan isnt on the radar for many australians who think Bali is the most exotic place on earth........

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And the Koreans supposedly hate japan because of the war ?

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It's not hard to figure out why: Busan to Fukuoka and Shimonoseki have plentiful ferry service, and as such many South Koreans visit Kyushu, the westernmost of the main Home Islands of Japan. This is why on the JR Kyushu Shinkansen service from Hakata to Kagoshima-Chuo stations, in-train announcements are in Korean in addition to Japanese and English.

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The most popular places to visit are all in western Honshu, yet all but one favourite hotel is in Tokyo? That's a lot of commuting those tourists are doing.

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