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© KYODONo. of foreign visitors to Japan in fiscal 2017 reaches almost 30 mil
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commanteer
You are showing your age! (Me too.) I remember it was basically impossible to set up most accommodations outside major hotels unless you had a tip or went with a dated guidebook. Pre-internet. Even post-internet for a good while.
Now every ryoukan in every little onsen can book guests directly. Takes a lot of the mystery out of it.
1glenn
Mom enjoyed traveling, but her favorite trip of all was the one she took to Japan with a local Nisei group. They were treated very well, she loved the food, and the country was beautiful. Never been there myself, but would like to.
taj
No. of foreign visitors to Japan in fiscal 2017 reaches almost 30 mil = ZERO need for casinos to bring tourists into Japan. Clearly we're doing fine without them.
Nippori Nick
It's all about money. Shopkeepers are delighted to have tourists come in their store. They hire more employees (benefiting the locals) Sure some curmudgeons don't like it, but .....
I grew up in a major tourist destination that lived or died by the tourist trade. I can tell you there it did not "generally suck" for us locals. We did very well
CaptDingleheimer
Technology is probably a big factor here.
Let's say someone who speaks zero Japanese and has never been to Japan reads an article in a travel magazine about isolated hot springs in Japan and decides they'd like to go see what's up.
That person can then literally set up a detailed itinerary at the most obscure, isolated little ryokan onsen places, learning of them through high-quality machine-translated customer reviews, make reservations at them, plan the logistics of travel between them, and book the required flights and train rides on their smartphone in less than an hour using a couple apps like 'Travelocity' or 'TripAdvisor'.
A country like Japan can promote tourism to kingdom come, but they can't for see the development and embrace of technology that occurs at such a rapid speed these days. I suspect a renaissance in world travel is upon us.
kohakuebisu
Most of the tourists are Asians and most Asians are coming on package trips - they aren't individuals using Airbnb. It is virtually an irrelevance for the inbound mass Asian market.
The third most popular reason for Asians to visit Japan is onsens, so they get out and about more than you may think. There was an article the other day that Tohoku had passed the one million cumulative nights of inbound usage the other day. Loads of inbound tourists will currently be at the Alpen Route in Toyama, the road with the huge snow walls. A typical package will take in a few inaka sites, stay in onsen hotels, and feed everyone Japanese food. That's enough to do for the few days they are here.
I thought Yubaru would have said it, but quite a few of them go to Okinawa too.
oldman_13
Great news.
Aways nice to hear of increase in visitors particularly from South Korea and China.
smartacus
The weaker yen, more flights from low cost carriers to and from Asian destinations and visa waiver programs with more Asian countries are the main reasons, I think.
commanteer
They are all over Kyushu as well, especially Fukuoka City, and have been for a while. In some shopping or touristy areas, it seems as though more than half the people are foreign tourists.
G.MAL.O.Q
Frankly, I think there are too many tourists now.
garymalmgren
Big Yen
I live in Tohoku, Miyagi actually and I can assure you that the tourism boom is extending out of the
Tokyo-Mount Fuji-Kyoto-Osaka loop very rapidly. The remote temple, Jyogi san near Akiu onsen has signs in 5 languages and you can regularly run into Thais, Chinese, Koreans and Europeans there.
I know of a small art gallery in Iwate that went from gloom to boom because of the Chinese tourist boom.
In my opinion it is English speaking tourists who are not venturing off the beaten path.
There is plenty to see, experience and eat in Japan.
gary
Yubaru
I wonder just how anyone can make this kind of statement, oh right, must be getting money from the company per post on websites like this!
You know what, you really don't know much about Japan if you think that this is "helping". The bigger reason is the low cost carriers, AND the discounts that many tour companies in China, Korea, and Taiwan are giving customers for multiple tours or trips to Japan.
WHat is not included in this "data" is the number of repeaters.
Ganbare Japan!
Unbelievable! Great boost for tourism in Japan,and businesses are booming. It is possible Tokyo will soon displace Paris as number one most popular city for tourist in the World.Within 5 years I guess.
Civitas Sine Suffragio
The problem is, mass-tourism generally sucks for the locals and tourists themselves often test the patience of a saint.
UncleBudah
This boom in tourism had been helped by sites like Airbnb , because of the low prices in places to stay , but I bet after the Government regulation start to kick-in on June, there will be a decrease , as Hotels will regain the control and increase in price , which tourist are always trying to avoid.
kurisupisu
It’s time to learn Chinese!